USA Services is one of President
Bush’s 24 E-Government
projects, and is under
the direction of the
General Services Administration
(GSA). It is aimed at
creating a more citizen-centric,
results oriented government
by providing federal
agencies with a resource
to assist them in responding
to citizen inquiries.
It also provides citizens
with a one-stop point
of contact for obtaining
information from and
about Federal agencies.
USA
Services
is multi-channel
in nature,
meaning
users
can
interact
with
agencies
via
fax,
e-mail,
telephone,
and
postal
mail.
It is
being
built
on the
foundation
of these
successful
information
providers,
each
of which
has
been
providing
comprehensive
access
to federal
information
and
services
within
its
particular
medium: USA.gov (for
Web
services);
the National
Contact
Center at
1-800-FED-INFO
(for
telephone
and
e-mail
services);
and
the Federal
Citizen
Information
Center in
Pueblo,
Colo.
(for
publications).
Interior’s
Pilot
Beginning July 1, 2003,
the Department of the
Interior (DOI) partnered
with the General Services
Administration to pilot
the USA Services concept.
Two bureaus within Interior,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) and the
Office of Surface Mining
(OSM) worked with GSA
and its contractor,
Aspen Systems, Inc.,
to direct telephone
and e-mail inquiries
to USA Services for
response on behalf of
the two bureaus. FWS
and OSM employees work
closely with USA Service
agents to ensure that
citizen inquiries are
addressed accurately,
courteously, and in
a timely manner.
Statistics
Between July 1 and August
1, 2003, USA Services
handled more than 9,200
telephone inquiries
on behalf of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
About 60 percent of
these were addressed
using an Interactive
Voice Response (IVR)
system (telephone phone
tree). About 3,700 were “live
assistance” calls,
meaning that agents
spoke to customers personally.
Only 362 of these inquiries
were forwarded to FWS
employees for handling.
Between
July
15 and
August
1, 2003,
USA
Services
handled
98 telephone
inquiries
on behalf
of the
Office
of Surface
Mining.
About
60 percent
of the
calls
were
addressed
using
the
IVR
and
37 were
handled
by agents
as “live
assistance” calls.
Fifteen
calls
were
forwarded
to OSM
employees
for
handling.
In
both
cases,
average
handling
time
per
call
was
about
4 minutes.
Citizen
Feedback
and
Quality
Assurance
Citizen feedback obtained
between July 1 and August
1, 2003 has been positive.
USA Services is helping
Interior address inquiries
more quickly and accurately
than ever before! In
addition, DOI and GSA
employees monitor calls
between USA Services
agents and citizens
on a regular basis to
ensure that inquiries
are being handled in
a high-quality manner.
Adjustments are made
as opportunities for
improvement are identified.
Overall, Interior has
been pleased with the
service provided thus
far.
DOI
Points
of
Contact
for
the
USA
Services
Pilot
For more information about
Interior’s experiences
with USA Services, contact:
Sheri
Harris,
Office
of the
Secretary,
Office
of Planning
and
Performance
Management
Tel: (202) 208 - 7342
e-mail: sheri_harris@ios.doi.gov
Interested
in
Participating
in
a
USA
Services
Pilot?
If your agency is interested
in partnering with GSA
to pilot USA Services,
contact:
Stuart
Willoughby
Tel: (202) 501 - 9121
e-mail: stuart.willoughby@gsa.gov
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