Executive Summary

Objective and Scope

Background

Results

Conclusion

Appendix I – Detailed Objective, Scope, and Methodology

Appendix II – Major Contributors to This Report

Appendix III – Report Distribution List

Appendix IV – Outcome Measures

Appendix V – Management’s Response to the Draft Report

Executive Summary

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98) sent a clear message to the IRS that it must do a better job in meeting the needs of taxpayers. Responding to this mandate, the IRS began a process of change to provide first-rate customer service, including modernization efforts such as expanding service hours and implementing several technological advances. On October 1, 1999, the field Customer Service (CS) function was realigned; this included the reorganization of 25 call sites within 10 CS centers located across the country. The overall objective of this review was to evaluate the IRS’ process for ensuring taxpayers were provided quality customer service by the Toll-Free telephone program during the 2000 Filing Season.

The IRS needs to improve its process for providing Toll-Free telephone service to taxpayers by enhancing its technology, improving executive oversight, providing better controls, and better using its CS resources. One technological advance used in Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 was to manage projected call volume through a centralized control organization called the Customer Service Operations Center, located in Atlanta. This control center monitored the status of call traffic, staffing, and nationwide telecommunications for selected Toll-Free product lines. The IRS projected it would receive 103 million telephone calls in FY 2000. It planned to answer 41 million calls using customer service representatives (CSR) and 19 million calls using automation. The remaining 43 million calls were to go unanswered. Although the IRS implemented initiatives to improve the quality of service to every taxpayer, it did not achieve that goal during the 2000 Filing Season. For the period October 1, 1999, through April 8, 2000, the IRS answered 28.6 million of the 47.1 million calls received. During this period, approximately 18.5 million calls went unanswered.

The IRS measures how well it provides telephone assistance. During FY 2000, the IRS measured its levels of Customer Satisfaction, Employee Satisfaction, and Business Results. In its Business Results, the IRS measured the Level of Service (LOS) and Adherence to Schedule.

The IRS made errors in its LOS calculations and did not answer millions of calls despite reported increases in the LOS. Also, visually impaired CSRs did not receive the proper equipment, resource materials, and timely training, and the IRS did not maximize its use of human resources and existing equipment to improve the quality of service provided to taxpayers.

The IRS spent over $22 million for its new Customer Service Call Router. This router directs a call to a location where it can most quickly be answered based on the number of assistors available to answer calls and the type of taxpayer question. However, during the 2000 Filing Season, the IRS instructed some live assistors to route taxpayer calls to reduce taxpayer wait time and minimize hang-ups. These assistors were performing actions similar to the IRS’ new call routing system. The assistors screened calls and transferred them to another assistor to answer. For FY 2000, the IRS planned to spend approximately $3.6 million in salary costs for assistors who only screened and transferred calls. We estimate that the IRS missed an opportunity to answer up to an additional 1.3 million calls nationwide during FY 2000.

At times, the IRS routed calls to assistors who did not have access to the IRS’ main computer system. For example, we reviewed 461 written referrals and identified 126 (27 percent) that were prepared because the computer system was not available. The assistor receiving the call prepared a referral for another assistor to return the taxpayer’s call and answer the taxpayer’s question. Assistors took from 2 to 34 days to answer the taxpayers’ questions or respond to their calls.

An alternative to preparing a written referral is to transfer the call to another call site. While the IRS’ telephone system has the ability to do this, IRS management chose not to use this feature because they did not want to complicate call routing and it would have increased costs for all calls transferred to another call site, including calls directed to sites where the IRS’ main computer system was not available, by as much as $111,000 in any 1 month. Resolving taxpayers’ inquiries during initial contact would reduce the need for taxpayers to make repeat contacts, thereby easing demand on a CS operation that does not have sufficient resources to answer existing call volumes.

