The Kansas Department of Labor is getting a helping hand in improving its unemployment delivery services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the past two-weeks, KDOL has been working with a team of specialists from Accenture who have been providing operational and technological assessments to help improve the department’s ancient technological infrastructure. In a recent news release, Governor Laura Kelly stated “we know there have been major issues and missteps, we’ve hit the reset button and are focusing on the future.”
The full assessment is still ongoing, however, according to the news release improvements are already being implemented. As has been reported in recent months, one of the major issues facing the department since the COVID-19 pandemic began, has been the overwhelming call volume on a daily basis.
To address this issue, the department and Accenture have added “highly-trained” customer representatives with experience in call surge response to their team. The department has also added additional IT employees to help speed up the implementation of “various federal unemployment programs.” Additionally, a virtual agent named Amelia has been launched to answer the most frequently asked questions which come through the department.
Acting KDOL Secretary Ryan Wright says the “response model being implemented will be able to be scaled up as needed and there will be more trained agents and technology workarounds for the current computer system.” He continues stating, “once the surge response is stabilized, we’ll be able to turn attention to the badly needed system rebuild, so we never face this situation again.”
KDOL has delivered approximately $1.2 billion in unemployment claims to nearly 200,000 Kansans since the onset of the pandemic. For more information on unemployment services or to check your eligibility visit www.getKansasbenefits.gov.
