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This IRM provides managerial guidance and processes for CCP and CLO operations and team leaders at SB/SE Compliance Service Sites.

The authority relating to this section is SB/SE Functional Delegation Orders-Collection SBSE 1-23-2 (Rev. 2), see IRM 1.2.65, Small Business/Self-Employed Delegations of Authority, and Policy Statement 5-2 in IRM 1.2.1, Servicewide Policy Statements.

Managers are responsible for managing electronic, paper and/or telephone inventory. Proper workload management is essential for timely responses to customers and/or account transactions. Due to the variety and complexity of work in CCP and CLO, managers must be familiar with the many aspects to managing workloads such as:

Program Reports: Section 1204 reports. Managers are required to submit quarterly certifications of compliance with section 1204 of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, prohibiting the use of tax enforcement results. Daily and weekly reports are performed by management. Headquarters gathers monthly data to communicate targets and objectives.

Managers are required to manage work programs and perform program and employee reviews to ensure Campus Collection work is completed according to procedural guidelines contained in applicable IRMs.

Reports to assist with management controls are referenced throughout this IRM.

Restructuring & Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98), Section 1204, prohibits the use of records of tax enforcement results to evaluate employees, impose or suggest production quotas or goals with respect to such employees. This applies to all employees regardless of position held or location in which the work is performed. For purpose of implementing this section, IRM 1.5.1, The IRS Balanced Measurement System, refers to employees exercising judgment in determining tax liability or ability to pay as ¡°Section 1204 Employees¡±.

IRS has access control measures in place to provide protection from unauthorized alteration, loss, unavailability, or disclosure of information. These access controls are developed according to assigned user duties, i.e., telephone agents, managers, telephone system analyst, or headquarters analyst. Systems users are required to obtain On-Line Business Entitlement Access Request System (BEARS) permissions to access servers and programs, i.e., Contact Recording, Account Management Service (AMS), and Automated Lien System (ALS).

Managers are required to follow program management procedures and controls addressed in this IRM.

Frequently used terms used in this IRM along with their definition include:

The following table lists commonly used acronyms and their definitions:

Managers will refer to other guidelines outlined in other IRMs:

Additional IRM resources:

The following table lists resources from the web:

Account Management Services (AMS) provides a common user interface that allows users to update taxpayer accounts, view history and comments from other systems, and access a variety of case processing tools without leaving AMS.

AMS functionalities include inventory management, next case delivery, nationwide history and follow-ups, immediate print capabilities to fax to taxpayers, generation of electronic referrals and inventory management.

The AMS system provides managers access to many reports. The AMS Reports tool allows the manager to generate pre-defined management reports based on data available in AMS such as Inventory Reports; Case Reports such as the TIN Summary Reports; and Miscellaneous reports such as their Group Profile report.

For additional information regarding AMS, refer to the AMS website at: AMS End User Support - Home (sharepoint.com)

Control-D WebAccess (CTDWA) is Web Access software that allows viewing of reports electronically. Control-D reduces the print output and allows faster access and greater report management for users to their respective report files. Complete BEARS to request access to the CTDWA.

The reports are made available to the users upon logging in to the Control-D WebAccess server. This action is necessary to ensure employees have access to the workload.

The most common report utilized by CCP is the CCA 4243 report from Control-D provided by the Overage Report Compiler and Sorter (ORCAS).

MMR reports are used to brief the SB/SE Commissioner on a monthly basis.

MMR reports provide year to date information on resource usage and inventory activity for major operational program objectives.

MMR Reports are reviewed to determine if the Operation is on target to their Plan. If the Operation is not on target, then information should be obtained to determine what actions can be taken to meet the business measure targets.

There are separate MMR Reports for CCP and CLO. The information is shown for the current fiscal year cumulative data and two prior years, with percentage columns comparing the current to the prior year, the Plan to date, and the FY Work Plan. During Mid Year assessments a column is added for FY Projected Year-End Accomplishments.

Line items on the Collection CCP MMR:

Line items on the CLO MMR:

MMR reports are available at: Collection Program and Campus Reports - MMR (Program Level) & TAAG - All Documents (sharepoint.com)

SBSE and Campus Targets at a Glance (TAAG) and Weekly at a Glance (WAAG) reports summarize the monthly MMR reports for the current Fiscal Year. Measures not within +/- 3% of target are highlighted in yellow, and measures not within +/- 5% of target are highlighted in red.

The TAAG/WAAG is used by the SB/SE Area Directors for Campus Collection for discussions with the campus Operations Managers to address measures in red or yellow.

