Talkdesk Transforms Government Benefits Program Delivery

Talkdesk Citizen Engagement enables U.S. state and local governments to streamline and simplify the benefits administration process and proactively communicate with constituents

Talkdesk Inc., the global customer experience leader for customer-obsessed companies, announced the launch of Talkdesk Citizen Engagement, an end-to-end customer experience (CX) solution that provides a better way for government agencies to administer benefits, communicate with applicants and recipients, and modernize their contact center operations.

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“The pandemic and recent disaster relief efforts placed added pressure on state and local government agencies, which were already burdened by disparate, legacy systems”

While different in many ways from private sector organizations, government entities are subject to the same consumer demands of today’s digital age, where fast, frictionless, and intelligent interactions have become expected in all areas of life. Whether grocery shopping, buying insurance, visiting the doctor, or applying for government benefits, the CX stakes have never been higher. This is especially true for government agencies, as citizens rely on them during crises and for assistance with vital services. In fact, many U.S. states and municipalities reported record-breaking interaction volumes last year as their crisis services hotlines were inundated with citizen inquiries related to the pandemic.

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Designed with that in mind, Citizen Engagement offers a well-timed solution for helping state and local governments alleviate common pain points associated with supporting key programs like Medicaid, unemployment insurance, SNAP, housing assistance, and more. The solution streamlines and simplifies the benefits process, giving government organizations the capabilities they need to deliver the service citizens want. Solution highlights include:

• Improved access – Enables citizens to easily find program information, understand how to apply, fulfill eligibility requirements, and obtain application assistance on the communication channel of choice. Bots, multi-language features, and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered self-guided options further simplify the program enrollment process and accelerate access to benefits.

• Reduced inbound call volumes – Proactively notifies applicants throughout the enrollment and benefits disbursement journey to reduce citizen effort, status check inquiries, and inbound call volumes. Complex inquiries can be seamlessly transitioned to the right live agent without long hold times. Systems of record and identification tools can also be effortlessly integrated for fast verification.

• Modernized contact center operations – Allows operations to adapt to evolving program requirements and scale as necessary to meet fluctuating demands without the need for complicated coding or overloading IT resources. The solution’s AI-infused capabilities also make agent onboarding and ongoing training more efficient, empowering agents with suggested next best actions in real-time.

“The pandemic and recent disaster relief efforts placed added pressure on state and local government agencies, which were already burdened by disparate, legacy systems,” said John Bastin, vice president, industry strategy – public sector, Talkdesk. “Recognizing yesterday’s technology can’t meet the demands of today, these organizations are now reenvisioning the contact center and prioritizing CX. Talkdesk Citizen Engagement helps put them on the path to modernization, giving them a better way to support social service delivery and foster greater trust and transparency.”

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