For the period October 1, 1999, through April 8, 2000, the IRS reported a 61 percent LOS. While this represented a slight increase over the IRS’ FY 2000 goal of a 58 percent LOS, the improvement in the LOS was the result of the decrease in the number of taxpayer calls rather than the IRS’ efforts to answer more calls. The IRS projected it would receive 54.1 million taxpayer calls during this period; it received only 47.1 million calls. Also during this period, the IRS planned to answer 31.3 million calls but answered only 28.6 million.

Our review of IRS reports for the period January 1, 2000, to April 8, 2000, showed that CS Toll-Free telephone operations did not use approximately 217,000 (9 percent) of the hours that were available to answer telephone calls. During this same period, the number of abandoned calls exceeded the IRS’ projected figures by 1.4 million (26 percent). In addition, the IRS reported that, through April 8, 2000, the call sites had not had the required staffing in 24 percent of the work periods. Without improvements in answering calls and adherence to schedule, the quality of service provided to taxpayers will continue to suffer despite reported improvements in the LOS.

The IRS reported a 63 percent LOS for the period January 1, 2000, through March 4, 2000. We reviewed call volume data input to the IRS’ tracking system for the 3 major product lines at 3 call sites for 3 days in February 2000. We found errors in the data used to calculate the LOS; these errors caused the IRS to overstate its total assistor-answered calls by 6,891 of the 44,136 (16 percent) reported. The IRS informed us that, as of September 2000, it was still experiencing inaccuracies in the calculations of calls answered.

The nine revisions in the Workload Information Tracking System reporting guidelines coupled with the tedious, complex computations for the LOS increased the risk of reporting inaccurate data. We were unable to determine the overall effect the 16 percent misstatement had on the LOS. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration will conduct additional reviews of the LOS in the Toll-Free telephone operations during the 2001 Filing Season and will report on the results.

During our visits to three call sites, we identified shortages in equipment and materials for visually impaired CSRs, including scanners, printers, closed-circuit televisions, and Braille forms and publications. Also, visually impaired CSRs were inadequately trained to use essential tools, such as IRS computer systems, and materials needed for their jobs. Some materials contained errors and were not always useable.

These deficiencies were identified through management and employee interviews at the three call sites we visited. These sites, combined, employed at least 40 CSRs with some form of visual impairment. Two of the six visually impaired employees we interviewed informed us that they experienced temporary work stoppages. While the IRS was aware of the CSRs’ needs, it had not developed an overall strategy to address those needs. Federal laws require an agency to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. The IRS has approximately 200 visually impaired employees in the CS function.

As the IRS continues its modernization efforts, it has a great opportunity to develop a comprehensive strategy that will address the future needs of CS. The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should develop a strategy that incorporates existing balanced measures and objectives to increase the Toll-Free telephone program’s ability to provide quality service to all taxpayers.

The strategy should include evaluating Toll-Free telephone operations to ensure existing technology and human resources are better used, the LOS is increased through productivity, visually impaired employees’ needs are addressed, and reported outcomes are reliable and accurate.

Management’s Response: The IRS is taking corrective actions on 4 of the 7 recommendations we made. The IRS’ response did not include any corrective action for recommendation number 3. However, information in the Assessment of Cause section and on page 5 of the response indicates the IRS agrees with the issue and will follow other Internal Revenue Manual guidelines that we believe will help resolve the problem. The IRS disagreed with recommendations number 1 and 2, even though the response includes corrective actions, because it believes current procedures are sufficient to address the issues in these recommendations. We believe the IRS must implement the technological improvements necessary to allow it to respond to the taxpayers’ questions in not only an economical but also an effective manner.

Objective and Scope

The overall objective of this review was to evaluate the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) process for ensuring taxpayers were provided quality customer service by the Toll-Free telephone program during the 2000 Filing Season. To accomplish the overall objective, we:

• Evaluated the IRS’ methodology for measuring the performance of the Customer Service (CS) Toll-Free telephone operations for the 2000 Filing Season.
• Determined whether IRS management ensured Toll-Free resources were available and customer service representatives (CSR) were adequately trained to provide quality answers to taxpayer questions.
• Identified early concerns/issues confronting call sites in the 2000 Filing Season and determined whether these concerns were timely addressed by IRS management.

