Balancing security and service in government contact centers

Government contact centers have become the front line of constituent interaction, directly shaping how people perceive public programs and services. For Jeff Huth, Senior Vice President of Public Sector at TransUnion, the stakes are clear: efficiency and security must work together to deliver the kind of experience that citizens increasingly expect.

Government agencies need to create “a customer experience that people are used to and that they want,” says Huth in a recent video produced by Scoop News Group for TransUnion. That includes being responsive, not having long call times, not requiring people to explain who they are repeatedly and offering personalized service.

While offering that experience can seem unattainable for agencies that field millions of calls annually, Huth stressed that incremental gains compound quickly. “If you’re doing 50 million calls into a contact center and you can cut 15 seconds off each call, that’s 25 years saved in efficiency,” he says. “Think of what you can do with 25 years of extra time.”

He pointed to advances in identity verification and risk assessment that streamline interactions without sacrificing security. By evaluating the risk of incoming calls —sometimes even before an agent picks up — agencies can reduce friction for legitimate callers while still intercepting fraud attempts. “It’s all about applying the right friction in the process,” says Huth. “For the vast majority of people coming in, we need to keep friction low but have the tools ready to create friction when we sense fraud.”

One agency that has demonstrated meaningful results is the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). By adopting TransUnion’s outbound caller ID technology, which allowed veterans to recognize VA numbers, the department saw a 20% increase in answer rates and a 35% decrease in repeat call attempts.

“These translate into massive improvements in efficiency,” says Huth. “And importantly, they noticed calls were lasting longer, which meant veterans were actually engaging with the agency and receiving the services or care they needed.”

With agencies facing budget and staffing pressures, Huth argued that efficiency is more than a productivity metric: it’s a risk-management tool. “Leaders can do more with less when they improve efficiency,” he says. “It’s not just about shorter calls; it’s about reducing reputational risks from spoofing, cutting down on wasted time, and ensuring that when citizens reach out, they feel heard and served.”

Huth’s advice for agency leaders is straightforward: “Think of yourself as a contact center, not just a call center. Borrow best practices from industry, leverage multi-channel tools, and focus on balancing efficiency with security. That’s how you tangibly improve the citizen experience.”

Learn more about how TransUnion helps to improve constituent experience and engagement.

This video discussion was produced by Scoop News Group for FedScoop and underwritten by TransUnion.