Funds For Learning announced that USAC awarded Sutherland Government Solutions the Call Center RFP Award and consolidated their approach by having one call center vendor as opposed to one for each of the USF programs. At the April USAC Board Meeting, USAC stated that the consolidated approach could end up in an annual 60% cost savings, from greater than $4 million to less than $2 million overall annual spend, based on more sophisticated capabilities and additional efficiencies. Based on USAC published Board materials, USAC is continuing to work with Sutherland on a detailed training program. The new hire training will be a combination of “classroom training, call monitoring, role plays, hands-on instructions of all systems and soft skills training. All Sutherland personnel will be required to pass knowledge and skills evaluations before graduation from new hire training…”
The original goal was to have the Sutherland USAC Call Center up and running soon after the FY2018 Form 471 window closed, but USAC continues to transition the call center which they hope to fully convert to Sutherland by the end of May 2018.
Further details on the USAC Sutherland Call Center Transition can be found here.
