Contact Solutions Wins Six Oklahoma Quality Awards for Helping Automate the State's Electronic Payment Systems
Contact Automation Leader Recognized for its Efforts with the State's Leading Edge Electronic Benefits Initiatives
Reston, VA (May 8, 2008) – Contact Solutions (CSI), the leader in contact automation, announced today that it has been awarded three Oklahoma Governor Quality Awards and three State of Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) Quality Awards for its participation in the state’s Electronic Payment Systems initiatives. The awards were given out at two receptions in Oklahoma City this week. The OKDHS award reception was led by Howard Hendrick, Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Hendrick said, “The OKDHS Quality Awards recognize team projects and group tasks, which have measureable results that improve the ways we serve Oklahoma citizens.”
CSI was recognized as part of the team that implemented the state’s new Electronic Payment Systems. CSI Project Leader Doug Reed was singled out for his leadership on the team. The awards were for:
- Electronic Payment Systems-EBT Conversion
- Electronic Payment Systems-EBT Project
- Electronic Payment Systems-Electronic Payment Card Project.
CSI designed and implemented the contact automation system for the programs based on its industry leading shared IVR services. CSI also played a critical role in the system conversion, which helped the state meet its commitment to limited disruption for its clients.
CSI typically adds value for its clients with its comprehensive approach to their contact automation processes. In this case, CSI’s expertise was critical in helping the state meet its aggressive implementation objectives. Via the CSI shared IVR services, the State of Oklahoma is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars through improved automation by decreasing live agent transfers and automating child support payments electronically.
CSI Chief Executive Officer Paul Logan said, “CSI was very pleased to help the Department of Human Services design, develop, and implement such an important program for the citizens of Oklahoma. Improving client self-service and contact automation via focused, monitored and continuously improved shared IVR services is a tangible and proven way to provide huge dividends and save state governments millions of dollars annually.”
Logan said that programs such as this could save other government entities a tremendous amount of money. “Moving card holders from paper checks to electronic service delivery is a gold mine of opportunity for state and local governments.”
A brief description of each program follows:
Electronic Payment Systems-EBT Conversion: Numerous entities were involved with converting the existing Electronic Benefits System from J.P. Morgan to ACS. The conversion was two-fold, covering first the food stamp program as it was converted to the new EBT system and then to a debit card program. Oklahoma was one of the first states to transition such a system. After months of planning and testing, the system was converted in 18 hours, which affected more than 185,000 clients, 4,000 retailers, and history on more than 1,071,000 card holders. The conversion was so successful, that only 20 clients had to re-PIN their EBT cards and there was only a $0.34 variance out of the $7.5 million in converted benefits.
Electronic Payment Systems-EBT Project: Numerous entities were involved with designing and developing a new state of the art Electronic Benefits Transfer system. The system was designed to dramatically reduce the steps required for county offices to make cards, track client purchases to prevent fraud, develop a settlement and reconciliation process that balanced the $400 million in benefits on a daily basis and save the state on the contracted Cost per Case Month costs for both the Food Stamp and Child Care programs. Cost savings for the Food Stamps Program was approximately $187,000 per month and $93,000 for the Child Care Program. In total, the State of Oklahoma will save more than $3.3 million per year.
Electronic Payment Systems-Electronic Payment Card Project: CSI participated on the team that designed, developed, and implemented a new MasterCard debit program for the delivery of child support and other benefits payments. The Oklahoma system was the nation’s first debit card system that expunged money when cards are undeliverable or have not been PIN’ed within 90 days. The system went live on April 1, 2007 without one client being dropped in the conversion process. The cost savings for the program is more than $910,000 per year in paper and postage.
About Contact Solutions
Contact Solutions (CSI) saves its clients millions of dollars by improving their contact automation significantly while uplifting customer satisfaction levels. Deploying time-tested shared IVR services, world-class IVR applications and procedures, and an industry-leading project management approach around six distinct Centers of Excellence, the company has helped the contact center industry redefine contact automation standards. Large enterprises such as American Express, Delta Airlines, Motorola and many public sector entities benefit from the company's focused, cost-effective contact automation approach. Contact Solutions is based in Reston, VA. Visit Contact Solutions at www.contactsolutions.com.
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