LINE Taiwan has been very active in the fight against COVID-19 since very early on in the outbreak, instituting a wide range of measures for employees and users alike. A task force was formed in early February to ensure a full range of measures was quickly deployed, including a daily temperature check for all employees at the building entrance, emergency contact network drills, and lots of hand sanitizer.
For example, the company’s big year-end party—typically a major event for Taiwanese businesses—was replaced with a livestreaming lucky draw. The number of external meetings and visits by external visitors was sharply reduced. Plus, work-from-home measures were rolled out.
Roger Chen, managing director of LINE Taiwan, conducting a lucky draw as part of the office’s year-end celebrations
Additionally, LINE Taiwan quickly realized that LINE’s products and services had the potential to really help its 23 million user base. It launched Mask Map for its LINE SPOT service, allowing users to search for nearby pharmacies where they could buy surgical masks. LINE TODAY teamed up with the Central Epidemic Command Center, to ensure the fast release of accurate information about COVID-19. And, a Ministry of Health and Welfare OA is using a chatbot to remind people under self-monitoring to report their body temperature daily (instead of the government needing to telephone everyone individually). More customized features will be released with this chatbot to ease the workload on the health care program.
Furthermore, to ensure users receive the official information from the government, LINE Taiwan partnered with eight local creators to launch a set of stickers, which users can download for free after they befriend the Ministry of Health and Welfare OA. The stickers allow users to share the right ways of protecting themselves from COVID-19, such as washing hands with soap frequently, putting on a mask if they have flu-like symptoms, and not touching their eyes, nose and mouth. Over 1.35 million users downloaded the stickers within 12 hours of their launch.
"In such an extraordinary situation, we felt we had to take extraordinary measures to protect our employees," said Roger Chen, the managing director of LINE Taiwan. "We also felt we had to leverage our strength to help all of our users in Taiwan. The fight against the spread of COVID-19 is a serious battle so we will continue to mobilize our resources to support public health at this important time."
Employees at LINE Taiwan brainstorming additional safety measures