A new CFI Group report shows government contact center satisfaction is unchanged from 2017 and below private sector satisfaction. To improve, government contact centers must learn how to integrate the role of the contact center into an increasingly complex customer service journey experience.

According to CFI Group’s annual report, the 2018 Government Contact Center Satisfaction Index (GCCSI) is 68, as measured on a 0-100 scale, unchanged from 2017 and 3% below the private sector. Scores for the five agent drivers of government contact center satisfaction—Effectiveness, Empowerment, Knowledge, Demeanor, and Communication—are also relatively unchanged and 3% - 7% below private sector scores.

The challenge government contact centers face is that agents are no longer expected simply to answer questions, but understand all aspects of available customer service channels. To understand the complete customer experience, government agencies need to measure across all three channels of the customer service journey: digital properties, automatic interactions, and live agents.

DIGITAL PROPERTIES – Customers Expect Online Self-Serve Tools

Digital properties for an agency can include websites, mobile apps, or other sites managed by the agency. Agencies should view and measure digital properties as part of the customer service journey. Customers mostly turn to the agency’s website to self serve, but 20% try other websites, such as group forums or pages from a search result about an issue, and 8% even use the agency mobile app. These digital property visits have an impact on the interaction customers have with customer service agents.

AUTOMATED INTERACTIONS – IVR and Virtual Agent Technology is not the Solution

Exciting new AI technologies are quickly emerging that will change how customers will self serve via automated interactions such as IVR or chatbots, making it easier, faster, and more intuitive for customers to resolve issues on their own. However, the report shows that customers are not looking for self-serve options when they call on the phone; they want to speak with a live agent who can help them quickly. GCCSI for the 43% of the callers who get connected directly to a live agent is 77. For the 57% who reach an IVR, GCCSI is a much lower 62, due in part to the effort required to get past the IVR and get to a live person.

LIVE AGENTS – Professional Agents Still Drive Customer Satisfaction

Despite the continued growth of multi-channel contact centers, a voice phone call still dominates as the customer’s channel of choice. A full 80% of customers who contact customer service do so over the phone. Obviously, the heavy use of phone for customer service does not mean that contact centers can neglect other channels, since 24% use email, with ever-increasing expectations on response times, and 17% use an online form to initiate the contact. And 5% use online chat feature, a number that we expect to continue to grow in 2018.