ECCC - Loan Guaranty

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for Improving Customer Experience: OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation”

(OMB Control Number:2900-0876)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: ECCC – VA Loan Guaranty

PURPOSE OF COLLECTION:

What are you hoping to learn / improve? How do you plan to use what you learn? Are there artifacts (user personas, journey maps, digital roadmaps, summary of customer insights to inform service improvements, performance dashboards) the data from this collection will feed?

The Veteran Experience Office has been commissioned to measure the satisfaction of the VA Loan Guaranty (LGY) Call Center callers regarding their interaction with call center staff and the ultimate resolution of their complaint (if necessary). Veterans Experience Office (VEO) will be conducting a brief transactional survey on persons who recently interacted with the call center. The survey is completed via an automated telephone design. It will consist of a handful of questions revolving around a human-centered design, focusing on such elements as trust; emotion; effectiveness; and ease with the service. The participant can choose to exit the survey at any time before submitting their survey response.

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is responsible for providing and/or managing a wide array of services to Veterans and their family members. The VA Loan Guaranty Service (LGY) was designed to help Veterans, active- duty Service members, National Guard and Reserve members, and surviving. spouses purchase a home by removing many financial barriers of traditional mortgage loans. This VA contact center answers over 50 thousand calls each year. Currently the VA LGY leadership team does not have a clear understanding of the customer experience or the ability to compare key elements across the call center. The ECCC (Enterprise Contact Center Council) VA LGY Call Center Survey is designed to measure the customer experience after contacting this center.

TYPE OF ACTIVITY: (Check one)

[ X ] Customer Research (Interview, Focus Groups, Surveys)

[ ] Customer Feedback Survey

[ ] Usability Testing of Products or Services

ACTIVITY DETAILS

1. If this is a survey, will the results of this survey be reported to Touchpoints as part of quarterly reporting obligations specified in OMB Circular A-11 Section 280?

[ ] Yes

[X ] No

[ ] Not a survey

2. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ X ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

3. Who will you collect the information from?

Explain who will be interviewed and why the group is appropriate for the Federal program / service to connect with. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and if only a sample will be solicited for feedback, how you will select them(e.g., anyone who provided an email address to a call center rep, a representative sample of Veterans who received outpatient services in May 2019, do you have a list of customers to reach out to (e.g., a CRM database that has the contact information, intercept interviews at a particular field office?)

The survey will be offered to all Veterans who contact the call center which provides support on a variety of home loan areas:

• Eligibility and Loan Production

• Construction and Valuation

• Specially Adapted Housing

• Native American Direct Loans

• Loan Administration

4. How will you ask a respondent to provide this information?

(e.g., after an application is submitted online, the final screen will present the opportunity to provide feedback by presenting a link to a feedback form / an actual feedback form)

This is a post call Interactive Voice Response (IVR) survey. Participants will choose whether they want to participate in the survey after speaking to a call agent. The participant can choose to exit the survey at any time before submitting their survey response. The phone call will collect personal information covered under Veterans, Dependents of Veterans, and VA Beneficiary Survey Records (43VA008).

5. What will the activity look like?

Describe the information collection activity – e.g. what happens when a person agrees to participate? Will facilitators or interviewers be used? What’s the format of the interview/focus group? If a survey, describe the overall survey layout/length/other details? If User Testing, what actions will you observe / how will you have respondents interact with a product you need feedback on?

The survey will be offered to all Veterans who have interacted with the call agent. This is a post call Interactive Voice Response (IVR) survey. The phone call will collect personal information covered under Veterans, Dependents of Veterans, and VA Beneficiary Survey Records (43VA008).

The survey will consist of five questions, offered via an automatic telephone design. It will be offered at the conclusion of their call. It will consist of questions revolving around a human-centered design, focusing on such elements as trust; satisfaction; quality; and employee helpfulness.

6. Please provide your question list.

Paste here the questions or prompts presented to participants in your activity. If you have an interview / facilitator guide, that can be attached to the submission and referenced here.

I am satisfied with the service I received from the VA Call Center. (1-5)(Disagree/Agree scale)

The phone representative answered my question on the issue I recently called about. (1-5) (Disagree/Agree scale)

I trust VA to fulfill our country’s commitment to Veterans. (1-5) (Disagree/Agree scale)

The phone representative treated me with courtesy and respect. (1-5) (Disagree/Agree scale)

The information provided by the phone representative was explained in terms I could understand. (1-5) (Disagree/Agree scale)

7. When will the activity happen?

Describe the time frame or number of events that will occur (e.g., We will conduct focus groups on May 13,14,15, We plan to conduct customer intercept interviews over the course of the Summer at the field offices identified in response to #2 based on scheduling logistics concluding by Sept. 10^th, or “This survey will remain on our website in alignment with the timing of the overall clearance.”)

The survey will take place after a call with the VA Loan Guaranty Connect Call Center. The survey will be completed via an automated telephone design.

8. Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?

[ ] Yes [ X ] No

If Yes, describe:

N/A

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Individuals	10,000 Annual	2 minutes	334 hours
Totals	10,000 Annual	2 minutes	334 hours

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collections are voluntary;

2. The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

3. The collections are non-controversial;

4. Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the near future;

5. Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;

6. Information gathered is intended to be used for general service improvement and program management purposes

7. Upon agreement between OMB and the agency aggregated data may be released as part of A-11, Section 280 requirements only on performance.gov. Summaries of customer research and user testing activities may be included in public-facing customer journey maps.

8. Additional release of data will be coordinated with OMB.

Name and email address of person who developed this survey/focus group/interview:

Name: __Brian Brown__________________

Email address: _[email protected]__________

All instruments used to collect information must include:

OMB Control No. 2900-0876

Expiration Date: 02/28/2026

HELP SHEET

(OMB Control Number: 2900-0876)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households;(2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

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