1. Call Center Best Practices and Innovations

2. Iowa’s Customer Service Structure
Iowa’s UI Benefits Department has 15 full time dedicated staff members who solely answer calls
Typically we will pull 5 to 10 adjudicators to help
We utilize W/P staff in the field offices all throughout the state as provided by the district managers on an ongoing basis
Iowa’s UI Tax Department has 4 full time dedicate staff members who solely answer calls
During reporting time we require our account maintenance staff to answer calls as well
Management have detailed planning on when to staff heavy versus light for each month
Closely watch the trends

3. Training
Staffing the phones with projected numbers is key and getting those staff members trained makes you successful
All UI Benefits staff get trained in basic and advanced claims
The UI Benefits trainers train the W/P staff who help with UI in those offices
The UI Tax staff who solely answer the calls get trained on the basics of account maintenance and limited basic field audit questions
As of May 2016 we now record all customer service phone calls (and adjudication) that can be used for training purposes
We will begin to incorporate specific customer service etiquette training into our curriculum over the next year

4. Equipment Iowa uses the Cisco VOIP system
This allows us to place phones in all of our offices through the state for adequate coverage
Gives us detailed reports on call numbers, employee participation, etc.
Allows management to have a scrolling dashboard throughout the day to check on calls in queue
Allow us to store our recordings for a year

5. August 2015 to August 2016 Data

6. Language and Future
Iowa does not have specific employees who handle languages outside of English
We instead use CTS Language Link and have been happy with their service over the past 4 years
Working on improving the customer service IVR to better prepare staff in regards to needed translation
Want to survey the customer experience
Try to lower the abandoned rates and times
Continue to find the right mixture of answer rates for staffing