Filenews 23 September 2023 - by Adamos Adamou
The operation of the 1450 call center may have been initially eventful, since it was postponed once or twice, but it is true that after the end of March it is not heard enough, probably because it works smoothly. This is not the case for the number itself, 1450, as it hears hundreds of citizens every day.
Specifically, the 1450 Contact Center answers more than 1,000 calls per day, serving an equal number of citizens, which confirms that public-private partnerships usually have positive results.
The officer of the Welfare Benefits Administration Service (YDEP) of the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, Christos Diomedes, who is also the coordinator of the contract that the Ministry of Labor and the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare have with the Infocredit consortium he manages, spoke to "Phileleftheros" about the operation of 1450 so far, but also about its further enrichment, as soon as the communication and service of citizens will also take place via live chat the call center.
200,000 calls
According to data provided to "F" by Mr. Diomedes, from March 30 to September 21, the center received almost 200,193 calls (specifically 586,179 calls). Of those calls, 455,93 were answered. That is, 7% of the calls were answered, with the remaining mainly concerning calls from citizens who, especially in the early days, just wanted to "try" the line.
Of the calls received in 1450, 81,821 concerned questions about the Social Insurance Services (pensions and other benefits of the Social Insurance Authority) and 97,634 about benefits of the Ministry of Public Works, such as child benefit, the Guaranteed Minimum Income, etc. He also explained that about a month ago the contact center, based on the contract, started answering emails, sent to the infocentre@mlsi.gov.cy.
Specifically, to date, the contact center has received and responded to 1,158 emails. Under the same contract, the center will soon operate live chat, meaning written electronic direct service to citizens will be allowed, something pioneering for Cyprus and the State, Christos Diomidous said. The citizen will be directed to the live chat through the websites of the Deputy Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of Labor, with this function, widely used by large companies, expected to be in force as soon as possible and certainly before the end of the year.
The filter that helped
Mr. Diomidous explained that the successful operation so far of the communication center and 1450 is largely due to the access that those who serve the citizen now have to public computer systems. Since 2014, when call centers for various allowances began to exist, officials simply answered general questions, as they did not have access to the data of those seeking answers.
Now, with the filters decided with the Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, but also due to the technological upgrade of the SRM and the Ministry of Human Rights, the employees of the contractor, after relevant identification made through the requested data (ID number, mobile phone and date of birth), can have access to the computer systems and give personalized answers.
There are various stages of service at 1450, with the last one concerning difficult questions that are forwarded to the YKA or the Ministry of Public Works, numbered, with officers being asked to contact the interested citizen for his service.
Also, for the smooth operation of the center and for any handling of problems and complaints, there is a monitoring mechanism, with Mr. Diomedes explaining that all calls are recorded and can at any time examine any complaints and errors.
Significant improvement in service
The 1450 call center, Mr. Diomedes noted, is properly and immediately informed about all new allowances that are running, such as the tuition and food subsidy scheme for kindergartens and is able to provide any information needed.
With the operation of 1450, he said, in combination with the technological upgrade of the systems of the Ministry of Public Works, which also uses robotic applications to deal with the very big understaffing problem it has, but also with the operation since last year of the eight service centers throughout Cyprus of the Ministry of Public Health that serve citizens by appointment, as well as with the electronic submission of applications for the EEE, The service to the public has now been significantly improved and the procedures for examining various applications have been accelerated, without this meaning that there is no room for further improvement.
