Verizon Cuts California a Break
Phone Company Gives the State a Rebate for Busy Messages
Jun 2, 2009
Slammed by the sharp rise in unemployment, the Employment Development Department in California racked up millions of dollars in phone bills to pay for the message played when call volume is too high. An estimated 100 million calls were made by frustrated Californians to the department's toll-free line from October 2008 to March 2009.
Though not official yet, the new pricing plan is endorsed by both state government officials and Verizon lobbyists that hope it will reduce the state's financial burden in a time when it is battling a budget crisis.
Fees for Diverting Calls
In the old agreement, the state had to pay Verizon 5 cents every time a caller phoned the state unemployment office and there was no representative available to take the call. Though the department uses its own recorded message to greet callers and take them through automated options, the busy message played when that system was backlogged as well.
The message thanked Californians for calling, told them phone lines were too busy and gave suggestions for the best times to call to speak with a representative or to check their unemployment disbursement dates and balance. It then asked them to call back another time and hung up.
After reports about the fees were published in The Sacramento Bee, the public expressed outrage and EDD officials contacted Verizon to see how they could alleviate the financial strain.
Charges Under the Proposed Contract
California officials and Verizon representatives came to agreement on March 25, 2009. In the new contract, the state's fee structure was changed:
- A 5-cent charge will be billed for the first 2.5 million callers that hear the recorded message each month.
- A 2-cent charge will be billed for the next 2.5 to 50 million messages played in the same month.
- A 1.5-cent charge will be billed for messages played in excess of 50 million in that month.
- EDD will receive a $2.6 million refund or credit to be used against future phone bills.
Finalizing the EDD Pricing Plan
As of the writing of this article, the new pricing plan had not yet received final approval, but state officials and Verizon lobbyists seemed confident that the measure would succeed. It must be signed off on by the Department of General Services before going into effect.
In April 2009, the California assembly held hearings on EDD contracts and operations. EDD advertised job openings in the Employment Program Representatives for the Unemployment Services and Workforce Services programs in June 2009.
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