NCSSMA Newsletter

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has issued its April 2008 Newsletter. Here is a small excerpt written by a teleservice center manager, with my comments and explanations in brackets:

The TSCs [Teleservice Centers] are wrapping up their Peak Period , our busiest time of the year [the first few months of each calendar year are always the toughest for several reason, such as the release of SSA-1099s]. In fact the first six months of this Fiscal Year were very busy for the 800 Number. Through February 2008 the Average Speed of Answer was 50 seconds over the same period last year [that is a very big jump in the length of time it takes them to answer the phone --and that is a bad thing]. The Agency is somewhat concerned that we may not meet the goal of 330 seconds this year [the goal is answering the phone in five and a half minutes -- and they don't think they can meet it -- and that's just the average, which means it's a lot worse at times]. Average Busy Rate has begun to improve and we are on track to meet this year’s goal of 10% [10% busy rate is their goal. How many businesses shoot for a 10% busy rate? How many callers get frustrated and hang up after being on hold for several minutes?]. As of February, Handle Time, the total time it takes an agent to handle a call, is 15 seconds higher than the same period last year [Not a good sign. The calls are taking longer because they're getting more complicated]. It appears this trend has peaked and handle time is beginning to come down. The Agency greatly reduced SPIKE hours [the time that payment center employees are taken off the regular jobs of putting people on benefits and put to work answering the phone, which delays people getting put on the benefits for which they've been approved] this fiscal year. This means more time processing Payment Center workloads. We all enjoy the benefits of less SPIKE hours! There is good news - TSCs have hired many TSRs [Teleservice Representatives], bringing staffing levels closer to the FTE [Full Time Equivalent] floor. We probably won’t see the effects of these hires until next fiscal year as it takes time for training and for a new TSR to become proficient.

I suppose some wonder why I link to this sort of thing. This newsletter was not written to embarrass the Social Security Administration. These are just people talking about their work. Read this sort of thing and the day to day problems that Social Security employees and Social Security claimants have to face become clear. How would you like to be a Social Security employee having to deal with a confused, mentally ill claimant who had to call the 800 number a couple of times before getting through and then had to wait more than five minutes before talking with someone? How would you like to do this all day, every working day? Could you deliver high quality service? Is it the sort of service that taxpayers deserve?