SMX Leverages Amazon Connect to Transform a State Agency’s Legacy Call Center into a Resilient, AI-Powered Platform
In early 2020, COVID-19 left millions of workers unemployed almost overnight, and state unemployment systems were not built for what followed. Online filing portals crashed, call centers were overwhelmed, and claimants struggled to reach an agent.
One Northeastern state was one of the hardest hit states. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, its unemployment rate went from under 3% in February 2020 to the high teens by that summer, with hundreds of thousands of workers needing benefits. The state’s unemployment insurance agency, part of its executive office of labor and workforce development, is responsible for guiding constituents through the Unemployment Insurance (UI) process, including filing claims, verifying eligibility, and delivering benefits. The agency also supports employers in reporting wages, making contributions, and managing claims. When the crisis hit, the agency was fielding this demand with a legacy Avaya PBX call center that supported fewer than 500 on-site agents, offered limited scalability, and lacked remote access capability.
The federal government’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program added further complexity by expanding eligibility to gig workers, independent contractors, and others not normally covered by state benefits. Fraud attempts also surged, prompting the state to create a dedicated Program Integrity phone line to investigate suspicious activity and protect legitimate claimants.
As the state’s trusted technology partner, SMX had already guided their team through a large-scale cloud migration for its unemployment and labor/ workforce programs. When the pandemic hit, the agency turned to SMX again. This time, the agency needed a contact center capable of handling 1,000 times its normal call volume while supporting hundreds of authenticated remote agents on both Windows and Mac OS, adapting to evolving programs, and preserving security, auditability, and integrity. In less than two weeks, SMX and Amazon Web Services (AWS) delivered a platform capable of processing nearly 200,000 calls in a single day.
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