Tax Administration: Making IRS' Telephone Systems Easier to Use Should Help Taxpayers
GGD-96-74
Published: Mar 11, 1996. Publicly Released: Mar 11, 1996.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) development and use of interactive telephone systems to improve customer service, focusing on IRS efforts to: (1) make the phone systems easy to use; (2) protect taxpayer data; and (3) assign owners that would provide developers with systems requirements information.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the appropriate officials to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the actions needed to overcome the problems caused by too many menu options, including using multiple toll-free numbers and providing taxpayers with a written, detailed step-by-step description on how to use the interactive systems' menu options. |
An update to this report was issued on July 13, 1998 (GGD-98-152).These recommendations should be closed. Detailed written instructions on how to use the interactive applications and the menus were provided to taxpayers in the 1997 tax packages. Significant benefits have occurred since the nationwide roll-out of Telephone Routing Interactive Systems (TRIS) in October 1997. These include: (1) reviewing procedures established for various applications to adjust them to benefit taxpayers; (2) researching reasons why callers default or hang up; (3) working with a contractor to define problems with TRIS and identifying menus and scripts that may be limiting caller use; (4) expanding marketing efforts; (5) improving scripts and enhancing applications; and (6) reevaluating costs and benefits of TRIS. A status report is being provided to GAO on IRS' efforts to improve TRIS by December 31, 1998.
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Computer securityCost effectiveness analysisCustomer serviceElectronic data interchangePersonal identification numbersSystems conversionsSystems designTax administration systemsTaxpayersTelephones