The Social Security Administration (SSA) said this week it is clearing key milestones in its ongoing efforts to improve customer service, driven by technology enhancements to the agency’s phone platform and website.
In a July 7 press release, the agency said that it is continuing to upgrade SSA’s telephone technology nationwide, as well as the “my Social Security” online portal.
“My top priority is to transform SSA into a model of excellence – an organization that operates at peak efficiency and delivers outstanding service to every American,” said SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano.
“The American people have waited long enough for better service, and they deserve the absolute best from their government. I am deeply grateful to our dedicated employees who are already making this turnaround a reality,” he added.
SSA said that it has deployed the new telephone technology platform to 841 field offices – representing 70 percent of field offices nationwide. Bisignano told lawmakers during a hearing last month that this effort “will get finished in August.”
The agency said it is reducing the “average speed of answer” on the 800 number to 13 minutes, marking a 35 percent reduction compared to this time last year and over a 50 percent reduction compared to last year’s annual average.
Additionally, SSA said that it is optimizing technology on the 800 number “so that 90 percent of calls handled are now served via automated self-service options or convenient callbacks, minimizing hold times.”
The agency also announced that it will upgrade the “my Social Security” online portal to provide uninterrupted, 24/7 access to customers starting in mid-July.
Bisignano teased this effort at last month’s hearing, telling lawmakers that the website currently has scheduled downtime that amounts to about 18 percent of the total hours in a week.
“That’s totally unacceptable for serving the public. That will change in the next two months through technology enhancements,” he said on June 25. “I think that’s a lot of opportunity lost to serve the public the way they want to be served. I don’t know many websites that schedule 29 hours of downtime.”
SSA also announced that it has decreased its initial disability claims backlog by 25 percent, from a record high of 1.2 million cases pending last summer to 950,000 cases pending today.
Finally, the agency said it has achieved a historic low of about 276,000 disability hearings pending, with customers experiencing wait times 60 days shorter than last summer.