Introduction - VALORIZATION OF FOOD-INDUSTRY WASTES THROUGH A

CHAPTER 5. VALORIZATION OF FOOD-INDUSTRY WASTES THROUGH A

5.1. Introduction

This chapter provides recommendations for increasing the customer service function of the KidCare program as a whole through call center operations. Chapter Four identifies opportunities for improvement for each specific call center analyzed during this project. In turn, this chapter is focused on the inter-relationship of the call centers providing KidCare customer service and recommends changes that affect all of the call centers.

The recommendations in this chapter are mutually exclusive and can be implemented stand-alone or in conjunction with one another. The recommendations are as follows:

Recommendation 6.1: Create one set of call center performance metrics that all KidCare call centers will use as a standard to meet.

Recommendation 6.2: Conduct monthly call calibration sessions at the All Call Center meetings.

Recommendation 6.3: Standardize call center names and transfer protocol when CSRs are speaking to callers.

Recommendation 6.4: Implement a single phone number for KidCare Customer Service and link all call centers off of the IVR menu.

Recommendation 6.5: Identify one single entity to administer all of the KidCare call centers.

Recommendation 6.6: Perform a phased consolidation of KidCare call centers so that one contracted entity operates all of the call centers.

The following exhibits in this chapter provide details regarding each of the recommendations provided above. Each exhibit includes:

Description of our observation of the current process Detailed explanation of the recommendation

Potential timeline for implementation

Risks for not implementing the recommendation

Recommendation 6.1 Create one set of call center performance metrics that all KidCare call centers will use as a standard to meet.

Current Observation:

All of the call centers currently have different categories and standards of performance metrics they set for the objective of their call center service levels. However, there is no indication that the different metrics were derived from one set of ideal standards for the KidCare program. For example, some service levels written into the Member Services (DHACS) call center are as follows: 80% calls answered in 30 seconds, 90% average quality monitoring score, 5% or less abandonment rate, 98% voice mails answered within 24 hours. At the same time, the KidCare Medicaid (DCF) call center has two main call center

performance standards, which are an overall abandonment rate of 15% or less and CSRs answering at least 60 calls a day. The KidCare call centers should all begin with one standard set of performance metrics for the entire program, and then adjust the metrics for each call center according to their environment and requirements.

Recommendation:

STEP 1: Use the monthly All Call Center Meeting to decide on KidCare call center performance standards, which should be based on call center industry best practices below. The Call Center Managers should decide if, based on the specific KidCare environment and budget, they should adjust any of the best practices to more reasonable for the different KidCare call centers.

Abandonment Rate: 5% or less

Service Level: X% of calls handled in Y seconds CSR to Supervisor Ratio: 15 to 1

Average Time in Queue: No industry standard, should be based on industry environment Average Call Handle Time: (CTT + ACW) see next two metrics

Average Call Talk Time should be based on industry environment Average After Call Work Time should be based on industry environment Quality Monitoring Score: 85%

STEP 2: All call centers should report these metrics to one contact person a week before the All Call Center Meetings. At the All Call Center meeting, there should be one summary chart that displays the results of the call centers. This chart should be the source of a discussion described in Step 3.

STEP 3: Each call center representative at the All Call Center Meeting should present their own results and discuss the reason(s) behind why data either deviates from the norm or falls below the set standard.

STEP 4: Other call centers should be able to discuss any recommendations for improving performance with the presenting call center.

STEP 5: All of these performance metrics goals should be written into Contractor contracts as performance requirements in order to ensure the performance metrics become program standard that are maintained by Contractors.

Recommendation 6.1

(cont.) Create one set of call center performance metrics that all KidCare call centers will use as a standard to meet.

Potential Timeframe For Implementation:

1 Day: Standard performance measures are proposed and discussed. This should take place during one All Call Center Meeting.

2 Weeks: Representatives from the All Call Center meeting return to their call centers and propose the standards to their superiors and peers for discussion. They also propose any particular change to the standard based on their specific call center environment.

1 Day: Second meeting with call center representatives takes place to finalize and agree upon performance goals for individual call centers. Call centers should verify if different metrics for other call centers are justifiable.

2 Months: Implementation of standards at call centers may require change in staffing and technology.

Continuous: Discussion of individual call center performance goal results should occur at every subsequent All Call Center meeting.

Risk of Not Implementing Recommendation:

The ability to compare the performance of the call centers across the KidCare program will continue to be difficult due to inconsistent metrics.

Call centers that are under performing will not be forced to improve their performance.

Callers will continue to receive disparate levels of customer service from the call centers and will contribute this disparity to an overall low level of customer service from the KidCare program.

Recommendation 6.2 Conduct monthly call calibration sessions at the All Call Center meetings.

Current Observation:

Call Center Managers and Supervisors from the KidCare call centers are not aware of the call handling techniques of CSRs from the other KidCare call centers. There is currently no evidence of call center management visiting or regularly calling and conducting fake calls to other centers to assess their own CSR abilities. At most, the call centers will report disparate statistics at the All Call Center meeting in an attempt to measure their CSR performance, but as discussed in Recommendation 6.1, this process is not always effective. The KidCare call centers should listen to calls from each call center together to gauge CSR performance and to be made aware of levels and quality of customer service at each call center.

