Federal Contact Centers: Mechanism for Sharing Metrics and Oversight Practices along with Improved Data Needed
GAO-06-270
Published: Feb 08, 2006. Publicly Released: Mar 10, 2006.
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Highlights
Federal agencies have increasingly relied on contact centers--centers handling inquiries via multiple channels such as telephone, Web page, e-mail, and postal mail--as a key means of communicating with the public. Many of these centers are contractor-operated. Concerns exist about the accuracy of responses provided through contractor-operated centers. This report examines (1) the extent to which the contract terms and oversight practices for contact centers at selected agencies emphasize the importance of providing accurate information to the public, and (2) whether guidance for the operation of contact centers and basic information needed to provide general oversight exist. GAO reviewed one contractor-operated contact center at each of six agencies: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), General Services Administration (GSA), U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and the Departments of Defense, Labor, and Education (DOD, DOL, and Education).
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected Sort descending | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| General Services Administration | To improve the quality of information about federal contact centers, the Administrator of General Services should ensure that further efforts to develop governmentwide data on contact center operations--such as the survey planned for next year--employ sound methodologies to ensure that the resulting information is representative of the activities across the government. |
Closed – Implemented
GSA administered a new survey in 2006-2007 entitled the "Government Wide Assessment of Citizen Service Activities." The survey methodology for this new effort was improved and offset the weaknesses we identified in GSA's original survey. Specifically, in the current survey GSA: (1) attempted to obtain information from the universe of contact centers for the executive branch agencies, as opposed to the quarter of then-known entities in the preceding survey; (2) received a significantly increased number of responses than the predecessor survey in both department/agency and activity coverage as the 2007 survey had responses from 35 major departments/agencies (all 15 executive-level, 19 independent, and 1 quasi-independent) representing 6,500 activities versus 2004 had responses from 29 agencies (12 cabinet-level and 17 independent) representing 1,828 activities; and (3) performed follow-up with non-responding departments/agencies. As such, GSA took steps to ensure its latest attempt to gather governmentwide data on contact centers provided information that is more representative of the universe.
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| Office of Management and Budget | To facilitate the sharing of sound oversight practices for the operation of contact centers, to help ensure that providing accurate information to the public by contact centers is a priority outcome, and to improve the quality of information gathered about these centers, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget should, building on efforts begun by the GSA-sponsored interagency committee, work with agencies to develop a mechanism for sharing performance metrics and oversight practices for contact centers. Continued efforts should stress that providing accurate information to the public needs to be a key factor in the oversight of federal contact centers. |
Closed – Implemented
OMB has not yet provided any information to support whether it has taken action. In August 2009 an OMB official provided us with the following response: "The Government Contact Center Council (G3C) was established in February 2008 following a Government-wide assessment of citizen services conducted between the summer of 2006 to the summer of 2007 by GSA. G3C, which is comprised of representatives of about 35 federal offices and is chaired by GSA (The Office of Citizen Services and Communications), meets once a month to share best practices and increase networking of leaders, managers, and directors of contact centers. " In GSA's response (9/28/10), a GSA official stated that The Government Contact Center Council (G3C) was established in February 2008 by the USA Services initiative under the management of the Office of Citizen Services , GSA. As an initiative under the oversight and guidance of OMB's Office of E-Government and Information Technology, USA Services was encouraged to initiate a number of government-wide leadership activities to promote a more citizen-centric environment and raise the level of customer service throughout government. OMB provides guidance and support to USA Services and G3C which includes support for the Government-wide Assessment of Citizen Service Activities and a new federal data collection survey on customer service that will report on levels of agency call center, web and walk in activities.
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| Office of Management and Budget | To facilitate the sharing of sound oversight practices for the operation of contact centers, to help ensure that providing accurate information to the public by contact centers is a priority outcome, and to improve the quality of information gathered about these centers, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget should take steps to ensure consistent reporting on contact centers by developing an industry category or specific code definition in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) that encompasses all the services provided by contact centers or by providing further instruction to agencies regarding the appropriate NAICS code to use for contact centers. |
Closed – Implemented
On March 16, 2006, OMB published its notice of final decisions regarding the 2007 NAICS revisions in the Federal Register. The revisions included changing the title of NAICS industry code 561422 from "Telemarketing Bureaus" to "Telemarketing Bureaus and Other Contact Centers" to more accurately reflect the industry. Although no content is changed, the title was revised, as OMB stated to reflect the actual activities undertaken and the various technologies used. An OMB official stated that this change was made in response to GAO's recommendation.
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