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Seattle company improves calls for national human trafficking hotline

A Seattle company is trying to make sure every call can get through.
Seattle-based communications tech company Flowroute says two years ago they started a partnership with Polaris to push the lines of phone innovation and help the team fighting human trafficking. (Photo: KING)

The problem of human trafficking is getting more attention across the country. A national hotline, run out of Washington, D.C., is a one-stop-shop where victims can reach out, and those who want to report it can connect to police.

It's a call that could save a life, a possible victim or someone reporting human trafficking. And the last thing you want is a problem with the connection.

Seattle-based communications tech company Flowroute says two years ago they started a partnership with Polaris to push the lines of phone innovation and help the team fighting human trafficking.

“Being able to help non-profit organizations execute their mission is a source of pride," Chief Technology Officer William King explained.

Engineers have two goals: make the calls more reliable and improve sound quality.

“You can't really assume that the person calling the hotline is going to be in ideal conditions,” King explained. “They may have background noise; they may be whispering and have bad reception. So a lot of our innovations were around how do we keep the call-up.”

They also provide more details about the call than a typical phone report would show.

“We have information on where calls originate, we use it mostly to combat fraud and abuse in the network, but what's really helpful is being able to provide more information to an operator."

The company says their secret involves ditching the old hardware model of how phone companies work.

“Doing everything in software gives us the ability to innovate at the speed of a local tech company instead of a legacy telco company," King said.

In just the first half of 2017, nearly 14,000 calls came into the hotline. Engineers are in constant communication with the Human Trafficking Hotline hoping that by improving their own technology, they’re making a difference for those in a vulnerable position.

If you want to report human trafficking, that phone number is 1-888-373-7888 or you can send a text message to 233733.

Related resources:

National Human Trafficking Hotline

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