We performed audit work at the National Headquarters; the Chief, CS Field Operations office and the Customer Service Operations Center (CSOC) in Atlanta; and call sites located in Baltimore, Dallas, and Portland, Oregon. Also, we used questionnaires to solicit feedback and concerns from the 10 CS centers throughout the country. The audit was conducted between January and July 2000 in accordance with Government Auditing Standards.

Details of our audit objective, scope, and methodology are presented in Appendix I. Major contributors to this report are listed in Appendix II.

Background

The IRS has been the subject of a number of studies that identified a wide range of problems, including inadequate technology, poor service to taxpayers, and lack of adequate training and resources for IRS employees.

The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98) sent a clear message to the IRS that it must do a better job in meeting the needs of taxpayers. Responding to this mandate, the IRS began a process of change to provide first-rate customer service by expanding service hours and implementing a number of technological advances.

On October 1, 1999, the field CS function was realigned; this included the reorganization of 25 call sites within 10 CS centers located across the country. Three major CS call site automation initiatives were implemented during Fiscal Year (FY) 1999. These projects were intended to be initial implementations of the technology that would be fully deployed under the IRS’ modernization efforts:

• The CSOC, which is located in the new Atlanta CS Center, is a centralized control organization that monitors the status of call traffic, staffing, and nationwide telecommunications for selected Toll-Free product lines. The CSOC’s mission is to provide taxpayers access (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) to the resources best able to meet their needs.
• The Customer Service Call Router (CSCR) is a system that balances call volumes among sites by identifying the best route by which to transfer any incoming call based on available staffing, CSR skills, and wait times at all sites. The system was implemented in 25 CS call sites and 2 Network Control Centers.
• The Tele-Center Workforce Management System (TCWMS) is a centralized workforce management database that monitors telephone usage. It gathers staff and call volume information from each call site, transmits the information to a centralized location, then uses the information to forecast future volumes and staffing requirements. When fully operational, the completed system will monitor the status of telephone usage and be used to prepare local staffing schedules.

On January 6, 2000, the IRS Commissioner stated "providing new technology and a new organizational structure are key steps to providing first-rate service to American taxpayers, but it’s clear that we must also invest in our most valuable asset—our employees." He stated that IRS employees needed more and better training. He allocated a record $106 million to the FY 2000 training budget.

The IRS also changed the way it measures its performance. The IRS used balanced measures established for the CS Toll-Free telephone operations to evaluate CS performance in providing quality telephone assistance during FY 2000. According to the IRS, balanced measures are the sole source for measuring the organization’s performance and consist of Customer Satisfaction, Employee Satisfaction, and Business Results. Measurable outcomes of the Business Results balanced measure are the Level of Service (LOS) and Adherence to Schedule.

Results

The IRS projected it would receive 103 million calls in FY 2000, and it planned to answer 41 million of these calls using CSRs. This plan included 8.9 percent more calls than were answered during FY 1999. The IRS was funded with 8,100 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) to answer the 41 million calls; this results in a cost of 2.5 calls answered per hour, per FTE. The IRS planned to use automation to answer another 19 million calls. The remaining 43 million calls were to go unanswered.

Despite modernization efforts and the implementation of initiatives, such as expanding service hours, to improve the quality of service to every taxpayer, the IRS did not achieve that goal during the 2000 Filing Season. In his April 10, 2000, testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform, the IRS National Taxpayer Advocate communicated that "many taxpayers stated that if they get through and can talk to a CSR, they are being helped."

The IRS needs to improve its process for providing Toll-Free telephone service to taxpayers by enhancing its technology, improving executive oversight, providing better controls, and better using its CS resources. While the IRS has established balanced measures and implemented the latest technology into its Toll-Free telephone operations, it did not maximize the use of human resources and existing equipment to improve the quality of service provided to taxpayers. Millions of calls were not answered despite reported increases in the LOS, and errors were made in the calculations of the reported LOS during the 2000 Filing Season. Also, visually impaired employees did not receive proper equipment, resource materials, or timely training.

