Cisco and ServiceNow have announced a new partnership aimed at improving COVID-19 contact tracing efforts. The integration of Cisco’s indoor location services platform, DNA Spaces, with ServiceNow’s contact tracing and workplace safety application is set to improve COVID-19 contact tracing efforts.
This integration will help businesses returning employees to the workplace by monitoring their workspaces closely for physical distancing. The company also added new capabilities to its ServiceNow Safe Workplace suite, making travel for business safer and more manageable.
Using the Wi-Fi network connections to employees’ laptops or mobile devices, proximity reporting from Cisco DNA Spaces will give tracers a better understanding of each interaction and potential exposure to floors and buildings across the workplace. This integration will allow joint customers of ServiceNow and Cisco to seamlessly import location-based data into the ServiceNow Contact Tracing app and identify potential interactions with an affected employee. Proximity reporting will come from Cisco’s DNA Spaces and ServiceNow’s Safe Workplace Suite, which also provides visualizations of collected data as well as a map that brings in aggregated public data on infection rates.
ServiceNow also recently added a new Employee Travel Safety app to its ServiceNow Safe Workplace Suite, which has garnered over 700 customers. Employee Safety App will help organizations give employees preliminary authorization for business travel based on their destination’s safety level. This also includes contact tracing check-ins on a daily basis, as well as health verifications beforehand to minimize exposure to the virus.
“Through the power of the Now Platform, we are helping our customers navigate this uncharted territory and solve the unique challenges that arise as a result of the pandemic so that companies and employees can feel confident and safe about returning to the workplace,” said Blake McConnell, Senior Vice President of Employee Workflow products at ServiceNow.
The integration will make it easier for customers to deploy and manage end-to-end return to workplace solutions, according to Rajesh Reddy, head of product for Cisco DNA Spaces, in a statement.
This collaboration will likely drive adoption of ServiceNow’s Contact Tracing app and boost its top line in the days ahead. The company’s shares have returned 66.1% year-to-date compared with the industry’s rally of 23.3%.
