New DWP change for people on Universal Credit due to start next month

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is set to introduce a new change in September which aims to improve the service it provides to millions of people claiming Universal Credit.

The latest DWP figures show that at the end of May there were 5.9 million people claiming Universal Credit, which includes 3.7m out of work and 2.3m in employment.The DWP is introducing a new technology called ‘Conversational Platform’ from late September into the Universal Credit telephony system that aims to be more efficient in providing information and assistance to support people calling about a new or existing Universal Credit claim.

The DWP ‘Virtual Agent’ is expected to “transform the customer journey” by replacing traditional Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call journeys that typically ask callers to press the keypad for specific menu choices, with a voice-led solution that will interact with people in a way that mimics human conversation.

According to guidance, the DWP Virtual Agent will ask the claimants why they are calling today. The technology will listen to the response and use automatic speech recognition and natural language understanding to identify what they are saying.