The Use of Telephone Assistors to Only Route Calls Prevented Up to an Estimated 1.3 Million Calls From Being Answered

The IRS spent over $22 million to purchase, test, install, modify, and maintain the new CSCR that replaced its former method of routing calls. This new call router was designed to direct a taxpayer’s telephone call to the call site where it could most quickly be answered based on the number of assistors available to answer calls and the type of taxpayer question.

The IRS instructed some of its CSRs to only screen and transfer calls instead of answering taxpayer questions. These CSRs performed actions similar to those performed by the IRS’ new call routing system. The IRS used CSRs in this capacity to reduce taxpayer wait time and minimize hang-ups.

We selected a Monday in February 2000 to review calls because Mondays are one of the IRS’ most demanding days of the week to answer telephone calls. We found that approximately 336 (7 percent) of 5,133 employees were paid approximately $37,800 to screen and route calls. Once transferred, the call may have been answered or the taxpayer may have hung up the call, only to call again. We estimate that, by using the 336 employees to only screen calls, the IRS missed an opportunity to respond to an additional 13,608 taxpayer questions for that particular 7½ hour day.

We further reviewed the IRS’ planned use of assistors by examining the number of hours it scheduled for assistors to only screen calls for the entire fiscal year. Based on Figure 2 below, the IRS would have spent $3.6 million during FY 2000 to screen and route calls using assistors.

We recognize that the IRS will need to have assistors to screen calls for those taxpayers who use rotary-dialed telephones; however, we estimated that assistors could have answered up to 1.3 million additional calls in FY 2000 with the resources CS devoted to using assistors to route rather than answer calls.

1. The Commissioner, Wage and Investment (W&I) Division, should re-evaluate the number of CSRs used to only screen and transfer calls. Also, the Commissioner should maximize the use of the CSCR and its related telephone systems to route calls more efficiently.

Management’s Response: The IRS disagreed with this recommendation, even though the response includes corrective action, because it routinely evaluates staffing needs for all of its call applications. Technological improvements have and will improve customer self-routing, which will continue to reduce the need for call screening.

Office of Audit Comment: We agree that the IRS must provide service to screen and transfer calls. However, the IRS has not implemented the technological improvements necessary to allow the assistors to respond to the taxpayer’s questions.

Taxpayers Were Delayed in Getting Help Because the Computer System Was Not Available

The IRS routed calls to assistors who were available to answer taxpayers’ tax account questions. However, at times, the assistors were unable to answer the taxpayers’ questions because access to the main computer system that provides instantaneous information about certain taxpayer accounts (the Integrated Data Retrieval System) was not available.

For example, we reviewed a statistical sample of 461 written referrals prepared between October 1999 and January 2000 and identified 126 (27 percent) that were prepared because the computer system was unavailable. The assistor receiving the call prepared a referral for another assistor to return the taxpayer’s call and answer the taxpayer’s question. Assistors took an average of 10 days (a range of 2 to 34 days) to answer the taxpayers’ questions or respond to their calls.

We determined that 5 of 126 taxpayers made repeat contacts to the IRS before the assigned assistors contacted them. Although the 10-day average was within the required 30-day period to respond to taxpayer inquiries, we concluded that even 10 days is too long a period to provide quality service to a taxpayer’s initial inquiry.

An alternative to preparing a written referral is to transfer the call to another call site. While the IRS’ telephone system has the ability to do this, IRS management chose not to use this feature because they did not want to complicate call routing. In addition, the IRS stated the additional post-routing capability for all calls transferred to another call site, including calls directed to sites where the IRS’ main computer system was not available, would have cost as much as $111,000 in any 1 month.

Resolving taxpayer inquiries during initial contact would reduce the need for taxpayers to make repeat contacts to the IRS to get their questions resolved. This would ease the demand on CS operations that do not have sufficient resources to answer existing call volumes.

Recommendations

2. The Commissioner, W&I Division, should further evaluate call transferring procedures by examining the cost and benefit of using the additional routing feature currently available in the corporate call routing telephone system when the main computer system is unavailable in the local call site where the call was received.

