4. Change Timeline
Staff Veterans
Initial
Communicaiton Announcement Email
"Coming Soon" Website
Banner
Scheduled Training Individual Email
Training 2 Hours Face-To-Face
Training Feedback Exit Survey
GO LIVE New Backend Tools New Website Tool
Continuous
Improvement Feedback Survey Link Satisfaction Survey Link
6. Future Opportunities
At the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, we have an
obligation to serve those that have chosen to serve this
country. Improving the quality of services provided helps to
fulfill that obligation.
Editor's Notes
At the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, we have an obligation to serve those that have chosen to serve this country. An opportunity to improve the quality of the services provided has been identified. There have been complaints from Veterans regarding the difficulty and time associated with reaching a live person in the VA that can answer questions and provide assistance. To provide better a better experience for the veterans, a series of changes will take place over the next few weeks. Those changes will improve communication between VA staff and veterans and simplify the process of making appointments.
In addition to making the process easier for veterans, the upcoming changes will reduce the workload on VA staff members as well. The updated VA website will route veterans to phone support after they enter some key identifying information. After our upcoming changes are complete, the information entered by the veterans will be provided directly to staff members, eliminating the need to ask for and enter the information manually.
The image on this slide shows how a large company like Apple, Inc. handles setting up calls via their website. Their customers can choose to set up a call now or an appointment for a future time. The VA website will feature a similar tool once the updates are complete. Veterans will click a “Contact Us” link and then log into the website to reach this page. By logging into the website, their basic identifying information will captured and provide to the staff member handling the call automatically.
(Image of Contact Apple Support) Retrieved May 14, 2017 from https://getsupport.apple.com/?caller=cups&PRKEYS=
Initial communication will be provided to staff members via email on day one. To prepare the Veterans for the changes, a banner ad will be added to the website later the same day. Over the course of a week, the backend changes will be made to the website and staff members will receive individual emails scheduling the face-to-face training. A final communication will be sent via email to staff members after training is complete before the website changes go live. Veterans will see the updated website and new appointment system on launch day.
After training, staff members will participate in a feedback survey to determine areas of concern. Follow-up communications will be sent as necessary, based on staff member feedback. Staff members will also have access to an internal feedback link after the program has gone live. This link will remain active for the foreseeable future to allow upward communication from staff members that use the system daily. Their feedback is a valuable resource for future updates.
Feedback from veterans is a valuable resource as well. Veterans will have access to a satisfaction survey link on the VA website. This will allow them to leave comments and complaints regarding the appointment system. Future updates will use this data to improve the veteran experience even more.
The changes to the VA website will provide better a better experience for the veterans that need to make appointments and ease the workload on the staff members that support them. Feedback from both groups will be used to continue to refine and improve the online tools.
