HMRC have recently introduced a new way of handling calls on some of their helplines and the Policy team would appreciate your feedback through a short survey.
The new system is called Intelligent Telephony Automation or ITA. HMRC say that ITA is a new technology which they hope will improve the way they handle calls. Instead of asking callers to choose an option by pressing a button on their phone, the new system should recognise and react to what the customer says. The customer is then routed directly to information specific to their query without first having to listen to a long list of options. The customer will also be routed to the correct adviser for their question, even if they have called an incorrect telephone number. HMRC are also automating elements of the security process as part of this introduction. Based on the information that the customer provides to the system, the adviser will know why they are calling and whether or not the customer has passed security. HMRC hope that this will speed up the time that advisers spend with customers, let them focus on the issue and, as the call will be quicker, may also save customers money. The system prompts customers to say, in a few words, the reason for their call. It is designed to recognise key words or phrase and will either route or ask further questions if required. HMRC say that the system has been widely tested with accents from all over the United Kingdom. Short answers to prompts or questions are sufficient. It is not necessary to give full details or long sentences. For example if the call is a question about periods of Statutory Maternity or Paternity pay just saying “Maternity Pay” will trigger the system to ask follow up questions to establish the nature of the query and direct the call to an adviser if required.
We understand that this is new technology which will take time to bed in, however, we have been hearing from some members who have experienced problems using the ITA system.
If you have called an HMRC Helpline which has this new ITA system we would like to know what you think. Is this an improvement? Did it make your experience better and increase the likelihood of you making contact with HMRC again? Or did you encounter unexpected problems? The Policy team have created a short survey so we can understand your experiences and pass them on to HMRC. We would be very grateful if you could spare no more than 10 minutes to complete our survey which will close on Friday 29 November.
HMRC Intelligent Telephony Automation (ITA)
4 December 2013
HMRC have been investigating member feedback regarding their new Intelligent Telephony Automation (ITA).
HMRC has responded with the following:
We are aware that some callers trying to get through to the Employers Helpline are being routed to other help lines (in the majority of cases Taxes help line), There has always been an issue with calls to this helpline needing to be re-directed but this has increased over the last few weeks. We are checking the routing, reason for calling and tagging of these calls through our speech recognition system in order to establish if any improvement can be made. However in the meantime the guidelines below will assist customers who are experiencing our speech system for the first time:
When prompted to “state in a few words the reason for the call”, short phrases and a few words are more effective than long explanations or sentences.
CIPP Policy News Journal
16/04/2014, Page 170 of 519
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