CUSTOMER PROFILE
ABOUT GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
When citizens in Georgia need help with licensing, titling or registering a motor vehicle, they turn to the knowledgeable agents in the Motor Vehicles Division (MVD) of the Georgia Department of Revenue.
The MVD employs 36 call center agents who answer a wide range of motor vehicle queries, including explaining government requirements to transfer a vehicle’s title, how to get license plates, register a vehicle and more. Agents are split between three help desks that answer calls from citizens, companies and Georgia county officials. The MVD’s busy contact center handles 1,200 calls weekly—a huge increase over the old volume of 1,200 calls a month.
THE CHALLENGE
Before CXone, the MVD used an AT&T solution that negatively impacted its ability to deliver outstanding service. One of the big issues was delayed access to critical call metrics: Since the MVD couldn’t access call data until the following day, it couldn’t make real-time decisions about agent utilization.
“We never knew how many callers were sitting in queues and waiting to be connected to agents,” says Georgia Steele, Chief Performance Officer in the Georgia Department of Revenue. “As a result, we couldn’t make intelligent decisions regarding when to put more agents on the phones. It crippled our operations and frustrated our customers.”
In addition, Georgia and her team couldn’t close a queue without dropping all the callers on hold. “If there was a power outage, for instance, we lost everyone,” she says. “Customers had to call back until someone eventually picked up.”
Furthermore, the MVD couldn’t modify the IVR on its own, and it wasn’t integrated with its CRM system. “IVR changes had to be made through our vendor, which was time-consuming and frustrating,” says Georgia. “This created major inefficiencies and added an additional level of complexity.”
THE SOLUTION
Georgia knew that the MVD needed to make changes, so she started by considering her priorities. A key consideration was finding a vendor with which the MVD could build a strong, ongoing partnership.
Real-time reporting was another top priority. The division needed to know how many callers were in queues to improve customer service.
The MVD also wanted a solution for making changes to the IVR without vendor assistance. In addition, it needed to be able to integrate the IVR with its CRM system, so agents would have immediate access to customer data.
OPPORTUNITIES IDENTIFIED
Real-time reporting for improved customer service
With NiCE CXone, the Georgia Department of Revenue has the real-time reporting it needs. Today, it’s using real-time data to decrease hold time and improve agent utilization. “We set up agent dashboards and wallboards, so our entire team can see what types of calls are coming in, how long callers are waiting, how many agents are available and how many people are on hold,” says Georgia. “If callers have been waiting beyond a certain length of time, everyone has visibility into the data and knows that it’s ‘all hands on deck’ and time to start taking calls.”
The MVD also uses real-time data to identify agents’ challenges and provide coaching. “We use reporting for performance evaluations and coaching,” says Georgia. “We look for patterns, such as long handle times, and coach agents accordingly. It’s made a big difference in our customer service and call quality.”
Real-time reporting is also useful in identifying what Georgia calls “operational success gaps.” “The data from CXone clearly shows if we’re fully utilizing our team and highlights if there’s a gap between the number of agents we currently employ or if we need to increase hiring in order to bump up our service levels,” she says. “It’s a data-driven way to build the case for hiring more agents.”
Shorter handle time with automated IVR routing
Efficiency has also increased with the CXone IVR (Interactive Voice Response). The IVR prompts callers to input information, such as their driver’s license number or vehicle identification number, which is used to automatically verify the caller’s information and route the call to the appropriate agent.
Using CXone APIs, the MVD has also integrated its CRM with the CXone IVR. The integration speeds up the verification process by giving agents the caller’s information before they answer. “The agents feel more empowered because they have this data at their fingertips and can handle calls more efficiently,” says Georgia.
Partnership and expandability for the future
The NiCE CXone team has also given the Georgia Department of Revenue the partnership and scalability it needed.
“Shortly before we went live with CXone, we relocated to a new building,” explains Georgia. “Our team had gone through a lot of change in a short amount of time, so I explained to our NiCE CXone trainers that we needed hands-on support for the transition to CXone.”
Georgia was delighted with NiCE CXone’s response. “They told us they were already planning to be onsite for training and when we were going live,” she says. “They really held our hands. They stayed with us during the transition and provided group training and one-on-one sessions for agents who were struggling. They definitely went above and beyond.”
That partnership—and future expandability— continues today. “If we decide we’re ready to implement new functionality such as chat, I’m confident NiCE CXone will provide us with the support to make it happen,” says Georgia. “That’s exactly the type of cooperation we were seeking. Our partnership with NiCE CXone has helped us grow as an organization and expand the level of service that we provide to the citizens of our state.”
“If you’re looking for a true partner, I recommend NiCE CXone,” Georgia concludes. “Your success is their success. Whatever you need, they’ll work with you to achieve it.”
