QUESTION
What efforts are being made to address the issue of applicants struggling to get through on the phone?
1:21:27
·
104 sec
The Department of Social Services is actively monitoring wait times and reallocating staff to maintain manageable phone wait lines, with an average wait time of one to one and a half hours.
- Wait times are closely monitored, and staff are reallocated from processing to answering calls if wait times increase.
- The average wait time on the phone has been reduced to one to one and a half hours, shorter than in-person wait times.
- A callback function is available to manage wait times effectively.
- Sharing specific cases with the department can help in identifying and resolving issues.
- Daily staff reallocations and monitoring for trends are carried out to ensure wait times remain within target thresholds.
Diana I. Ayala
1:21:27
And what what what have you heard about this whole situation with the phone because I think that since I've been in the council, this has been, like, a constant, the complaints from applicants that they cannot get through on the phone.
1:21:41
I mean, it just keeps coming up, but overhearing.
1:21:44
So I don't know that it's been resolved.
Molly Wasow Park
1:21:46
I say, it is something that we monitor our wait times incredibly carefully.
1:21:50
And we will move staff around so that they are if the wait line wait times do seem to be creeping up.
1:21:56
We will move people off of processing and move them to the phones so that we are making sure that wait times are staying balanced.
1:22:04
Consistently on the cash side an hour to an hour a half.
1:22:07
That's not a short wait time, but it is shorter than when people were going in person.
1:22:13
And as I say, we do have that callback function.
1:22:16
I would encourage you if you have specific people who are saying that they can't get through.
1:22:23
If you could share names with us offline, that would be really helpful.
1:22:27
You know, sometimes reverse engineering can help identify if there's an issue, but administrative friction you wanna add.
Scott French
1:22:36
Commissioner, I think you did get it.
1:22:37
And I would just say, you know, every morning the team looks at where the needs are and they will move things around.
1:22:43
So if there is a high phone call volume.
1:22:45
They'll move more staff there to keep the wait times within the hour and an hour a half, but it's definitely something that we look at consistently.
1:22:53
And look at to find any trends that might be there where we need to dig a little bit deeper.
1:22:57
But I would emphasize for both you and others in the community if there's specifics where individuals are having challenges with the phone.
1:23:04
It is good for us to know that so that we can also look on our side to see if there is some type of issue we just weren't aware.
1:23:10
Care of.
Diana I. Ayala
1:23:10
Okay.
