Supporting Statement
Approval Request to Conduct Customer Satisfaction Research
(OMB #1545-1432)
This submission is to obtain approval to conduct a customer satisfaction survey regarding taxpayers experiences contacting the IRS.gov Website Help Desk.
JUSTIFICATION
Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary
Executive Order 12862 directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers’ needs, we seek to obtain OMB approval.
This collection of information is necessary to enable the IRS to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with our commitment to improving service delivery. The information collected from our customers and stakeholders will help ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and satisfying experience with the IRS.gov Website Help Desk. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the IRS and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management.
Purpose and Use of the Information Collection
In order to evaluate the service provided by the IRS.gov Website Help Desk, the IRS is interested in determining levels of customer satisfaction with the service being provided to IRS.gov Website visitors who call the IRS.gov Website Help Desk for assistance.
Objectives of Data Collection
The objectives of this research are to:
Determine overall customer satisfaction with the IRS.gov Website Help Desk.
Determine areas of possible improvement with the IRS.gov Website Help Desk.
Determine areas of possible improvement with the content on the IRS.gov Website.
Consideration Given to Information Technology
All of the data collected will be done through the use of technology. Phone contacts will use respond to the survey via an Integrated Voice Response survey and email and chat customers will respond using an online survey
Duplication of Information
No similar data are gathered or maintained by the IRS.
Reducing the Burden on Small Entities
No Small Entities will be affected.
Consequences of Not Conducting Collection
Without these types of feedback, the IRS will not have timely information to adjust its Help Desk services to meet customer needs.
Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances.
Consultations with Persons Outside the SOI
Not applicable.
Payment or Gift
The IRS will not provide payment or other forms of remuneration to respondents of its various forms of collecting feedback.
Confidentiality
No PII will be collected via the IVR and online surveys
Sensitive Nature
No questions will be asked that are of a personal or sensitive nature.
Burden of Information Collection
Burden hours are determined by multiplying the time it takes to offer and complete a survey, from start to finish, by the number of anticipated surveys and survey offers.
The survey will take approximately 3 minutes to complete for each contact method.
Based on the typical contact volume for the reporting period and an invitation rate as high as 100%, a total as high as 63,000 potential respondents may be invited to participate, assuming 15% accept the invitation and 50% of those participate. 63,000 potential respondents minus 4,725 sample size (9,450 accepted invitations with a 50% completion rate) leaves 58,275 non-participants.
The contact time to determine non-participation could be up to 1 minute, averaging approximately 30 seconds, with the resulting burden for non-participants being 58,275 non-participants x 1 = 58,275 minutes / 60 minutes = 971 burden hours.
Then, for those who do participate, the length of the survey is 3 minutes, with the time burden for that group being 4,725 participants x 3 minutes = 14,175 total minutes / 60 minutes = 236 burden hours.
Thus, the total burden hours for the study would be (971 non-participant burden hours + 236 participant burden hours) 1207 hours.
Costs to Respondents
No costs are anticipated.
Costs to Federal Government
The total cost of this study is $10,000.00. This includes the cost of $2,500.00 per quarter to administer the survey and process and report the results.
Reason for Change
Not applicable.
Tabulation of Results, Schedule, Analysis Plans
The data will be collected via an Integrated Voice Response (IVR) survey for calls to the helpdesk, and via a website for email and chat contacts. Live contacts (call and chat) will be offered the survey at the completion of their help desk contact. eMail responses will contain a link to the survey in the response to the taxpayer’s question. A follow up email will not be sent directly inviting the taxpayers to take the survey.
Analysis of the survey data, including but not limited to frequencies, means, regression, and significance testing, will be conducted by AFFINA Corporation using SPSS for Windows, a data analysis and statistics software.
Improvement actions taken during the year, either to the content on the website or to the contact handling procedures will be reviewed in the quarterly survey results to determine success or for additional improvement areas.
Display of OMB Approval Date
We are requesting no exemption.
Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
These activities comply with the requirements in 5 CFR 1320.9.
19. Dates collection will begin and end
Surveys will be conducted beginning February 1, 2012 through January 31, 2013 with the results tabulated and summarized on a quarterly basis.
B. STATISTICAL METHODS
Data collection methods and procedures will vary; however, the primary purpose of these collections will be for internal management purposes; there are no plans to publish or otherwise release this information.
Universe and Respondent Selection
Contacts to the IRS.gov Website Help Desk will receive an invitation to participate in the survey depending on their method of contact.
The expected response rate is 15%.
With regard to the response rate, the IRS will assume that all data collected from this survey is qualitative in nature, and that no critical decisions will be made by SOI solely from the analysis of data from this survey. The feedback provided by the taxpayer will be used to either improve the content / structure of the IRS.gov website, and/or to identify training opportunities for the IRS.gov Website Help Desk customer service representatives.
Procedures for Collecting Information
This study would be conducted via telephone, e-mail and at the end of chat sessions. The contractor is AFFINA Corporation, and all interviewing would be conducted from its national headquarters in Peoria, IL. There are three separate surveys depending on the method of contact used by the participant. Those who call the IRS.gov Help Desk will get an IVR automated telephone survey. Those who use e-mail or live chat to contact the IRS.gov Help Desk will be invited to participate in an online survey.
Methods to Maximize Response
Standard procedures will be used in order to obtain the highest response rate possible for the mail survey. These will include:
Invitations by CSRs at the conclusion of a call or chat
Including the survey link in each response sent from the help desk to address a taxpayer question
Testing of Procedures
The customer satisfaction survey questions are attached and have been tested previously. The IVR and survey websites have both undergone testing by the IRS, confirming functionality and ensuring that only the questions in the documentation are provided to the taxpayer for feedback
Contacts for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection
For questions regarding the study or questionnaire design or statistical methodology, contact:
Sherri Schmidt
Director of Client Services
Affina
131
Tower Park Drive, 3rd Floor
Waterloo, IA 50701
Telephone:
319-274-7655
E-Mail: [email protected]
Attachments
Attachment 1
IVR Questionnaire for the survey – a single questionnaire covering all target audiences.
Attachment 2
eMail Questionnaire for the survey – a single questionnaire covering all target audiences.
Attachment 3
Chat Questionnaire for the survey – a single questionnaire covering all target audiences.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Supporting Statement |
| Author | Mar_S |
| Last Modified By | mdsloa00 |
| File Modified | 2012-04-12 |
| File Created | 2012-01-03 |