This is not how we expected to launch Ovvy.

Like you, we’ve been glued to our screens watching the horrific news around the coronavirus. It’s astonishing how quickly our lives have changed with practicing physical distancing, virtually checking in with loved ones, and preparing for worsening conditions. How we view work has changed too. Being able to focus on projects to give ourselves an escape of sorts has been invaluable.

When we built Ovvy, we knew that easier overrides would make the on-call experience a little less cumbersome. Overrides were an occasional, but necessary thing—a vacation, or a birthday, or a doctor’s appointment. Maybe, a quick walk with the puppy around the block. With everything happening, we had to accept a new reason for overrides.

With the dread and grief we’ve been feeling, we’re trying to convert some of that energy into something helpful for our community. We know the real work is on the front lines: doctors, nurses, medical staff, public transportation, grocery and warehouse workers. A Slack bot to improve on-call scheduling is a drop in a vast ocean. Still, hearing the stories, we want to answer the underlying call that we all have to do our part.

We work to improve Ovvy in hopes of supporting developers and their teams—to keep rotations resilient as our peers face the challenges of tending to themselves and their loved ones. Life has already become more complex, and if we can help people have their day be a bit smoother, we’re proud to do that.

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