Avaya enables the Administration’s response to COVID-19, implementing remote work and successfully managing a 100% increase in inbound inquiries
Avaya, a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration, has enabled Israel’s Social Security Administration to successfully adopt remote work capabilities, expand contact center operations, and double the number of calls handled by its agents with Avaya OneCloud contact center.
Israel’s Social Security Administration runs service centers at four locations across the country, which operate seven days a week and provide information in three languages. COVID-19 put the Administration hotline in an unprecedented position, as it needed to rapidly introduce a remote work strategy while managing a dramatic increase in inbound calls of approximately 220,000 inquiries a day.
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To manage this surge without compromising customer experience, the agency required a platform that would streamline contact center processes and support the 700 service representatives working across its sites.
The Administration selected the Avaya OneCloud Contact Center platform with support from communications systems integrator and leading Avaya partner, ITNAVPro, which led the implementation. The secure, cloud-based Avaya platform provides the Administration with new automated features, including self-service, routing, agent tools, as well as workforce engagement capabilities and analytics, all of which were seamlessly integrated into its contact centers.
Since deploying the platform and expanding its existing Avaya collaboration and communications infrastructure, ISSA agents are now able to handle hundreds of thousands of enquiries each month, with 30 percent of these opting for self-service options now possible with Avaya.
In addition to helping the Administration quickly and easily transition hundreds of agents to work from anywhere after mandatory lockdowns and closures of physical offices, they were able to extend operating hours. Agents are also taking advantage of Avaya’s advanced analytics algorithm which advises them on optimal call back hours, including outside typical busy periods.
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Additional features that are driving efficiency gains across the Social Security Administration contact centers include: automatic voice response with independent services tailored around demand; a call-back function that performs 30,000 call-backs per day, helping reduce wait times; automated updates on place-in-queue to keep callers informed; integration with digital channels, including a service option via Facebook Messenger chat; call recording and more.
“The COVID-19 crisis created congestion in the Social Security Administration customer service centers, which people rely on to provide comprehensive responses to issues relevant to the crisis, such as unemployment benefits, grant payments and more,” said Yair Arieli, VP of Marketing, Sales and Business Development at ITNAVPro. “Avaya solutions have made it possible to effectively manage the volumes that come to service representatives and enable them to provide exceptional customer experience.”
“Israel’s Social Security Administration is responsible for helping millions across the country access essential services and information, a need that has dramatically increased in the face of the pandemic,” said Rafi Shkolnik, Avaya Israel. “The addition of flexible and secure cloud-based contact center capabilities has introduced new capabilities enabling the Administration to respond rapidly, while modernizing its contact centers throughout Israel for the long term.”
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