Helping Governments Serve People Through Contact Centers

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, known as the federal stimulus plan, was passed in February to stimulate employment, certain critical economic sectors and U.S. consumer spending. ARRA provides nearly $787 billion in tax cuts and government spending, and spending provisions require agencies to get projects under way within 30 to 60 days of enactment. Agencies will have a higher touch with citizens through new and enhanced services, but face larger program volumes and workload.

“In times of economic downturn, there is always an increased demand from citizens for government services such as unemployment benefits and applications for student aid,” said David Ensor, HP U.S. Public Sector practice lead for contact centers. “With the increased demand comes an increased workload for agencies. Citizens expect services to be delivered quickly and accurately. Staying ahead of this volume while still providing quality service is a key concern for organizations.”

Government agencies also want to address this concern without jeopardizing security and citizen privacy. And with the current Administration's priorities focused on environmental sustainability and efficient energy usage, the use of home-based contact agents can help reduce agencies' energy costs. HP manages a range of interactions from general inquiry transactions to complex end-to-end, high-value service interactions. Agencies are supported by a centrally managed and consistent set of contact center technologies, part of a highly controllable, secure and repeatable contact center infrastructure that enables a virtual contact center environment.

High Touch Citizen-Centric Services

While specific contact center programs are not highlighted in the stimulus plan, Ensor said federal, state and local governments are being tasked to distribute more benefits at an unprecedented level in a short period of time. Combined with the Obama Administration's technical savvy and emphasis on customer service, HP anticipates significant growth in contact centers this year. The stimulus plan will create a large increase to the programmatic workload of federal, state and local agencies, with a new set of reporting and risk management requirements and limited funding.

“HP can help agencies improve service quality for citizens, deal with increased contact volumes (phone, email, web chat, fax), and reduce the cost of operations,” Ensor said. “Agencies can then focus on cost savings and meeting transparency and accountability requirements.”

Leverageable IT, Flexible Staffing

For both commercial and government clients, HP supports 144 contact centers with 27,000 agents in 48 languages in 30 countries. In the U.S. federal government market, HP has 5,000 contact center agents supporting a number of agencies. HP also supports state and local governments, including Medicaid processing in 22 states and unemployment insurance services in many others. HP provides high-quality, leverageable information technology infrastructure and flexible staffing models.

HP is a leader in outsourcing services, and was recently honored for the fifth consecutive year by CRM magazine in its 2009 Service Awards. HP is the only company to be named an Outsourcing Services Leader every year since the 2005 inception of the CRM Service Awards.

“There are many things we can provide government organizations that support people, processes and technology,” Ensor said. “Our strength is our ability to take a difficult challenge, make it simple and help our clients find a way to obtain what they need across each of these domains to resolve their business issues.”

Whether an organization has a short-term project, such as for an immediate or urgent need following a natural disaster, or is planning for an anticipated long-term increase in business, HP helps agencies meet their contact center needs effectively and efficiently.

Easy Procurement Through USA Contact

Government agencies can procure services from HP through the USA Contact contract vehicle, which provides a wide range of automated and manual customer support services for contact center solutions, including answering telephone and email inquiries, establishing automated responses, and enhancing Web capabilities.

HP won the first task order issued under USA Contact, for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). HP is providing outbound calling services and inbound callback support to facilitate the Combat Veteran Call Center outreach and education campaign to make veterans more aware of healthcare services and benefits (see press release). HP also provides contact center services for a variety of government agencies, including the Arkansas BreastCare program.

“Whether an agency needs to manage and staff a call center for short- or long-term fluctuations in call volumes, HP ramps up accordingly,” Ensor said. “We furnish facilities, personnel, equipment, supplies and services to meet the requirements of the task orders received from agencies.”