Citizens increasingly demand a level of customer service from government that many federal agencies currently are not equipped to provide. The Federal Government operates in an environment where each agency is focused on its own operations, rather than the total citizen experience across agencies. As a result, citizens needing to transact business with the government are often forced to deal with multiple, distinct organizations and receive inconsistent and conflicting information from agency contacts.
One of 24 Presidential E-Government initiatives, USA Services plays an integral role in the President’s Management Agenda. Managed by the Office of Citizen Services and Communications (OCSC) in the General Services Administration (GSA), the mission of USA Services is to present citizens with a single “front door” for government, allowing them to receive accurate, timely and consistent answers and information. USA Services uses the existing infrastructure of the Federal Citizen Information Center and the FirstGov.gov portal to develop citizen-centric solutions that improve the ease with which citizens can interact with the government and acts as a citizen customer service solution provider for other federal agencies and E-Government initiatives. In particular, USA Services:
- Improves services to citizens, allowing them to get information from federal agencies in both English and Spanish via Internet, publications, telephone, and e-mail in a privacy-protected environment.
- Provides call tracking to partner agencies for improved quality service and timeliness in responses to the citizen. For example, agencies might update their web site to reflect a new commonly asked question.
- Reduces partner agency expenses for infrastructure, procurement, and labor within the agency or for expenses related to contact centers that respond to e-mail and telephone calls.
During FY 2003 USA Services had 209 million citizen contacts:
- 1-800-Fed-Info– In FY 2003, the National Contact Center handled almost two million calls and processed 60,000 e-mails in both English and Spanish within a pledged two business days.
- FirstGov.gov– The federal government’s portal to on-line services and information for the public drew nearly 190 million page views last year. Also Firstgov en Espanol (Espanol.gov) provides valuable information in Spanish.
- Publications Center in Pueblo, CO distributes hundreds of different publications for forty agencies, totaling approximately six million publications in FY2003.
Dozens of agencies partner with USA Services to handle misdirected e-mails and phone calls from the public enabling citizens to get the help they need and agencies to focus on their core mission. Others contract with USA Services to handle their “Tier One” or first contact calls and e-mails from a frequently updated database of information and contacts.
Through the USA Services Advocates program, the Federal government strives to become more “citizen-centric” by providing “Best Values and Practices” to federal agencies in citizen customer service contact and response needs. USA Services seeks to establish a standard for citizen customer service across the Federal Government.
For more information on USA Services, please contact Stuart Willoughby at 202-501-9121 or Stuart.Willoughby@gsa.gov |
