Callers give up in one-third of CHIP calls
Source: By Diana Washington Valdez. El Paso Times (TX), 06/14/2006 12:00:00 AM MDT
About a third of people from throughout Texas who called the state's CHIP call center hung up for various reasons, possibly out of frustration. According to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, during the week of May 7, nearly 43 percent of calls placed to the Accenture/Texas Access Alliance call center in Midland were what the state considers "abandoned calls." For the week ended June 11, the rate was better but still high at about 32 percent.
Mike Gross, vice president of the Texas State Employees Union, said that the abandoned-call rate is the percentage of callers who hang up before an operator answers their call, and that long waits on hold are the main reason people give up on their calls. According to the $899 million call center contract, the contractor is supposed to keep the abandoned call rate at 5 percent or below.