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The Board of Water Commissioners for the City of Detroit, Water and Sewerage Department authorizes the Director to enter into Contract No. CS-1892 “Drainage Charge Program Call Center Support” with Wayne Metro Community Action Agency (Consultant), at a cost not to exceed $550,000 for one (1) year, and also authorizes the Director to take such other action as may be necessary to accomplish the intent of this vote.
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Agenda of May 16, 2018
Item No. 18-0117
DWSD Contract No. CS-1892
Time: One (1) Year
Contract Amount: $550,000.00
TO: The Honorable
Board of Water Commissioners
City of Detroit, Michigan
FROM: Gary Brown, Director
Water and Sewerage Department
RE: DWSD Contract No. CS-1892 “Drainage Charge Program Call Center
Support” Consultant: Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency
MOTION
Upon recommendation of Lisa Wallick, Stormwater Management Group (SMG) Manager, the Board of Water Commissioners for the City of Detroit, Water and Sewerage Department, authorizes the Director to enter into Contract No. CS-1892 “Drainage Charge Program Call Center Support” with Wayne Metro Community Action Agency (Consultant), at a cost not to exceed $550,000 for one (1) year, and also authorizes the Director to take such other action as may be necessary to accomplish the intent of this vote.
JUSTIFICATION
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is in the final stages of the Drainage Charge Program rollout. All customer classes with the exception of residential and faith-based accounts have transitioned to the impervious acre billing method for drainage. These accounts will transition in July of 2018 which will be reflected on the August 2018 bill. DWSD expects to have a higher than normal call volume associated with the account conversion. To ensure customers can speak with someone about their concerns, a temporary call center is being established to coincide with the customer outreach notification plan. These customers will receive notifications about changes to their bills in May through June 2018.
BACKGROUND
Since the Drainage Charge Program Launch in 2016, DWSD has used temporary staff to handle customer inquiries via phone, email, and hard copy mail. DWSD has hired some of the temporary staff and is able to manage the volume of work that is generally anticipated. However, the conversion of approximately 175,000 accounts will cause an increase in customer inquiries via phone. Based on past experience, many of the calls will be to educate the customer and are not anticipated to require account adjustments or further review. With the service interruption and restoration contract also in place, it is important to manage hold times and ensure customers receive service in an efficient manner. Thus, the temporary call center is being established to ensure adequate call capacity in the phone system as well as provide the best customer service experience possible.
PROJECT TASKS
The scope of work for the contract includes the following items:
1. Creation of a phone system queue and number to receive all drainage calls. Provide recorded messages per DWSD’s direction during hold times.
2. Staffing the off-site call center with agents.
3. Utilization of the call script provided by DWSD including answers to frequently asked questions and closing statements.
4. Entry of customer inquiry data into the Drainage Charge Program Smartsheets webform following the workflow procedure documents provided and updated by DWSD.
5. Provide quality assurance and quality control information as requested.
6. Ensure multilingual interpretive software is available and functioning.
7. Develop internal workflow processes.
8. Review and familiarize staff with the available drainage charge program collateral and website published by DWSD.
9. Attend training sessions led by DWSD as required.
10. Address repeat calls per the workflow integration procedures developed for the temporary call center.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT STATUS
A. Start Work Date: May 1, 2018
B. Completion Date: April 30, 2019
C. Contract Amount: $550,000.00