NORTH CAROLINA

CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER (CSC)

Goal: To assist callers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by using a state-of-the-art Customer Service Center (CSC) which provides the option of personalized service between the hours of 7:30 am - 7:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

Description: The North Carolina Child Support CSC has an Avaya Conversant (V8)Voice Response Unit (VRU). The system allows callers to obtain the following information or assistance 24 hours a day 7 days a week in both English and Spanish, using traditional touch-tone telephones or the Speech Activated menu which responds to a caller speaking their selection rather than entering digits:

• Verify last four payments received
• Verify last four payments processed
• Obtain Case Status
• Request Payment History
• Request Forms
• Verify Scheduled Hearings and/or Appointments
• Receive Rulings/Dispositions from Hearings and Appointments
• Obtain General Information on Child Support program
• Locate Child Support Offices - addresses and phone numbers
• Locate Clerk of Court - addresses and phone numbers

Callers can receive personalized assistance 12 hours a day, Monday - Friday, by selecting the appropriate option in the VRU or by speaking the option in the Speech Recognition Menu. Callers from other state agencies or employers have the option to by-pass the automated system and go directly to a representative.

The CSC handled over 7.2 million calls in 2002. Of those calls, 6 million (83.6%) were fully assisted by the Automated Voice Response System and did not require personalized service. The remaining 1.2 million (16.4%) opted to receive personalized service.

Results: By handling the vast majority of calls and inquiries automatically, the staff of 48 to 55 representatives and the supervisory staff of 11 at the CSC have enabled local offices to concentrate on establishment and enforcement of child support cases. This resulted in substantial increases in collections and enforcement of child support cases in NC.

Location: The Automated Voice Response System and personal assistance are accessible through local and toll-free numbers which will accept calls from anywhere in the United States. The Customer Service facility is located in Martin County which is in a rural area of NC. Locating the facility in a rural area fulfilled a secondary goal - economic development and employment opportunity in a rural county.

Funding: The State and Federal governments shared funding for equipment and initial start-up costs. One third of the funding was provided by the State and two thirds was provided by the Federal government. One year following implementation, the state assumed all costs.

Replication Advice: The project team for the CSC included individuals with backgrounds in Child Support, Information Technology and Call Center expertise. This diversity of industry experience is critical.

The facility was designed to include expansion space for future growth. This has been essential in adding new personnel as call volumes have increased. The CSC is equipped with 69 workstations, 55 of which are currently in use. In addition, there is capacity through excess wiring and phone capabilities to add additional work stations.

The Call Center designs included a training facility with 20 training stations and an instructor station. Adjacent, but separated with a removable soundproof partition, is a conference room. The training facility is equipped with all computer and telephone components necessary for effective initial and on-going instruction. When additional space is needed, the conference area can be opened and used in conjunction with the training area. When not in use by the staff on site, this training room can be utilized by other state agencies. It is routinely utilized by the state's Policy and Training unit for instructor-led classes required in the Northeast region.

The project planning team spent considerable time developing and implementing a disaster recovery plan and also a risk mitigation and contingency plan. These detailed plans allowed time prepare for events that may occur, allowed an opportunity to prevent certain events, and also established plans for the inevitable. Part of the disaster recovery plan includes a 350-gallon diesel generator that can keep the facility functional for up to 24+ hours in the event of a commercial power outage.

This careful planning has also allowed CSC to serve as a disaster assistance site for other local agencies and offices. Since opening, CSC assisted both DSS and local child support offices by taking all of their calls during a disaster when assistance was required by clients.

In the planning stages, information was limited on the anticipated number of calls the new facility would receive. Accurate forecasting of call volumes was not possible, although projections were made based on available data to determine needs. The project planned for a system that would not reach full capacity and would allow room for growth. Even with 96 ports available in the automated system and a capacity of up to 164 simultaneous calls (this includes calls waiting for a representative and those speaking with a representative), the CSC has found that more equipment is needed.

Contact:

State-level:

Elizabeth Harris,

Phone: (919) 255-3800

Email: elizabeth.harris@ncmail.net

On-Site:

Carolyn Dickerson

Operations Manager

Phone: (252) 789-5212

Email: carolyn.dickerson@ncmail.net