AT&T (NYSE: T) Government Solutions has once again found itself in the General Services Administration's (GSA) Networx Universal contract vehicle spotlight as it won a fair opportunity award to deploy the Citizens Access Routing Enterprise (CARE) through 2020 contact call center solution for the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Under the terms of the $286 million award, SSA will be able to issue specific task orders for an IP-based interactive voice response (IVR) automation and contact call center solution through the agency's national toll free number.
Along with supporting its 66,000 employee base, the new IVR system will be able to support the 80 million calls that are placed to its national toll free number annually. Out of that 80 million number, 30 million of those calls are served by automation while 50 million are served directly by SSA agents.
Although the SSA will dole out $703 billion in benefits this year, call volume at the agency will rise as more of the U.S. population reaches retirement age.
"With the influx of Baby Boomers looming, the agency will need a reliable contact call center solution to meet increased demand," said Thomas Harvey, Senior Vice President, AT&T Government Solutions in release. "The CARE through 2020 contact center will play a central role in connecting citizens with SSA, helping the agency meet new performance goals, while providing flexibility to support additional growth and new technologies and services."
Among the many new services created through the CARE program are Web Callback, "Click to Talk", Web Collaboration, and Web Chat. The new MPLS-based system will also enable SSA to to improve interaction with its citizen clientele with an enhanced reporting system that incorporates data from multiple sources and real-time network indicators.
While federal government agencies migration to GSA Networx Universal contract awards hasn't exactly happened as quickly as expected, the SSA contract is another large agency the public sector can cite as they make their own transition off the FTS-2001 contract to Networx.
For more:
- see the release
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