Smarter Service: Inside EDD’s Contact Center Modernization

Published: December 16, 2025

Making Services Faster, Clearer, and More Accessible for Californians

Whether it’s checking a payment or the status of a claim, complex phone menus once frustrated Californians seeking disability or Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits. In 2023, we began a major upgrade on our contact centers — replacing legacy systems with a modern, cloud-based platform designed to improve the customer experience, empower staff, and expand self-service options.

Every call, every question, and every claim matters. We wanted a system that could keep up with our customers’ needs — fast, flexible, and reliable.

EDD Director, Nancy Farias

The Challenge: Outdated Systems, Growing Demand for Self-Service

Our legacy call center systems had reached their limits.

  • Manual call routing strained an already outdated system.
  • Staff lacked real-time visibility into claim status, limiting efficiency.
  • Inflexible systems couldn’t accommodate modern self-service features.
  • Multilingual support was limited.

The Solution: Modernizing Contact Centers

Working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and NWN (formerly InterVision), we launched Amazon Connect, a cloud-based, modern contact center platform, and deployed new tools designed to streamline services for both customers and staff. We're delivering improvements in phases, beginning with some enhanced self-service options.

AWS is helping EDD deliver a citizen experience that exceeds the expectations of Californians. Together, we’re working backwards from the evolving needs of citizens, while also building a foundation with the most advanced and scalable cloud technology to help EDD achieve their mission.

AWS VP of Global Education and US State and Local Government, Kim Majerus

  • Real-time identity authentication and smarter call-routing.
  • Integrated case management system that gives representatives a complete view of each customer’s claim and interactions — improving service quality and consistency.
  • Multiple self-service options, including an enhanced phone menu that guides customers to information about their claims and a chatbot.
  • Multilingual support for California’s top spoken languages.

Contact Center and Self-Service Highlights:

  • Automated self-service tools let customers check claim status or payment information instantly. More than 2.1 million customers have used the contact center’s self-serve option to get claim updates since November 2024.
  • Since July 2025, 23% more customers are successfully using self-service to get their questions resolved quicker.
  • After using self-service, over 47% fewer customers need to speak with an agent. By using self-service, customer issues are being resolved more efficiently.
  • Prioritized “missed-call” queuing and intelligent task assignment help agents manage callbacks efficiently. More than 830,000 customers have used the callback feature to talk with an agent since May 2024.
  • Implemented a new automated phone feature that mirrors the Notice of Automatic Payment (DE 2587), giving Disability Insurance customers a faster, paperless way to report their return-to-work date. More than 2,000 customers self-served with this feature in the first few weeks.

Digital Self-Service: Chatbot Enhancements

We modernized our contact center with a new virtual assistant (chatbot) — a multilingual, high-performing self-service channel when customers prefer to engage online. The upgraded chatbot allows our customers to:

  • Navigate benefit programs and services easily to get answers.
  • Access State Disability Insurance claim and payment information securely 24/7.
  • Interact in eight languages, ensuring equitable access.

Metrics – Chatbot Adoption:

  • Monthly users increased from 54,000 to 111,000 immediately after AWS migration. Now, monthly users exceed 2.2 million.
  • Weekly messages delivered doubled from 50,000 to 106,000. Total chatbot activity today exceeds 4.1 million interactions per month.
  • Total chatbot users expanded to 10.1 million in 2025.

The enhanced chatbot ensures every customer can access timely, accurate information in their preferred language.”

EDD Chief Information Officer, Ajit Girn

Live-Agent Chat: Real-Time Human Assistance Online

We started live-agent chat access with the Unemployment Insurance program. The system provides secure, real-time access for unemployment customers to trained agents through the myEDD online benefits portal. Key features include:

  • Multilingual support in eight languages.
  • Dedicated agent portal with knowledge management resources to quickly and accurately assist customers.
  • Real-time oversight for leadership, including chat volume metrics and staffing adjustments to help ensure customers don’t face long waits on hold.

Metrics – Live-Agent Chat Impact:

  • 100% of staff believe live-agent chat capability will positively impact service delivery.
  • Since July 2025, agents have been handling 5% fewer customers on average with the live-agent chat option helping to drive down call demand. This lets the team dedicate more time to complex cases that need more support.
  • Over 80% of unemployment customers were able to resolve their issues or understood how to resolve them during their live-agent chat session.

Customers consistently describe their experiences as quick, easy, and surprisingly simple — sometimes even preferring chatting with a live agent over phone support.”

EDD Chief Information Officer, Ajit Girn

Real Results and Impact

Modernizing our contact center has produced tangible benefits so far for both customers and staff:

Key Metrics and Achievements:

  • 2.1 million+ self-service actions completed since November 2024.
  • 29,900+ customers served by live agents online, proving self-service complements human support.
  • 2,000+ Disability Insurance customers reported their return-to-work date via self-service, helping us update claims more quickly and accurately.
  • Customer satisfaction high: More than 80% of State Disability Insurance customers have said their satisfied with their self-service contact center experience and find it easy to use.
  • Staff satisfaction is high: 80% rated their experience 4 or 5.
  • Chatbot usage and live-agent chat adoption demonstrate scalable, flexible service important to our customers.

Our contact center transformation isn't just about technology — it’s about creating a more responsive, equitable, and human-centered service for all Californians.

EDD Director, Nancy Farias

Looking Ahead

We plan to continue expanding self-service and digital channels, including:

  • Additional chatbot self-service features for unemployment customers.
  • Additional language support for the myEDD online portal, chatbot, and live-agent chat.
  • Continuous feedback collection through new surveys to inform improvements.

Throughout EDDNext, we are transforming the delivery of essential services — modernizing infrastructure for greater efficiencies, empowering staff, and providing faster, more accessible, and equitable support to Californians across the state.

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