Recommendation:

STEP 1: Call Center Managers should agree on recording at least one quality monitored call a month.

STEP 2: Each month, the All Call Center meeting should listen to a taped call from 2 different call centers, rotating the centers that are listened to each month. The calibration session should comment on the following aspects of the call:

Politeness

Pace of conversation

Accuracy of information given Accurately determining caller problem Apologizing to caller when placing on hold Hold time

Call time

STEP 3: The representatives should comment on any deficiency and strength areas they noted from the call.

STEP 4: The meeting representatives should use this calibration session as a source for understanding the type of calls other call centers are handling and translate this into educating their CSRs in order to improve the CSR’s knowledge of the other program services.

STEP 5: Quality monitors from the various KidCare call centers should be present during the All Call Center meeting that reviews their call center. Feedback from the participants of the meeting should serve to improve the quality of monitoring conducted at that call center.

ALTERNATIVE METHOD: If all call centers use an ACD system, it is possible to set-up a remote dial-in number in most ACDs that will select the next incoming call for blind monitoring. Currently, the KidCare Medicaid (DCF) call center does not have an ACD. If it were to install one at its call center, the monthly calibration meeting could simply dial into two call center ACDs for each meeting and listen to a randomly selected call from each center. However, if all call centers do not have an ACD this method is not recommended because it would give the non-ACD call center an unfair advantage by allowing them to record calls of their choosing for calibration.

Recommendation 6.2

(cont.) Conduct monthly call calibration sessions at the All Call Center meetings.

Potential Timeframe For Implementation:

None to 6 Months: Some call centers are already able to record their monitored calls. Others do not have the current technology to record these calls and will have to purchase appropriate equipment.

Continuous: Calibration of calls should occur at every subsequent All Call Center meeting.

Risk of Not Implementing Recommendation:

The ability to compare the performance of the call centers across the KidCare program will continue to be difficult because the call centers do not regularly hear how other program CSRs perform.

Call center CSRs that are under performing will not be forced to improve their performance.

Callers will continue to receive disparate levels of customer service from the call centers and will contribute this disparity to an overall low level of customer service from the KidCare program.

Recommendation 6.3 Standardize call center names and transfer protocol when CSRs are speaking to callers.

Current Observation:

KidCare CSRs often transfer callers to other call centers because the caller needs information that the particular call center is not able to handle. Often, this is because callers do not understand what call centers they need to call for certain services. In other instances this is because CSRs are able to serve one part of the customer’s problem, but lack account access or information to serve another part of a customer problem. Currently, CSRs from different call centers will often use different names to describe other call centers. For example, site visits discovered that the Member Services call center was referred to as

“Member Services”, “Accounts Department”, and “Healthy Kids” by different CSRs at different call centers. The rate of call transferring or referral is high and the inconsistency in referencing call centers leads to increased caller frustration and confusion.

Recommendation:

STEP 1: Create a standard name for each KidCare call center when a CSR is speaking to a caller. The list should include a one to two sentence description of the services of this call center that can be read to a caller.

STEP 2: Create a standard transfer and referral script for CSRs. The script should say the following for whenever a CSR refers or transfers a call:

Use the correct name of the center

Give the phone number of the center (even if they are transferring the call) Give the hours of operation of the call center

Give a brief description of the call center’s services STEP 3:The script should be approved by all call centers.

STEP 4: Implement the new script.

STEP 5: Proper call center referencing and transferring protocol should become an additional element on all quality monitoring scorecards.

Potential Timeframe For Implementation:

1 Week: Create standard call center names and descriptions 1 Week: Create a transfer and referral script for CSRs 2 Weeks: Approve new script by all call centers Risk of Not Implementing Recommendation:

Callers may continue to be frustrated and confused due to inconsistent call center descriptions and names.

CSRs may continue to misunderstand the services offered by other call centers and relay that information to callers.

Recommendation 6.4 Implement a single phone number for KidCare Customer Service and link all call centers off of the IVR menu.

Current Observation:

Currently, individuals wanting to inquire about the KidCare program or their account information are required to call different phone numbers for different programs and services. Discussions with CSRs reveal that this is a consistent source of caller dissatisfaction and confusion. The result is that beneficiaries are not served as well as they could be due to the complexity created by multiple telephone numbers.

Recommendation:

STEP 1: Create one phone number for all KidCare related services and programs. This phone number should have a multi-tiered IVR that transfers callers to the appropriate call center.

STEP 2: Call centers should not continue to use separate telephone numbers once a single phone number is created. The existence of multiple ways to reach a call center will only lead to added confusion for the callers.

STEP 3: CSRs at call centers should be able to transfer callers to another call center so that the caller does not have to hang up and redial the same number only to choose another IVR option.

