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IRS Leans on Chatbots to Improve Citizen Experience
Many US residents were extremely pleased to learn about President Biden’s recent executive order to transform customer experiences for federal services. After decades of slow response times and low quality customer service, the Biden administration realized it was time to offer citizens the quality of service desired.
The IRS launched a new office to make tax services easier and more convenient for citizens, a notable step for improving customer experiences. But the IRS recently took this initiative a step further, with CPA reporting the IRS introduced voicebot services for two toll-free tax assistance lines, as well as chatbot services online.
"Our phone lines continue to see unprecedented demand, and the IRS continues to look for ways to help people and avoid long wait times,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "Our telephone representatives remain an important part of the service we provide, but these bots can help some people avoid lengthy phone delays for something that could be resolved on the spot. This is part of a larger effort to help people get the assistance they need this tax season."
Citizens who want to ask basic tax-related questions or submit payments can now use separate call lines for immediate, self-help support using chatbots. Additionally, taxpayers can take a text-based approach and complete tasks with chatbots on IRS.gov. These bots are powered by artificial intelligence, using IVR technology to simulate human conversations in both English and Spanish.
While voice/chatbot capabilities will certainly be of great use for simple tax-related matters, citizens will still have the ability to speak to a human representative for more complex situations. But even with basic functionality, these chatbots will help free up agent time, enabling them to spend more time with callers and resolve situations the first time.
Edited by Maurice Nagle
