Coronavirus Call Center In Williamson County Off To A Slow Start

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — A new call center launched this week to answer residents' questions on the coronavirus vaccine. But judging from early accounts — and given the abundance of people on inoculation waiting lists and the makeup of the call center — getting a representative on the line has proved challenging to some.

Several readers reached out to Patch to share stories of frustration dialing the call center telephone number.

"The information line does not seem to be operational," one reader wrote.

"I have called this number several times and get no response," wrote another. "What's up?"

Another resident chimed in: "Don't waste your time calling."

Patch on Tuesday reached out to Williamson County spokesperson Connie Odom, who suggested callers might be dialing outside of the call center hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Or the line might simply have been busy at the time, she said. The hotline has been operational since noon on Monday, she added.

The problem may be one of logistics. The county partnered with Family Hospital Systems to administer some 6,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine it received in mid-January that was preceded by a smaller allotment of 900 doses received in late December.

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But the demand has far outstripped the vaccine supply. In response to a Patch inquiry, Odom said the waiting list for the vaccine stands at 191,089 — reflecting pent-up demand across a region that includes the 4,100-acre Sun City Texas retirement community, situated in the county seat of Georgetown and serving an older demographic now eligible for vaccinations after an initial round for frontline workers.

Then there's the matter of the call center, which could be something of a misnomer. In announcing the center's formation on Monday, county officials provided a telephone number, 512-943-1600, and said the center would operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Responding to a Patch inquiry at the time, Odom said representatives also would be able to assist in Spanish.

Following a subsequent request for information from Patch on Tuesday, Odom said the "call center" actually consists of current county employees assigned to answer residents' calls on vaccinations in dedicated shifts. Odom said some eight to 10 employees work per shift taking calls from a 20-line phone bank. "About 20 total with approximately half of those as Jabber lines which allows employees to answer calls from their laptops at their desks or other locations," she wrote in an email.

Despite the pandemic-rooted need for a call center, Odom said no funds from the federal coronavirus relief bill were used for its development. The federal law provides financial assistance to state, local and tribal governments across the country to alleviate the financial effects of the coronavirus outbreak. Funds are derived from the $150 billion coronavirus relief fund.

For its part, Williamson County secured some $93 million relief bill funds, of which $30.5 million remained unspent as of last month, Odom said in response to a previous request for information from Patch. Municipalities last month scrambled to find ways to spend the remaining funds that went unspent by last year's end, per the federal government's provisions. Odom said the expenditure deadline has since been extended until the end of this year, eliminating the need to return unspent cash.

The county's relief bill expenditures included software from Tyler Technologies of Plano that now serves as a jury summons platform. At the time, officials said the software was purchased to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by eliminating the need for jurors to gather in large numbers as they were questioned for potential duty. In a separate email, Odom told Patch the software was purchased on a cooperative purchasing contract at a cost of $192,361.

The software system has streamlined the jury selection process, but the coronavirus-spurred call center has not gone as smoothly. And frustration among residents continues to mount.

"AS EXPECTED," one reader wrote with exasperation. "Don't bother calling for vaccine."