Santa Tracker: Amazon partners with NORAD to track Santa Claus

Knowing where Santa is on Christmas Eve is almost as important as what he is bringing. You can imagine all the queries Team Santa receives on his whereabouts as he and the reindeer make their annual spin around the globe. Mostly, it’s some version of, “When are you getting to my house?”

But, Santa is too busy dropping off presents to give his ETA to everyone who asks, and besides, estimating the arrival of a sleigh and eight or so reindeer moving at what is likely hypersonic speed is no simple task. Unless you are the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which does that kind of thing all day long.

Usually, NORAD keeps its data to itself, but this is Santa, so they have set up their annual NORAD Tracks Santa site to share tracking data. Beginning at 6 a.m. EST on December 24, kids (and kids at heart) can receive live updates on Santa’s whereabouts by calling the toll-free number, 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723).

Which begs the question: Who is answering what NORAD estimates are more than 150,000 calls? As established, Santa is very busy, the elves are exhausted, and the reindeer don’t like to talk on the phone. The answer is: 1,250 American and Canadian uniformed personnel and Department of Defense civilian volunteers, using the cloud-based contact service Amazon Connect.

When on-site volunteers become busy, NORAD can simply transfer Santa-tracking queries to volunteers working remotely. Remote volunteers make it possible to take thousands of additional calls about Santa’s whereabouts from children all over the world.