Key automation practices government offices need to implement

Government officials already have a tough job as they work to ensure that civil suits and crime victims receive the justice they deserve and that funds are appropriately dispersed. Luckily for government officials, this important job can be made much easier through the automation of processes. These automated systems can help streamline receivables management and create a more efficient team.

Automating collections processes improves a number of aspects of a government office; employees are given more time to focus on the elements of the task that require human intervention, ensuring greater efficiency and efficacy. For example, payment plans, phone calls and skip tracing can be improved and automated, thereby giving your employees greater time to accomplish the tasks they were truly hired to do. Check out more details on these areas and the benefits automation offers government offices:

User-friendly payment plans

Payment plans are very common: notes, student loans and medical bills are paid off via a payment plan, and government collections should be no exception. However, these portals need to be user-friendly and flexible for each constituent. In order to ensure fair standards, negotiations often take place about the monthly amount or required timelines. Automated systems can create efficiency within this necessary process and establish terms based on predetermined data and factors, instead of requiring employees to waste time wrapped up in negotiations. These automated systems will also effectively monitor all payment plans and alert account reps if constituents miss payments for an extended period.

Compliance over the phone

Procrastination.

We’re all familiar with it and know that humans tend to push off tasks that have an extended deadline unless they receive regular reminders. For this reason, many constituents may blame lack of payment on infrequent contact from the collection department and claim that the issue was out of sight, out of mind. However, updated systems can quickly refute this claim since frequent contact is a standard. Automated receivables management systems will often send a warning letter first, followed by calls. Agencies heavily regulate phone calls, and compliance can be difficult. However, if a constituent is still unresponsive, text and voice messages may be sent as long as they meet predetermined standards.

Make skip tracing automatic

Ninety-six percent of Americans own a cellphone of some kind. A standard cell phone contract lasts anywhere from two to three years, but occasionally devices change, as do numbers. Another factor that can lead to a new number is a move out of state, which also leads to a new address and other forms of contact. This situation is especially detrimental for government offices and collections agents because making contact with constituents becomes tricky. Missed payments can lead to severe consequences for constituents, and agents have a responsibility to make proper contact to prevent this potential solution. Luckily, updated systems are equipped with skip tracing to automate the process and ensure the most up to date point of contact for each individual.

An automated collection system will flag any corrupt or missing contact information and then automatically searches for updated contacts and populates the system once this information is located. In the end, this system not only builds better touch points but also creates efficiency and compliance by alerting agents of cell phones that must be contacted under stricter regulations.

Automating the collections process creates greater efficiency and streamlined operations system-wide, but there are no limits to the benefits these updates offer. When implementing trusted technology across the entire receivables process, agents and the whole government office is more consistent and successful.

Steve Ard is Senior Director of Government Services at Ontario Systems.