Management’s Response: The IRS disagreed with this recommendation, even though the response includes corrective action, and stated its current processes will remain in effect. Information in the corrective action section of the response indicates when computer systems are unavailable, the IRS assesses each situation for the best solution. The IRS considers:

• Type and anticipated length of the outage
• Number of sites impacted
• Alternative Systems available
• Staffing and workload in the site or sites

Office of Audit Comment: While the IRS believes it is appropriate to implement the least costly solution, we maintain that the IRS should continue to pursue options that are not only economical but are also effective.

1. The Commissioner, W&I Division, should re-evaluate IRS guidelines and consider reducing (from 30 days) the maximum allowable period for handling written referrals.

Management’s Response: The IRS response showed "Not Applicable" in the corrective action section for this recommendation. Information on page 5 of the IRS’ response showed IRS management agrees that the time period for a callback should be reviewed. In the interim, IRS management will continue its procedure of CSRs advising callers of the turnaround time for a callback prior to initiating a referral. This practice allows the caller to choose the next course of action. The IRS also stated that other Internal Revenue Manual guidelines, which state a taxpayer inquiry should normally be resolved in a 15-day period, are reasonable.

The Internal Revenue Service Answered 2.8 Million Fewer Calls Than Were Planned Despite Reported Increases in the Level of Service

For the period October 1, 1999, through April 8, 2000, the IRS reported a 61 percent LOS. This represented a slight increase over the IRS’ FY 2000 goal of a 58 percent LOS. While this increase might imply that the IRS provided improved customer service, the improvement in the LOS was the result of the decrease in the number of taxpayer calls received (7 million fewer) rather than the IRS’ efforts to answer more calls.

The LOS is based on the number of calls the IRS answered compared to the number of calls it received. The IRS projected that the CS Toll-Free telephone program would receive 54.1 million calls and answer 31.3 million calls, using automation and CSRs, by April 8, 2000. Actual figures for this period showed the IRS received 47.1 million calls and answered 28.6 million of the calls received; approximately 18.5 million calls went unanswered.

The following chart shows the comparison of FY 2000 projected to actual calls received and answered from October 1, 1999, through April 8, 2000.

While the IRS cannot control actual taxpayer behavior (calls received), there are steps that it can take to increase the number of calls answered. These steps include using all available resources and adhering to scheduled goals.

Our review of IRS reports for the period January 1, 2000, to April 8, 2000, showed that CS Toll-Free telephone operations did not use approximately 217,000 (9 percent) of the hours that were available to answer telephone calls. In planning for the filing season, the CSOC prepared call volume forecasts and call site plans and schedules that outlined how projected call volume and FTE hours would be allocated. Included in the plan was a call site measurement defined as planned delivery or the number of calls 1 CSR should be able to answer in 1 hour.

Based on its planning assumptions, the IRS allocated its resources based on CSRs being able to answer 6.6 calls per hour. Because the IRS did not use the 217,000 hours to answer calls, CSRs answered only 5.9 calls per hour. If the CS Toll-Free program had used these hours to answer calls, CSRs could have answered approximately 1.4 million additional calls.

Also during this period, there were 1.4 million (26 percent) more calls abandoned than the IRS projected (see Figure 4 below). This represented 1.4 million more calls the IRS planned to answer but did not.

As of April 8, 2000, the IRS reported that in 24 percent of the work periods its call sites did not have the required staffing. Adherence to schedule provides that call sites have the required number of CSRs on the telephones every work period. Call sites were considered in adherence if the actual number of CSRs on the telephones was at least 95 percent of scheduled staffing.

CS management provided the following causes why call sites did not adhere to schedule:

• Call sites did not hire enough CSRs.
• Call sites experienced attrition.
• Call site managers did not properly manage the sites, which included communications between the call sites and field operations.

These occurrences increased the risk of having CSRs unable to answer calls because their skills did not match taxpayers’ questions.

