The omnichannel approach as a key piece
of citizen service
during the pandemic.
In March 2020, everything came to a halt. In that context, both private companies and public agencies had to adapt quickly to the restrictions put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which spread rapidly around the world. That situation also impacted Brazil’s National Social Security Institute (INSS), which protects citizens by recognizing rights and carrying out social policies.
THE CHALLENGE
When the pandemic began, many places had to close their doors—including INSS offices—but citizen service couldn’t stop at such a critical time.
Without the option of in-person service, Dataprev reached out to Extreme Digital Solutions to deliver an emergency solution:
rolling out virtual service for all Brazilians through the INSS portal—in a very short time.
THE SOLUTION
Building on the challenge, EDS combined its Omni product with ServiceNow technology and created Helô, a cognitive assistant that can answer citizens’ most common questions and needs.
In less than 60 days, the solution was built and made available to the public—a fast, robust, and effective delivery that helped Brazilians get the support they needed without leaving home.
THE RESULTS
From May 2020 to May 2022, Helô:
Handled more than 44 million interactionsNearly 15 million Brazilians were assisted by the INSS Portal’s cognitive assistant. During that period, more than half a billion messages were exchanged about benefits, cases, proof of life, and many other topics that matter to citizens.
Made citizen service fasterWith an average wait time of under two minutes, Helô takes about 13 minutes, on average, to assist each citizen.
Of all interactions handled by Helô, only 7% are routed to INSS staff—meaning in 93% of cases, Helô completes the service from start to finish.
Improved human-assisted supportIn addition to setting up human chat support in record time, the solution made it possible for more than 350 INSS employees to handle more complex requests from home.