The CCP and CLO TAAG/WAAG reports are available at: Collection Program and Campus Reports - MMR (Program Level) & TAAG - All Documents (sharepoint.com)

The Work Plan includes three Planning Periods (PP):

Work Plans are established and monitored in three FTE categories:

Work Plans change throughout the year depending on different factors, such as peak months for mail receipts, telephone calls, and inventory availability. Changes to the Work Plans are done through the Financial Review and Hiring Plan process throughout the year.

In order to reduce inventory, it may be necessary to request additional staffing. Sites must submit requests for additional FTE and/or hiring exceptions through PPM and F&S.

HQ staff monitors the use of FTE to ensure adherence to the Work Plan for each program, and coordinates with the Joint Operations Center (JOC) to ensure adherence to telephone staffing requirements, so that program goals are achieved.

Managers must schedule available staffing for each planning period based on the correspondence workload and telephone staffing schedules. This includes scheduling of overtime, training, and seasonal furloughs.

Managers are responsible for accurate reporting of Time and Attendance (T&A) in the TAPS/SETR system. This includes correct coding for new, reassigned, and detailed employees. Managers will verify and validate all T&As and will input corrected T&As and/or IPR adjustments when errors are identified. Managers will ensure the correct posting of SETR codes as follows:

Managers are expected to monitor reports weekly to ensure their employees are reporting time correctly to direct (Not Function Code 990) and overhead (Function Code 990), and OFPs (Organization/Function/Program). The following reports are available for resource monitoring:

Managers must be consistently aware of changes to staffing and relate that information to the Operation Technical Advisor responsible for preparing the Hiring Plans. This includes gains and losses, LWOP/AWOL/Comp/Credit, overtime, and training.

Managers and training coordinator(s) are responsible for:

The Virtual Call Center (Enterprise) links through a central location and delivers the call to the longest available agent for the skill group.

If no agent is available, the call is queued at the Enterprise level until an agent becomes available and only then is it routed to the agent.

All toll-free telephone data is captured daily and stored in the web-based Enterprise Telephone Data (ETD) Warehouse. ETD stores data for historical use and also produces daily, weekly and ad hoc reports at the national (Executive Level Summary) and site level, including directorate roll-ups of remote sites. ETD raw data is available for research and troubleshooting. Site-level measures are also available on ETD when appropriate.

The role of a manager, in the Enterprise environment, is to ensure the right number of people with the right skills are available to answer calls.

JOC programs Intelligent Call Management (ICM) (through scripts that use business rules) for maximum call routing efficiency, based on demand and assistor availability.

Monitoring capabilities, data base records and management information are available on the phone system. Instructions for using features of the phone system are available through the telephone system analysts.

Use features such as:

For managers with employees scheduled for telephone duty, open real time monitoring reports to view current phone status.

Review the screens for all of the following:

JOC controls all announcements and scripts used on toll-free telephone numbers.

Announcements are valuable tools to:

As a manager, telephone data is available to assist you in evaluating the service being given to taxpayers and determining the efficiency and availability of site-level staff.

Managers and Systems Analysts (SA) must determine on a half-hourly basis by application if staff is available as scheduled. If less than the required number of agents is signed on, an explanation is required per adherence guidelines. This is normally accomplished by contacting the JOC Monitoring Room to notify JOC of the shortage and the reason (i.e., local inclement weather) the site will be understaffed.

Managers must ensure their employees are signed on to the telephone system and taking calls when scheduled. This reduces shrinkage, which is considered unscheduled time away from normal scheduled activities. Examples of shrinkage include:

JOC, in collaboration with Compliance headquarters and site management, makes daily real-time adjustments to staffing levels based on actual demand and actual staffing.

The real time reporting tools can be designed to:

The real time reports can assist managers in the following ways:

Real time reports show the number of employees who are actually at their work stations handling incoming calls. This data, compared to the total number assigned, provides information about the realization of the scheduled staff.

Managers should ensure all employees assigned to answer calls are at their workstations taking calls.

Managers will be notified by local site System Administrators (SA) or Department Managers if changes are needed in scheduled staffing based on contacts from JOC. This could include adding staff in a specific agent group or taking employees off the telephones to do other work. It is important for managers to minimize the amount of time it takes for employees to transition to a different work assignment, i.e. to start taking calls or to start other work.

Employees may need to make outgoing calls to secure additional information to resolve an inquiry.

Employees making outgoing calls on these phones are not counted as part of ready staffing for site level adherence to schedule, nor are they considered in routing calls. Managers should monitor the number of outgoing calls to ensure they are necessary.

The wrap time for an employee for outgoing calls should be appropriate to the type of call.

