Home > Business Process (BP) > Procedures > Processing Procedures > Scheduled SNAP Telephone Appointments
For the majority of calls, the DTA Assistance Line places automated outbound calls to SNAP clients at the time of their scheduled telephone appointment. If the call is unsuccessful, a second attempt is made.
If the client answers the automated call at the time of his/her scheduled appointment, then s/he will be routed to the First Available Worker (FAW) in the Phone Queue. Once the FAW connects with the client and confirms that s/he is speaking to the appropriate person, Pending Actions to conduct scheduled SNAP telephone appointments must be self-assigned.
Important |
If a client contacts DTA to complete an interview before the scheduled interview time, you must conduct the interview and cancel the scheduled interview. This cancellation prevents unnecessary outbound phone calls and releases limited appointment slots to other clients. See Cancelling Scheduled SNAP Appointments. |
Note |
Outbound calls display as COMM of MASS on caller ID. |
Successful Auto Dialer Attempts
If the client answers the auto dialer phone call, s/he will hear the following prompt: “Hello, this is DTA calling for {Client First Name} {Client Last Name} for your scheduled appointment at {Appointment Time} today. To speak with a representative press 1.”
If a client answers and s/he presses 1 or remains on the line, the call is transferred to the Phone Queue. The APID will display in the phone queue portal with a prefix of 440. See the Receiving Calls in the Phone Queue page for additional information about how to use the APID in the phone queue portal to access available Actions for the client quickly.
Important |
Outbound calls made by the DTA Assistance Line are not considered authenticated. You must validate the client by asking for his/her full name, social security number or APID, date of birth, and address. You must also confirm the best phone number at which to reach the client so you may call the client back if the call is disconnected and update the case record accordingly. |
Once you confirm that you are speaking with the appropriate person, you must take the following steps:
conduct the interview and complete as many of the Action group steps as possible, completing the pages in the BEACON workflow as you go
if there are household members who report or are believed to have Social Security (SSI) or Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI) income, and it hasn’t already been done:
schedule a State Verification Eligibility System (SVES) request for each of these household members
document that you have done so in the narrative; and
if information has previously been requested via SVES, retrieve and enter it in BEACON
on the Interview page, select the Yes radio button to indicate that the interview was held
enter the method of interview (telephone) using the Method drop-down list; and
enter the date on which the telephone interview was held in the Interview box
Remember |
When conducting interviews, as is the case with every client contact, if the client has a language other than English recorded on BEACON or has Limited English Proficiency (LEP), interpreter services must be offered. Always review the application or recertification and BEACON history to determine whether or not the client has expressed a language preference and use an interpreter if appropriate. If you do not learn of the need for an interpreter in advance, put the client on hold and conference in an interpreter. See Using an Interpreter and the Interpreter Services book in the Cross Programs section of this guide for policy and procedural information related to the use of interpreter services. The use of an interpreter or the declination of one by the client must always be detailed on the Narrative. |
Note |
If the interview call was not completed for some other reason that is not the client’s fault, such as an emergency closure, you must attempt to make a cold call. If unsuccessful, you must schedule a second appointment. A NOMI must not be issued under these circumstances. When a manual cold call is not answered, the SNAP application interview must be scheduled to take place 4 days from the appointment letter’s generation date and by day 7 whenever possible. This is to ensure the Department will be timely in the issuance of expedited benefits if the client is found to be eligible. For more, see The Application Interview. Example: On 11/8, a FAW receives an action to process a SNAP application. The cold call is unsuccessful. The FAW generates an appointment letter that same day with a scheduled appointment date of 11/12. This appointment date is 4 days from the date of the missed manual cold call and is scheduled to occur before day 7. |
Unsuccessful Auto Dialer Attempts
If the first attempt to reach a client is not successful and the client has a voice mailbox set up, the following message will be left: “Hello, this is DTA calling for <FIRST_NAME> <LAST_NAME>for your scheduled appointment at <APPOINTMENT_TIME> today. We will attempt to call you again in a few minutes.”
If the second attempt to reach a client is not successful and the client has a voice mailbox set up, the following message will be left: “Hello, this is DTA calling for {Client First Name} {Client Last Name}. You had an appointment scheduled with DTA today at {Appointment Time} but we were unable to reach you. Please call the DTA Assistance Line at 877-382-2363 as soon as possible. Thank you.”
If contact is not made, BEACON will update the Interview page to indicate that the client missed his/her scheduled appointment. A NOMI will be sent centrally and a case narrative will be written to confirm the details of the unsuccessful auto dialer attempts.
Note |
BEACON creates a Schedule Timely Appointment Action for the following scenarios:
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