The IRS had the opportunity to answer 2.8 million more calls than it reported answering for the period. Without improvements in answering calls and adherence to schedule, the quality of service provided to taxpayers will continue to suffer despite reported improvements in the LOS.

1. The Commissioner, W&I Division, needs to do a better job of anticipating and filling resource needs and managing those resources to:

• Answer more calls.
• Decrease abandon rates.
• Increase adherence to schedule.

Management’s Response: Increased emphasis was placed on planning workload by application, scheduling staffing and training for FY 2001. Sites assessed their training needs in relation to projected application requirements and conducted the required training. Tools were provided to ensure consistency among sites. During the development of site level schedules, additional emphasis was placed on communicating site needs through the Business Operating Divisions (BOD) to balance site and enterprise requirements.

Sites were provided daily, detailed information, through Joint Operations Center web page, regarding specific applications that required dedicated staffing. Real time status screens are now available at the site level to assess adherence to scheduled requirements. As a result, we have reduced abandons and improved adherence to our schedules.

The Internal Revenue Service’s Reported Number of Calls Answered May Be Incorrect

CS employees input inaccurate data on call volumes into the IRS’ tracking system for the three major product lines, and management did not review or validate the work for accuracy in three call sites we visited. These inaccurate figures were used to calculate the 63 percent LOS reported for the period January 1, 2000, through March 4, 2000.

Daily, an employee in each call site manually performs tedious, complex computations using telephone call volume data and inputs the results into the Workload Information Tracking System (WITS), which is one of the sources used to compute the LOS. We reviewed call volume data input to the WITS for the 3 major product lines at 3 call sites on 3 days in February 2000. Our review showed the following:

• February 2: The 16,604 total assistor-answered calls reported were overstated by 8,499 calls.
• February 15: The 20,982 total assistor-answered calls reported were understated by 1,283 calls.
• February 29: The 6,550 total assistor-answered calls reported were understated by 325 calls.

While our tests were limited to 3 days, these inaccuracies led the IRS to overstate its total assistor-answered calls by 6,891 of the 44,136 (16 percent) reported. These inaccuracies may have resulted from multiple revisions to the WITS reporting guidelines for the period October 1999 through February 2000. The IRS made 9 revisions that resulted in 26 different changes affecting 11 different line items on the WITS report. These multiple revisions coupled with the tedious, complex LOS computations increased the risk of reporting inaccurate data. We were unable to determine the overall effect the 16 percent misstatement had on the LOS.

The reporting guidelines did not require a quality review or validation process. However, internal control standards for accountability of resources and records require a periodic comparison of resource records to help reduce the risk of errors.

Besides the LOS, errors in WITS data also affect the reliability of data critical to decision-making in various other components of CS operations. For example, WITS data are used by:

• The CSOC in the management of nationwide call traffic, staffing, and telecommunications.
• The Centralized Quality Review System in the development of accuracy rates.

The IRS informed us that, as of September 2000, it was still experiencing inaccuracies in the calculations of calls answered. IRS management advised us that they are working on a long-term resolution, which involves a systemic process where information will flow between systems and eliminate the need for employee input. The system prototype is in the testing stage; however, it may be placed on hold indefinitely due to funding issues. In the interim, the IRS’ short-term approach is to review and correct data that appear out of line after they have been input to the WITS. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration will conduct additional reviews of the LOS in the Toll-Free telephone operations during the 2001 Filing Season and will report on the results.

1. The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should implement a quality review process to validate the input of data to the WITS until the systemic process has been tested and implemented.

Management’s Response: The Enterprise Telephone Database (ETD), developed as a replacement for WITS during the review, has been fully deployed. Data for critical reporting needs is automatically taken directly from the data source.

The Lack of Resources for Visually Impaired Telephone Assistors Put the Internal Revenue Service at Risk of Civil Suits

During our visits to three call sites, we identified shortages in equipment and materials for visually impaired CSRs, including scanners, printers, closed-circuit televisions, and Braille forms and publications. Also, visually impaired CSRs were not adequately trained to use the essential tools and materials needed for their jobs. For example, employees were not trained on the Servicewide Electronic Research Project or the Integrated Data Retrieval System. These systems provide employees instantaneous access to research material and certain taxpayer accounts, respectively.

