The 1890 of Sowalfin, the information desk for (future) Walloon entrepreneurs, was a big success in 2020, the Sudpresse group said on Saturday. “While the telephone exchange recorded 1,260 requests by telephone in 2019, more than 60,000 calls were handled in 2020 (as of November 30), or 51 times more,” said Emmanuelle Gendebien, responsible for the communication department and 1890 .be, à la Sowalfin. Launched two years ago, the 1890 is both a website (www.1890.be) and a telephone number.
With regard to the number of visits to the 1890.be site, the number of page views has increased fourfold and the number of visitors by three, reaching recently 350,000 annual visitors. At the height of its traffic, the website received 31,000 visitors in one day, with an annual average of 1,000 daily visitors.
“Like the growing number of visitors to the 1890.be site, the use of the telephone line has really exploded. The 1890 has become the single point of contact in Wallonia for all questions relating to Covid indemnities. While the telephone exchange counted 1,260 requests by telephone in 2019, more than 60,000 calls were handled in 2020 (as of November 30), or 51 times more. At peak attendance, the 1890 handled up to 1,500 daily calls. massive influx of questions (mainly related to the coronavirus), the 1890 has become exclusively reachable by telephone, ”explained Emmanuelle Gendebien.