Telehelp hacking the crisis

Hackathons are challenging, exciting and an effective way to bring together different groups of people, professions, experiences and aligning them to a common cause. During ‘Hack the Crisis’, 46elks supported one of the winning teams “Telehelp” and we are proud to share their story.

Connecting "Help Seekers" with "Volunteers"

Telehelp is built in recognition that during the corona pandemic, tasks like grocery shopping can become difficult for at-risk groups. In response, Telehelp built a phone-system that assigns volunteers to help-seekers using location-based matching. The help-seeker only needs to make a call to Telehelp and provide their ZIP-code to get connected with a local volunteer, who signed up on www.telehelp.se.

How it works

Step 1

The help-seeker calls Telehelp’s phone number (+46 76 686 15 51, try it!) and enters their zip code on the keypad.

Step 2

Using the entered zip code - Telehelp will connect the call to a local volunteer that has signed up through their website.

Step 3

Once a volunteer has been found the two parties are connected and can discuss the task at hand and handle the logistics over a phone call.

Some of the benefits

Telehelp utilises several different 46elks API functions including virtual phone numbers, incoming and outgoing phone calls and IVR menus to power their service. The way in Telehelp uses the 46elks API they turn ordinary phone calls into help machines!

"Very limited personal information about both those requiring help and the volunteers is needed - only a phone number and a postal code."

Since both help seekers and volunteers are connected to the same virtual phone number there is never any exchange of personal phone numbers. This enables both parties to rest assured that their personal details are kept safe.

"People in need of assistance can be re-connected to volunteers they have previously interacted with."

As a way to improve the user experience help-seekers who have been paired with a volunteer will continue to be paired with that same volunteer in the future. The goal here is to help generate better relationships and consistency with help-seekers and volunteers. By making this consideration help-seekers and volunteers alike can continue making phone calls to one virtual phone number and be assured they will be met on the phone call with a volunteer they are comfortable with.

Hackathon inspiration

What the team behind Telehelp have created is an inspiration to hackers, technologists, and the rest of us. Given a cause to rally behind, a sleepless weekend and a lot of hard work the Telehelp team put together a powerful application that can potentially help thousands of people. This is why 46elks is supporting hackathons and teams like Telehelp because we are also technologists who like to build things and we believe in the power of people and technology to create tools and applications that can bring value to society.

Get in touch with the Telehelp

To sign up as a volunteer or if you need help call +46 76 686 15 51, info@telehelp.se or go to www.telehelp.se