News
Press Releases: Government to Citizen
November 26, 2004
GSA Awards Contract for National Contact Center
Washington D.C. - The U.S. General Services Administration today announced the award of a task order under its USA Services' FirstContact contract to the ICT Group of Newtown, Penn., to operate the Federal Citizen Information Center's National Contact Center.
"This award brings us closer to the President's goal of bringing government information and services closer to citizens," said M.J. (Mary Joy) Jameson, Associate Administrator of GSA's Office of Citizen Services and Communications, the office which houses USA Services and FCIC. "We are pleased to have the experience and capabilities of an industry leader to deliver the best possible service to our citizens."
The task order was competed among five pre-qualified FirstContact contractors. ICT's proposed solution was found to offer the greatest value to the government. ICT will be using its state-of-the-art contact center in Lakeland, Fla., to respond to citizen phone calls and e-mails to the National Contact Center. The task order is for one base year with four one-year options. Its estimated value is $29 million over the next five years. ICT will provide a fully integrated, multi-channel contact center solution to respond to citizen information needs via the toll-free 1 (800) FED INFO line, e-mail inquiries received via the FirstGov.gov Web site, and orders for consumer publications to be processed by the Pueblo, Colo., publication distribution center.
ICT will provide attended services from 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. EST on weekdays. In addition, ICT will provide the FirstGov.gov Web site with a new and dynamic state-of-the art Frequently Asked Questions tool, allowing visitors 24/7 access to automated answers.
The National Contact Center answers citizen inquiries on behalf of several federal agencies, including the Department of State's Overseas Citizens Services Hotline, the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service Public Inquiry program, and the E-Gov initiatives GovBenefits.gov, Recreation.gov, Business.gov, and SAFECOM. In fiscal year 2004, the National Contact Center handled more than 1.5 million calls and processed 96,000 e- mails.
A major component of the USA Services E-Gov initiative, FirstContact gives federal agencies and departments an efficient, cost-effective contract vehicle for procuring single or multi-dimensional contact center services. USA Services was established to help the public access information about government services and to help the government become more citizen-centric.
ICT will be fully operating the National Contact Center by March 2005. The current vendor, Aspen Systems Corporation, based in Rockville, Md., has operated the National Contact Center since October 2000 and will work with ICT to ensure a seamless transition.