Potential Timeframe For Implementation:

6 months to 1 year: A single telephone number will be implemented and call centers will be integrated through telephony lines.

Some call centers have networks that can easily integrate into another phone number. However, other call centers have less advanced networks and may require upgrades or implementation.

Risk of Not Implementing Recommendation:

Callers may continue to be frustrated due to multiple telephone numbers for different services.

Recommendation 6.5 Identify one single entity to administer all of the KidCare call centers.

Current Observation:

Currently each call center has different call center-wide performance metrics, resulting in greatly varying levels of customer service. One reason why this is occurring is because there is not consistency in the administration of the call centers by each Contract Manager and Call Center Manager. This situation is understandable, given that the Contract Manager and Call Center Manager work for different entities.

Recommendation:

Ultimately, the most effective way for the KidCare program to achieve consistent levels of customer service is to have one entity handle the management of all KidCare call centers. This recommendation does not require consolidation of the call centers.

The benefits of single management will be realized as long as the entity consistently contracts and manages internal KidCare call centers. If a single entity is responsible for the customer service levels of the entire KidCare program, there will be more accountability for poor customer service performance.

STEP 1: Determine which existing partner in the KidCare program would be most appropriate to manage all of the call centers.

STEP 2: The entity will have to seek within the organization or hire personnel knowledgeable in call center management to oversee all of the call centers.

STEP 3: Use a phased approach to transfer all call centers under the management of one entity. Do not add a call center until the current phased-in centers are meeting performance standards and management is stabilized.

STEP 4: Single entity management of the call center requires monthly communication meetings with representatives of the different programs in order to stay abreast of program changes and issues.

*NOTE: Recommendation 6.5 is mutually exclusive from Recommendation 6.6 because it focuses on the management of the call center, whereas 6.6 is focused on the operations of the call center. However, 6.5 can also be implemented as an initial phase to Recommendation 6.6.

Potential Timeframe For Implementation:

2 months: Study to determine the best managing entity for KidCare customer service 2 months: Create transfer plan

2 years: Transfer call centers under one managing entity in a phased approach Risk of Not Implementing Recommendation:

Customer service levels and operating procedures across KidCare call centers will continue to be disparate.

The challenge to standardize performance metrics with different administering and managing bodies at the call centers will still exist.

Recommendation 6.6 Perform a phased consolidation of KidCare call centers so that one contracted entity operates all of the call centers.

Current Observation:

There are currently three state agencies and one non-profit organization managing the KidCare call centers. This is a result of the fact that the different KidCare programs are administered through these different entities. However, not every call center handles services for only one of the programs. For example, the Member Services call center provides account status for many of the programs, but is administered by only one of the partners in the KidCare program. This example serves as evidence that a call center does not require a Contract Administrator to handle inquiries related to that particular program or entity. In addition, there are disparate call center data applications currently used to capture call notes and details from program participants and perform activities resulting from a call, such as KidCare application distribution.

Recommendation:

It is suggested that the KidCare program move toward a phased consolidation of call centers and data applications to be handled by a single Contractor. The rationale for recommending the outsourcing of call center functions is because the various KidCare entities do not have in-house call center expertise. Rather, management in the KidCare partner entities has expertise in the programs in which they administer. Call Center Contractors can provide physical call center site locations and the inherent expertise of managing call centers.

When each call center is mentioned below, it is intended to refer to the actual functions and data application of that particular center. Therefore, this recommendation does not make any assumptions as to who the Contractor or TPA will be upon implementation.

STEP 1: Procurement Process – determine the best contractor to operate the call centers

STEP 2: Consolidation Plan Development - Requires a detailed, multi-year consolidation plan that considers technology issues, such as multiple technology application and data integration, as well as network architecture development. This plan should be created by the new Contractor in conjunction with the existing Contractors/Contract Administrators of the call centers.

STEP 3: Consolidate the KidCare Outreach and Enrollment Enhancement call centers into the call center handling Member Services. The CSR knowledge required to handle these two call centers already exists in Member Services CSRs. The

consolidation of these call centers into Member Services would only require process training, as opposed to knowledge training.

STEP 4: Consolidate the MediKids call center into either a joint call center with KidCare Medicaid, or into the call center created in Step 3. The services offered at the MediKids call center require the CSRs to be knowledgeable of the MediKids program and comfortable with providing HMO information. In addition, MediKids CSRs must enter HMO choices of MediKids participants;

therefore, this level of service does require MediKids specific training and overall HMO familiarity. However, the MediKids CSRs will often refer callers to the Member Services call center for more detailed account information or inquiries. It is suggested that the services provided at the MediKids site be integrated into an advanced tier of CSRs at the Member Services call center that handle specific MediKids inquiries.

STEP 5: Consolidation of the KidCare Medicaid call center into either a joint call center with MediKids, or into the call center created in Step 3. The services offered at the KidCare Medicaid call center require the CSRs to be knowledgeable of the KidCare Medicaid program and familiar with DCF standards and procedures. Since this level of service requires specific

In document UNIVERSIDAD DE CÓRDOBA (página 155-159)