American Red Cross - Best Use of Technology in Customer Service

Company: American Red Cross
Company Description: Since its founding in 1881, the American Red Cross has been dedicated to serving those in need with a mission to alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Use of Technology in Customer Service - Other Service Industries

Nomination Title: Clara and Mabel - Cutting edge chat bots helping in delivering the American Red Cross mission

The Red Cross introduced two chatbots to guide blood donors, employees, and volunteers on their search for critical information: Clara, the blood donation chatbot, and Mabel, the employee and volunteer chatbot.Both these chat bots have been helpful in answering user questions and reducing calls to our call centers.

Clara, our blood donation chatbot, is a 24/7 channel on redcrossblood.org that serves up to 20,000 users per month with the following capabilities:

-Answering eligibility questionson topics such as travel, illness, and medications &generic donor related questions. Clara connects with the CDC website to collect details on malaria risk, allowing the bot to answer travel eligibility questions accurately as requirements change in real time.

Performing appointment management transactions. A donor can schedule an appointment, cancel or change an appointment, create an account, look up donation history, and more directly within the bot.

Connecting to a live agent, using sentiment analysis to connect donors if they appear frustrated at any point during their conversation. She provides context to the agent to create a seamless experience for the donor to get their most complex questions answered.

Mabel, our employee and volunteer chatbot, performs key HR transactions, such as looking up a PTO balance or checking your paycheck amount, in addition to responding to employee and volunteer questions on everything from HR policy, training, IT, volunteer opportunities, and more. Mabel serves up to 1000 users every month, giving employees and volunteers a one stop shop for frequently asked questions.

Briefly describe the nominated organization: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):

Since its founding in 1881, the American Red Cross has been dedicated to serving those in need with a mission to alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. The Red Cross aspires to ensure that all people affected by disaster receive care, shelter, and hope and that all our communicates are prepared for disasters. To fulfill our lifesaving mission, the Red Cross relies upon generous donors and volunteers. An average of 90 cents of every dollar the American Red Cross spends is invested and delivering care and comfort to those in need.

Part of the vision statement of the American Red Cross is to ensure that everyone in our country has access to safe, lifesaving blood and blood products. The Red Cross blood supply accounts for 40% of our nation’s blood and blood components and supplies hospitals nationwide. The supply is built by generous donations alone, one donation potentially saving up to three lives.

Website - https://www.redcross.org

Explain why the achievement you have highlighted is unique or significant. If possible compare the achievement to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):

The American Red Cross’ chatbots use cutting edge technology to further the Red Cross mission. Mabel enables self-service so Red Cross employees and volunteers can focus on delivering the mission. Clara reaches more potential blood donors enabling them to get accurate information more easily. With the help of Clara, anyone interested in learning more about blood donation can not only access all relevant information, but also learn how to engage their community, only furthering the reach of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross’ use of new and innovative technology is unique in the nonprofit sector and allows us to reach more members of the public.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):

Screen shots of Mabel were attached as it can only be viewed in our internal systems

Clara can be viewed on http://www.redcrossblood.org