Federal agencies are seeking to demonstrate effectiveness to both leadership and the public—embracing a citizen-first mindset that prioritizes meaningful engagement as a powerful driver of mission outcomes. With rising expectations for responsive, efficient service comparable to private sector customer experience (CX), government agencies must balance the need for improved service with the requirement to reduce program delivery costs and optimize limited resources.
As federal agencies seek continuous improvement, success requires a specific understanding of federal service delivery gaps as well as the factors that contribute to them. The successful deployment of technologies that consider the total experience of citizens and service agents will help agencies improve service quality while reducing associated costs.
Identify government service delivery gaps and their contributing factors
Struggles with consistent delivery of federal government services and standardized program information can frustrate the public and undermine their trust.
Service delivery gaps can look like:
- Long call wait times that leave citizens on hold for extended periods
- Repetitive interactions that force people to explain their issues multiple times to different agents
- Status uncertainty where citizens cannot easily track the progress of their requests
- Lack of mobile responsiveness for those needing accessible, on-the-go service delivery
Several process, operational, and technology factors contribute to these gaps, so it is important for programs to thoroughly assess contact center performance to identify areas for improvement, including:
- Fragmented, siloed systems that prevent seamless information sharing across programs and agencies
- Outdated technology infrastructure that struggles to handle modern service demands or adapt to changing citizen or mission needs
- Disjointed service channels that lack integration, creating inconsistent experiences and forcing citizens to navigate multiple touchpoints for a single issue
Deploy key technologies to close service gaps
Maximus’s Total Experience Management (TXM) approach offers federal agencies a path to addressing these challenges within contact centers that provide consistent, unified services across communication channels. With a strategic mix of customer experience (CX) technologies, agencies can transform service delivery from fragmented and frustrating to proactive and personalized. Consider key technologies including:
- Secure, cloud-based omnichannel platforms form the foundation for CX-boosting contact centers with seamless interactions across voice/call, text, email, chat, and web portals.
- Service advantage: Meet citizens where they are and provide timely, convenient service and information without requiring additional calls.
- Cost advantage: Significantly reduce second-call volume by proactively shifting status updates and routine communications to mobile channels.
- Self-service portals and Intelligent Virtual Assistants handle Tier 1 and Tier 2 queries, providing automated responses to frequent questions and requests.
- Service advantage: Accelerate resolution times to meet or exceed service benchmarks and assign human agents to address unique situations.
- Cost advantage: Reduce agent workload to lower operational costs while improving service efficiency and quality.
- AI-powered predictive analytics enable agents to identify pain points before they become problems.
- Service advantage: Provide proactive, personalized service with context from interaction histories, reducing repeat information entry and tailoring responses to demonstrate understanding of each citizen’s unique situation.
- Cost advantage: Resolve requests and queries in fewer interactions and limit call escalation, reducing staffing needs and lowering overall contact center costs.
Realize measurable outcomes
A technology-powered Total Experience approach has the potential to deliver “Amazon-like experiences” for citizens—fast, seamless, intuitive, and consistent. This transformation toward proactive citizen engagement anticipates needs, resolves issues quickly, and builds trust.
Maximus has seen the power of this approach with multiple federal contact centers, notably through a recent initiative as a technology partner providing both automated and live-agent support for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The results are measurable and clear: faster resolution, better service, increased agent productivity, and successful mission outcomes.
Federal agencies that embrace this approach will be positioned to not only meet current citizen expectations but exceed them, demonstrating effectiveness in serving the American people in the digital age. The technology exists today to close many government service delivery gaps that lead to insufficient mission outcomes. What is needed now is the commitment to implement these solutions strategically and at scale.
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