Feb 29, 2012 -- The Veterans Affairs Department has implemented new call center procedures to make sure more veterans get through to someone who can help them.

Questioned during a Wednesday hearing on long-standing complaints about getting help with benefits by phone, Allison Hickey, VA undersecretary for benefits, said two initiatives are under way to make improvements.

Since December, VA has offered people placed on hold the opportunity to get a call back rather than remaining on hold, Hickey said. This can be a call returned immediately or a scheduled call if a veteran is unable to wait by a phone, she said. Ninety-two percent of people choose a call back, and the number of so-called "dropped calls," when a caller hangs up before anyone answers, has been reduced by 30 percent, she said.

In a second initiative deployed just this week, Hickey said the people answering phones have been given access to more information. There are 13 different VA databases available on the computer desktops of call center staff, improving the odds that they can find an answer for a veteran, she said.

VA is also expanding efforts to respond to veterans via the Internet, Hickey said.

Hickey’s comments came during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on VA’s proposed 2013 budget after Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., said the call center has been failing veterans.

Johanns said two problems have been experienced by veterans and even by members of his own staff trying to help veterans. "Sometimes, nobody answers. It just rings and rings, and there is no one there," he said. And sometimes, someone answers the phone but cannot answer the question. "You are just not getting a responsive human being," he said.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said he understands Johanns’ concerns. He said in the three years he has headed VA, he has been making his own checks of the call center and also has had unanswered calls.

VA’s national call center to answer questions about veterans’ benefits can be reached by calling 1-800-827-1000.

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.navytimes.com