Telephone Demonstration Project: Design and Installation

To improve the public’s telephone access to its local offices, SSA is conducting a demonstration project to test telephone equipment known as automated attendant and voice mail. Under method B, busy-signal rates dropped greatly, but more calls were being placed on hold. We also found that SSA staff in the demonstration offices strongly believe that the voice mail equipment on their desk phones enhanced efficiency and public service. The method A configuration did not produce a statistically significant change in access under our test. Among method A offices, significant improvement in access occurred in 1 more office—4 of the 10 offices instead of 3 of the 10 offices improved. SSA noted that its internal studies on these issues will be completed by the end of February 1996. Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The objective of our review was to determine if the installation of the new telephone equipment has improved the public’s access to the participating offices in SSA’s demonstration project.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) telephone access demonstration project.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) under one of the two telephone demonstration project configurations tested, telephone access improved significantly, busy-signal rates dropped, and the number of callers reaching SSA improved; (2) although improvements were statistically significant under a broader access definition, more callers were placed on hold because staffing had not increased; (3) configuration results varied among SSA offices; (4) SSA field office staff believe that the installation of voice mail equipment has improved office efficiency and public service; (5) SSA expects to complete its internal evaluations of the project's effect on local operations, employees, and public relations by the end of February 1996; and (6) the equipment tested in the demonstration project has the potential to further SSA public service goals, but SSA must assess the costs and contributions of the equipment before installing it systemwide.