"But the OIG report shows how this metric is dramatically lower than the amount of time it takes to get ahold of an SSA employee by waiting on hold or requesting a callback. The average speed of answer includes people who wait on hold to speak with an agent until they get to that person or, critically, opt to get a callback. The agency counts callers that immediately request a callback as having a wait time of zero, bringing down the average."
"In reality, callers who opt for a callback do have to wait: this year, they waited for an average of one hour and 51 minutes for SSA to call them back. And if you zoom in on callers who didn't take the callback option and waited to speak to an employee, their average wait time is 59 minutes - a difference of about 43 minutes compared to the average speed of answer."
"This wait time statistic is included in the inspector general report, but the agency doesn't report that measure publicly anymore. SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano told lawmakers over the summer that SSA changed the metrics so as to not discourage people from calling the agency. Wait times for people who abandon their quest for help and hang up also aren't included in wait time calculations, nor are those that get busy signals, according to the OIG."
SSA leadership cited improved phone-line metrics for fiscal 2025 while the OIG report, requested by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, examines call-data changes. SSA shifted public reporting to emphasize the "average speed of answer," which fell to 15.9 minutes from 27.9 minutes. The OIG finds that metric counts immediate callback requests as zero wait, lowering the average. Callers who opted for callbacks waited an average of one hour and 51 minutes for return calls. Callers who stayed on hold averaged 59 minutes. Abandoned calls and busy signals are excluded from the reported measures.
Read at Nextgov.com
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