Also, some resource materials contained errors and were not always useable. Examples included publications bound with pages either missing, upside down, or with the wrong content. In addition, the Job Access With Speech software that interacts with the CSRs’ personal computers to convert text to speech was not fully compatible or operational. These deficiencies were identified through management and employee interviews in all three call sites we visited. These sites, combined, employed at least 40 CSRs with some form of visual impairment. Two of the six visually impaired employees we interviewed informed us that they experienced temporary work stoppages.

The IRS’ Executive Steering Committee, charged with overseeing the IRS’ preparation for the FY 2000 Filing Season, was aware of the needs of the visually impaired CSRs. We reviewed the action plans submitted by the three call sites in preparation for the FY 2000 Filing Season, but we did not find the needs of the visually impaired employees documented. This may have contributed to the lack of attention or action by the Steering Committee.

On February 23, 2000, the Assistant Commissioner (Customer Services) stated during a Visually Impaired Program Conference that the IRS functions were working on improvements for employees with disabilities, but the functions were going in different directions. He also stated that the IRS had not developed an overall strategy to address employees’ needs.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 provide guidance for the reasonable accommodation of individuals with qualifying disabilities. Under § 505 of the Rehabilitation Act, a federal employee harmed by an agency’s failure to provide reasonable accommodation is entitled to the same remedies available to victims of employment inequalities under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act, in turn, authorizes several different types of equitable and legal remedies including back pay and compensatory damages up to $300,000. The CS function has approximately 200 visually impaired employees.

Recommendations

2. The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should develop an overall strategy and move quickly to address the needs of visually impaired employees. During the February 23, 2000, Visually Impaired Program Conference, the Assistant Commissioner (Customer Services) provided resolutions that included establishing teams to provide funding strategies and oversight.

Management’s Response: The IRS formed a multi-functional Oversight Group to identify initiatives to address the needs of visually impaired employees. See the IRS’ complete response in Appendix V of the report for details on these initiatives.

3. The IRS Commissioner should appoint an executive to oversee that the recommendations of the established teams are timely implemented.

Management’s Response: An Executive Steering Committee for Employees with Disabilities has been formed with Small Business/Self-Employed Deputy Director, Customer Account Services, and W&I Director, Accounts Management, as co-chairs. Executive members include Information Technology Services (IS) and Agency Wide Shared Services. Field Director Accounts Management (Cincinnati) is providing direct executive leadership.

Conclusion

The RRA 98 sent a clear message to the IRS that it must do a better job in meeting the needs of taxpayers. The IRS has attempted to meet this mandate, but improvement in its performance is needed. As the IRS continues its modernization efforts, it has a great opportunity to develop a comprehensive strategy that will address the future needs of CS. This strategy should incorporate existing balanced measures and objectives to increase the Toll-Free telephone program’s ability to provide quality service to all taxpayers.

Detailed Objective, Scope, and Methodology

The overall objective of this review was to evaluate the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) process for ensuring that taxpayers were provided quality customer service by the Toll-Free telephone program during the 2000 Filing Season.

To accomplish the overall objective, we:

1. Identified the IRS’ balanced measures used to evaluate Toll-Free telephone assistance.

1. Determined the process for capturing the data elements for the balanced measures applicable to the Toll-Free telephone operation.

1. Identified the data elements that comprised the "Business Results" portion of the balanced measures. We identified the systems/data that made up the data elements and determined whether they were timely and consistently input. (CS divided its Toll-Free telephone program performance measurement into three segments—Business Results, Customer Satisfaction, and Employee Satisfaction. The Business Results portion, which included level of service and adherence to schedule, was the focus of our audit.)

1. Analyzed the validity of Business Results data in management reports.

1. Determined whether IRS management had ensured Toll-Free telephone program resources were available and customer service representatives (CSR) were adequately trained to provide quality answers to taxpayers’ questions.

