Extending a Lifeline: Making 988 Possible

When experiencing a mental health crisis, two minutes is too long to wait to talk to a counselor.

In situations like these, every second matters. That’s why Vibrant Emotional Health and Mosaicx made it a priority to make the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline more accessible and faster to respond. Now, help seekers—individuals reaching out for support—can be connected to a counselor in less than 30 seconds, and there are more ways to connect than ever before.

The Challenge

In collaboration with the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Vibrant helped establish The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) in 2005. Over the next ten years, calls to the Lifeline grew and Vibrant worked to scale the resource. In 2015, Vibrant partnered with Mosaicx to introduce a call routing solution for the NSPL, to help manage an ever-increasing volume of crisis calls and enhance crisis support accessibility.

Over the years, Vibrant and Mosaicx made continuous improvements to expand the NSPL. None was more monumental than in 2020, when they successfully lobbied Congress to designate 988 as the universal telephone number for the purpose of suicide prevention and other mental health crisis response services.

It was a major win, but the work wasn’t over. To make the biggest impact, the solution needed to support the following capabilities:

• Accept calls, texts, chats and video.
• Route to county-specific resources from anywhere in the United States.
• Create a single path for contacting multiple mental health crisis lines.
• Enable a brand-new abbreviated dialing code.
• Complete it all within a federally mandated timeline.

Together, Vibrant and Mosaicx recognized the challenge ahead and embarked on this mission to transform crisis care accessibility.

“Mosaicx is just a trusted partner for me,” says Grant Riewe, CTO of Vibrant. “There are very few partners that I can say are there when I need them, 24/7, 365 and are willing to get in the boat with me to revolutionize how telephony works in the United States for the purpose of providing people better access to crisis mental health care."

This direct communication keeps the support system strong and responsive, making sure help-seekers get the care they need when it matters most.

The Solution

Mosaicx implemented an intelligent routing system with features tailored to Vibrant's unique needs:

• Call Mapping: Routing help seekers to resources in their specific county, ensuring localized support across 5,000+ U.S. counties.

• Customized Menus: Options for help seekers to select specialized services (including the Veteran Crisis Line, Spanish-language support, LGBTQIA Youth Support Line), including region-specific services (e.g. Native and Strong Lifeline).

• Traffic and News Monitoring: 24/7 alerts of potential spikes, ensuring counselors are ready when needed most.

Given the critical nature of crisis support, the reliability and response of Mosaicx’ tools and team are paramount. Vibrant’s ability to reach Mosaicx at any time is critical to maintaining the integrity and immediacy of the Lifeline.

"As you might imagine, in my business, when something goes wrong, I need to reach someone right then, and I’ve never failed to reach the Mosaicx person that I've needed to reach when I needed to reach them to restore a critical service," Riewe said.

Swift and reliable connections can be life-changing in critical moments.

The Results

By 2022, 988 was available everywhere in the United States. The impact for the service—now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline—has been nothing short of transformative:

• Over 10 million contacts handled in the first two years.

• Connection times slashed from over 2 minutes to under a minute, often under 30 seconds – an improvement of up to 400%.

• Expanded access across multiple channels: calls, chats, texts, and video.

These results have been driven by the creation of new access pathways, integrating more crisis centers into their network than any other organization. Mosaicx complements this mission by providing the technologies that help Vibrant expand access to care.

“Being a partner with Vibrant in the 988 solution, and all the other things Vibrant does, has been one of the most rewarding accomplishments and projects in my career,” said David Araiza, senior strategic account manager at Mosaicx. “It’s very nice to know that as a partner, they’re trusting me to ensure that anything they need is always at their fingertips.”

The Future

Vibrant and Mosaicx aren't stopping there. The two companies align their product roadmaps, working closely to set goals and design services that support evolving needs.

“We share with them what we have coming in the next 24 months, and they come to us and say, ‘Hey, these are things that we will need in 24 months,’” Araiza said.

The partners are on the cusp of launching geo-routing services, which will identify a help seeker's physical location and map it to the nearest crisis center – crucial in a country where people are constantly on the move and someone’s current location doesn’t match their phone number’s area code.

"The things that we have been involved in over the past 10 years have been phenomenal. The things we are doing this year are unbelievable," Riewe said. "This is a partnership because of the shared mission we have to get more people the access to mental crisis health care they need in the moment they need it."

In a world where mental health challenges are on the rise, Vibrant and Mosaicx have proven that technology, when applied with compassion and expertise, can literally save lives. These last two years have seen more expansion in access to care than ever before. This partnership shows that with the right tools and commitment, we can create a future where help is never more than seconds away.

About the Companies

About Mosaicx

Mosaicx is a cloud-based product that uses conversational AI, machine learning, and natural language processing technologies to automate interactions with customers and employees. By combining advanced technologies and human expertise, Mosaicx enhances communication and support services. Partnering with organizations like Vibrant Emotional Health, Mosaicx uses intelligent routing to improve access to critical care, making a significant impact on mental health crisis support.

About Vibrant

For 50 years, Vibrant Emotional Health has been at the forefront of promoting emotional well-being for all people. As leaders, advocates, educators, and innovators in mental health, Vibrant has been raising awareness and offering support to everyone who is struggling. Every single day, Vibrant works to help save lives and assist people in getting care anytime, anywhere, and in any way that works for them. Vibrant is unwavering in the belief that everyone can achieve emotional wellness with the right care and support.