Prospective mixed-methods study evaluating the potential of a voicebot (CovBot) to relieve German health authorities during the COVID-19 infodemic.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, telephone hotlines of local health authorities in Germany were overloaded due to information requests by the public.

Objective: Evaluating the use of a COVID-19-specific voicebot (CovBot) in local health authorities in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigates the performance of the CovBot by assessing a perceptible relief of staff in the hotline service.