1. Determined whether CSRs had the tools needed to provide quality responses to taxpayer questions.

1. Discussed with management their process to ensure CSRs had the appropriate tools.
2. Selected a judgmental sample of CSRs from the three call sites visited to determine whether the CSRs had tools available for their use to service taxpayers on the Toll-Free telephone lines.

1. Determined whether written Inquiry Referrals (Form 4442) prepared by CSRs providing Toll-Free telephone assistance followed established criteria.

1. Determined from discussions with CS personnel the process used by CSRs to prepare written referrals.
2. Reviewed a statistical sample of 461 Forms 4442 to determine whether taxpayer questions were referred based on IRS-established criteria. We used attribute sampling to sample from two sets of populations in all three sites. The two populations were October to December 1999 and January 2000. We used sampling criteria that included a 5 percent error rate, 4 percent precision, and 95 percent confidence level and selected those referrals that were prepared because the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS) was down or unavailable at the time of the taxpayers’ calls.

• For the Baltimore site, we selected 102 referrals for January 2000; 27 met the IDRS criteria. For October to December 1999, we selected 79 referrals; 36 met the IDRS criteria.
• For the Dallas site, we selected 102 referrals for January 2000; 11 met the IDRS criteria. For October to December 1999, we selected 87 referrals; 5 met the IDRS criteria.
• For the Portland site, we selected 1 referral for January 2000; it did not meet the IDRS criteria. For October to December 1999, we selected 90 referrals; 47 met the IDRS criteria.

1. Evaluated management’s effectiveness in ensuring the call sites were adequately staffed and scheduled to respond to taxpayer questions by reviewing the first and available second planning period results.

1. Determined whether call sites’ actual staffing levels were in line with Customer Service Operations Center (CSOC) requirements.

1. Identified call sites’ planned and actual staffing levels.
2. Compared actual delivery (the number of calls 1 CSR answered in 1 hour) to CSOC requirements.
3. Held discussions with management to determine the over/understaffing effect on scheduling.
4. Reviewed call sites’ adherence to schedules to determine the percentage of times call sites had the required staffing and were over/understaffed.

3. Identified early concerns/issues confronting call sites in the 2000 Filing Season and determined whether these concerns were being timely addressed by IRS management. Solicited feedback from call sites on concerns with training, staffing, equipment, scheduling, and balanced measures.

Major Contributors to This Report

Walter E. Arrison, Associate Inspector General for Audit (Wage and Investment Income Programs)

Gary Lewis, Director

Michael Phillips, Director

Patricia Lee, Audit Manager

Allen Brooks, Senior Auditor

Deborah Carter, Senior Auditor

Frank Jones, Senior Auditor

Lena Dietles, Auditor

Roy Evans, Auditor

Jackie Forbus, Auditor

Jeffery Smith, Auditor

Report Distribution List

Commissioner N:C

Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division S

Assistant Deputy Commissioner Modernization N:ADC:MOD

Director, Customer Account Services W:CAS

Director, Legislative Affairs CL:LA

Chief Counsel CC

National Taxpayer Advocate TA

Office of Management Controls N:CFO:F:M

Director, Office of Program Evaluation and Risk Analysis N:ADC:R:O

Audit Liaison:

Outcome Measures

This appendix presents detailed information on the measurable impact that our recommended corrective actions will have on tax administration. These benefits will be incorporated into our Semiannual Report to the Congress.

Type and Value of Outcome Measure:

• Taxpayer Burden – Potential; 1.3 million calls customer service representatives (CSR) could have answered (see page 5).

Methodology Used to Measure the Reported Benefit:
The 1.3 million call total was calculated by multiplying 239,761 (the total number of scheduled assistor hours for CSRs to only route calls in Fiscal Year (FY) 2000) times 5.4 calls per hour (the number of calls the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) planned for each CSR to answer per hour in FY 2000).

Management’s Response to the Draft Report

The response was removed due to its size. To see the response, please see the Adobe PDF version of the report on the TIGTA Public Web Page.