Survey Description Special 800 # Survey

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Special One-time 800 Number Caller Survey

SSA SUB-NUMBER: F-04

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY (give purpose of activity, provide specific information; i.e., date(s) of survey, number of focus groups, locations, etc.):

BACKGROUND

In response to customers’ feedback expressing their dissatisfaction with the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system used on the national 800 number, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is making changes to the IVR system to improve the overall caller experience. Shortly after we implement these changes, we would like to conduct a special, one-time survey to measure customer satisfaction with the 800 number service. We will interview members of the public who called SSA’s 800 number to transact their business. We designed the survey, which we will conduct shortly after the participant’s call, to measure public perception of SSA’s 800 number service, and to collect information that will aid us in understanding the customer experience behind satisfaction ratings. SSA has been conducting an annual satisfaction survey with the 800 number caller populations since 1989.

SURVEY

Description of Survey

We modeled this special one-time survey questionnaire after the one we have been using for many years in the annual 800 Number Caller survey. The annual surveys have helped us identify various issues that affect caller satisfaction. This special survey covers a variety of topics related to SSA’s 800 number service, including the following:

• Callers’ satisfaction with how quickly they were served on the 800 number;

• Callers’ level of comfort using the automated speech recognition system;

• Ease of getting the automated system to understand the type of service needed;

• Whether callers chose to conduct business using an automated service and whether they were able to complete their business that way;

• Whether callers who spoke to an agent were connected immediately or had to wait on hold and how satisfied they were with the amount of time they waited;

• If all agents were busy, whether the 800 number offered callers the option to be called back later and how satisfied they were with the callback process;

• Whether callers provided identifying information before speaking to the agent and the ease of that process;

• Satisfaction with agent service -- their courtesy, job knowledge, helpfulness, and clarity of explanations;

• Whether the agent was able to take care of the caller’s business completely during the call;

• The nature of the caller’s business and the type of benefits involved;

• Whether callers tried to take care of their business some other way before calling the 800 number and what action they took;

• Callers’ service preferences for future business, including a series of questions on the use of the Internet;

• Whether callers need special accommodations to do business with SSA because of a medical condition, what those special accommodations are, and their satisfaction with how well SSA meets their needs; and,

• Caller satisfaction with 800 number service overall.

Statistical Information

Sample Selection

SSA will draw the sample survey from the automatic number identifier (ANI) detail data supplied by the contractor for SSA’s national 800 number telephone network. During the 4‑week sample selection period, we process ANI data to identify completed calls that represent individuals who “got through” to the 800 number. We select individuals who have used automated services and/or spoken to a representative, or hung up while waiting.

SSA’s 800 number receives about 60 million calls each year. Based on this volume, we anticipate that over the four-week period of the survey the 800 number will receive approximately 5 million calls. From the universe of calls realized in each sample period, we will randomly select 4,000 unique telephone numbers via a random generator program that uses selected digits of the current date and time. We use these originating numbers to attempt to contact and interview the individuals who placed the sample calls. During the initial contact, we will screen out calls that originate from public or business telephones since we cannot usually identify the individuals who called the 800 number from such locations.

Methodology

An SSA-approved contractor will conduct this survey by telephone and translate the survey questionnaire into computer-assisted interviewing (CATI) software so that interviewing and data input of the individual’s responses occur simultaneously. The CATI software also ensures that we ask only questions pertinent to the individual’s circumstances, allowing for complicated question paths while still minimizing response burden.

Response Rate

SSA will take the following steps to maximize the response rate for this survey:

• To minimize the time between the customers’ service experience and the survey, we will select samples twice a week and transmit them to the contractor within 3 to 5 business days of the call;

• The contractor will make at least 15 attempts to reach the caller over a 3‑week period in an effort to obtain the highest possible response rate;

• In addition to daytime hours, the contractor will make call attempts in the evenings and on the weekend;

• The contractor will arrange callbacks and leave messages for the sampled individuals as necessary, and provide a toll-free number for return calls to encourage participation.

• If needed, Spanish-speaking interviewers will be available.

Using this methodology with similar populations, we typically achieved response rates around 50 percent. In the most recent 800 Number Caller Survey for FY 2010, the response rate was 50 percent. Allowing that the telephone number is the only contact information available to the contractor, this response rate is remarkably good. We routinely review the information recorded by the contractor each year to monitor any significant trends in the reasons for non-response, and to ensure the contractor makes adequate efforts to achieve a good response rate.

Sampling Variability

The key variable in the 800 Number Caller Survey is overall satisfaction with telephone service. In the FY 2010 800 Number Caller Survey, the overall satisfaction rating was 73 percent excellent, very good or good. Our proposed sample size of 4,000 is large enough to allow for the screening of business calls and, assuming a 50 percent response rate from the remaining sample, will provide a sampling variability at the 95‑percent confidence level of +/‑2.3 percent for this key indicator of satisfaction.

SSA’s Office of Quality Performance will perform all sampling and data analysis. Daniel Zabronsky, Director, Division of Modeling, SSA. OMB can reach him at (410) 965-5953.

IF FOCUS GROUP MEMBERS WILL RECEIVE A PAYMENT, INDICATE AMOUNT (No more than $25 can be authorized under OMB rules):

We will not compensate participants in this survey.

USE OF SURVEY RESULTS:

SSA will use the results of this survey to assess customer satisfaction with 800 number telephone service in the new IVR system environment.

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response time (/60) = annual burden hours):

Number of Responses: 4,000.

Estimated Response Time: 15 minutes.

Annual Burden Hours: 1,000 hours.

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Deb Larwood

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 410-966-6135

Special One-Time 800 Number Caller Survey

May 2011