EDDNext Improving Customer Experiences

In August, we kicked off a project to transform our call centers into a high-tech contact center that integrates our different benefit programs and services. Our mission is clear—provide world-class service to our customers, whenever and however they need it.

Our modern contact center will adopt the latest technologies, including live chat, interactive voice response, machine learning and artificial intelligence, chatbots, and multilingual services. These capabilities share one goal, to deliver fast, accurate and user-friendly service for our valued customers.

The project will start with a Disability Insurance pilot project later this year to improve call handling capabilities. These enhancements will continue improving customer service for those who call us.

That’s not all. In June, we launched myEDD, a more secure, user-friendly, online access to unemployment, disability, and Paid Family Leave benefit services. The new myEDD replaces the previous Benefit Programs Online and is informed and influenced by customer and stakeholder input. It features a more secure login verification process, just like with online banking, and makes password recovery easier. In the next few months, we will expand myEDD language access with versions in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Vietnamese, followed soon after with versions in Korean, Armenian, and Tagalog.

We also continue to build electronic options for collecting additional information from unemployment claimants to help us determine their eligibility for benefits. This means faster benefit determinations for customers who encounter eligibility issues. The current process requires scheduling a phone interview with an EDD representative, which can slow processing. Instead, we now streamline eligibility determinations with the option of online fact-finding questionnaires.