S-3613.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 6242

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     2000 Regular Session

By Senators Fairley, Patterson, Kohl‑Welles, Shin, McAuliffe, Eide and B. Sheldon

Read first time 01/11/2000.  Referred to Committee on Labor & Workforce Development.

Requiring major state agencies to have the ability to reach a departmental employee as an automated telephone answering system option.

    AN ACT Relating to public agency telephone systems; adding a new section to chapter 43.105 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that, although many state agencies use automated telephone answering for cost savings and efficiency, there are times when a person needs to have the telephone answered by a live department employee.  Washington citizens, businesses, visitors, and legislators become frustrated in their attempts to obtain information when they call a major agency and are trapped in a voice mail loop.  The legislature intends that major state agencies have, as an immediate voice mail option, a minimum of two public telephone main access lines that are staffed by live department employees who are trained to answer basic inquiries or to otherwise direct the caller to someone who can assist them.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 43.105 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) Major state agencies shall make available, as an automated telephone answering system caller option, the option of promptly reaching a live departmental employee trained to answer basic inquiries or otherwise direct the caller to someone appropriate to respond to their request for information.  Major state agencies shall each allocate a minimum of two telephone lines to handle their responsibilities under this section, and shall monitor on-hold times, with the goal of an average response time of five minutes or less.

    (2) For the purposes of this section major state agencies are:

    (a) The department of ecology;

    (b) The department of agriculture;

    (c) The office of financial management;

    (d) The department of general administration;

    (e) The department of revenue;

    (f) The department of personnel;

    (g) the department of retirement systems;

    (h) The department of financial institutions;

    (i) The Washington state patrol;

    (j) The department of licensing;

    (k) The department of social and health services;

    (l) The department of labor and industries;

    (m) The employment security department;

    (n) The department of health;

    (o) The department of corrections;

    (p) The department of veterans affairs;

    (q) The department of community, trade, and economic development; and

    (r) The office of the secretary of state.

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