Covid-19: Telangana Government now informs via WhatsApp

Posted April 6, 2020

Fighting the spread of fake news around the coronavirus (Covid-19) and keeping Telangana’s citizens always informed and up-to-date about the latest developments and measures, as well as helping them stay safe and protected, is the key concept of the newly launched WhatsApp chatbot powered by MessengerPeople.

Fast updates and useful information via WhatsApp

The aim of the Telangana State Government chatbot is to keep its citizens constantly and accurately informed about the current Covid-19 situation. To reach everyone in the best possible way, the chatbot runs on India’s favorite messaging app WhatsApp and is available in English, in the official state language Telugu, as well as in Urdu language.

We built this interactive WhatsApp Chatbot to provide useful updates to citizens.

“The Government of Telangana has established a dedicated Coronavirus helpline for citizens to receive accurate information on the pandemic. We are doing everything we can to keep our citizens safe in these challenging times and urge everyone to stay indoors and ensure they rely only on verified channels of information.” said Sri KT Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Industries and MAUD.

Citizens can ask via WhatsApp

There are many uncertainties and questions around the Covid-19 pandemic and the symptoms of coronavirus. Citizens of the State of Telangana have the possibility to chat with their government via WhatsApp and receive valuable information. With this service, the state sets a clear sign against the spread of fake news and instead helping its citizens to quickly receive accurate information and updates.

The chatbot starts with a simple preset message and opens an extensive menu, informing about the current status on Covid-19, lockdown measures by the Telangana State, more details about health facilities and isolation centres, typical coronavirus symtomps and a lot more.

Simply send “Hi” or “Hello” or “COVID” to +91-9000658658 in a WhatsApp message to get started, or they can simply click the link https://wa.me/919000658658?text=Hi to initiate the conversation.

: Available in English, Telugu , and Urdu

: COVID-19 chatbot menu

: Telangana State Government informs via WhatsApp

Bot has just launched and citizens already give many likes, retweets and positive comments!

The service has just been launched, and information about it has already been retweeted many times. The citizens are happy to finally have a news source to trust and a service channel where they can ask their questions.

Telangana Govt. has partnered with @WhatsApp to build a dedicated Chatbot for citizens to receive accurate information on the #Covid19 pandemic. Urge everyone to rely only on verified channels of information. Click the link to start chatting with the bot: https://t.co/bPzEiYYSjI pic.twitter.com/gkwFqjgqBk

— Minister for IT, Industries, MA & UD, Telangana (@MinisterKTR) April 6, 2020

Some of the feedback of the citizen:

Thank u sir for the great initiative. Hope this keeps all kinds of rumors at bay. Very much needed for citizens to get the info directly.

Another user writes:

Excellent bot. Very intuitive and easy to use

Corona Info Chatbot powered by MessengerPeople

The automatic chat service essentially consists of a ChatBot system that can be implemented for WhatsApp and various other messenger systems. This COVID-19 chatbot service for Telangana State Government was built by SB technologies, a local Hyderabad based Software company and is powered by the technology of Munich-based messenger service provider MessengerPeople.

By the way, did you know that many State Governments around the world already inform their citizens via messaging app on coronavirus updates? Click and read more.

This quick video shows you how intuitive and easy to use the Telangana State Government Covid-19 chatbot really is:

Deploy WhatsApp in customer & crisis communications quickly, securely and effectively

With our software solution, the “ Messenger Communication Platform “, you can…

👨‍⚖️ … use WhatsApp and other messaging apps fully GDPR compliant for your customer service
🚀… start immediately and without any IT efforts necessary – even out of home office!
💻… edit and reply to all messages centrally – no matter from which messaging app they were sent
↔ … assign tickets manually or automatically via autorouting to your colleagues in charge
🤖 … easily set up automations with the help of our chatbot builder
💰 … use the No. 1 communication channel effectively and at a fair pricing and without a set-up fee for maximum personal digital consulting!

Find more articles about the use of messaging apps during the corona crisis here.