A site may receive calls normally not handled when there is a hardware or network failure. When failures occur, calls do not route out to Intelligent Call Management (ICM) but instead queue locally. Site system administrators (SAs) are responsible for identifying calls in applications not currently staffed and contacting site management to place employees in the appropriate agent group to handle the call or write a referral if the call cannot be fully answered.

Efficient telephone staffing is one of the keys to meeting the planned Level of Service.

Managers must ensure staffing is efficient. An increase to the Average Handle Time (AHT) can impact Level Of Service (LOS) and other business measures and in turn increase the need for staff. Circuit availability may also be impacted.

Information is available from system reports for you to monitor the efficiency of your staff. Reports available include:

End of day activities involve reviewing the real time reports for the following:

An end of shift review of telephone concerns and problems should be completed. These should be shared with the Manager(s) responsible for the next phone shift/rotation. This allows for a review of assistors signing on for the next shift at the start of their Tour of Duty (TOD) to help take calls when in the phone rotation.

The System Administrator/Telephone Analyst (SA/TA) is a valuable resource person for information on the call center environment.

Managers must coordinate with their SA/TA on any activity limiting the sites ability to deliver its commitment for scheduled staffing requirements.

The SA/TA provides assistance on the following:

Manager calls should be very rare. If an assistor refers an excessive number of calls, it is likely that additional training and coaching is needed in "Effective Communication" and/or "Dealing with Difficult Taxpayers."

Remember everyone in the IRS is an advocate for the taxpayer. Appropriate actions should be taken to correct the taxpayer¡¯s problem on first contact. However, if you cannot correct the problem AND the taxpayer¡¯s issue meets Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) criteria, as outlined in IRM 21.1.3.18, Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Guidelines, refer the case to TAS using Form 911.

Encourage assistors to practice techniques to diffuse a taxpayer's anger, reassure taxpayers that they can assist with the issue, and make every effort to handle the call themselves. However, some taxpayers:

IRM 1.2.10.1.9, Policy Statement 1-44, , provides guidelines regarding "Monitoring of Employee Telephone Conversations." This Policy Statement mandates the use of monitoring employees for evaluative and training purposes.

Telephone monitoring allows managers to determine whether the employee:

Telephone reports provide managers call activity statistics on a particular assistor/agent. The telephone systems analysts are a valuable resource for information on reports such as:

Each operations and department manager should complete an operational review of each subordinate component every year.

Conduct more frequent follow-up reviews when warranted by indicators such as statistical data out of the acceptable range, lack of experience on the part of the subordinate manager, or poor results from prior reviews. These reviews should also have established follow-up review dates scheduled for any areas showing minimal/no improvement.

Each Operations and Department Manager will maintain an operational review schedule showing the date of the prior review and the scheduled and actual review dates for each component for which they are responsible. Prepare a schedule of planned reviews at the beginning of each fiscal year and no later than November 1st. Schedule review to ensure that all teams are addressed. Provide the schedule to the Operations Manager or Director as appropriate.

Operational reviews are performed by:

A Department Manager's review should cover a majority of the team's and employees¡¯ responsibilities. Review should include but is not limited to; employee leave and attendance, workload management and inventory controls, EPF maintenance, timekeeping records, status of prior Headquarters Collection review action items and identified training needs of employees, specific feedback and action items as required.

An Operations Manager's review should cover a majority of all operational reviews completed by the Department Manager. The review should focus on the overall health of the Department including efficiencies and program enhancements, risk management, succession planning and staffing, special projects, best practices, status of prior Headquarters Collection review action items, operational goals and future planning, specific feedback and action items as required.

Director/Planning & Analysis¡¯ staff review should cover the Operation¡¯s internal controls, best practices, risk operationalization, staffing, succession planning, employee development, and the status of operational goals, status of prior Headquarters Collection review action items and future planning, specific feedback and action items as required.

Each Operations and Department Manager should review the manager¡¯s Position Description and Performance Management System (PMS) expectations prior to starting the review.

Request the information needed from the manager in advance, generally 30 days. This will ensure all information is available at the start of the review.

Each Manager will set required reviews for each component. This may include the following items, but not limited to:

A current EPF check sheet/template should be included in all EPF folders. It is recommended when EPFs are reviewed:

The scope of the Operational Review should include a majority of the listed issues as applicable, but others may be added at the discretion of the reviewer.

Each operational review must be documented in a memorandum from the reviewer to the manager of the component reviewed. The memorandum must be issued promptly upon completion of the review. For purposes of assessing the timeliness of the review, the memorandum date will be the same as the review completion date.

It is not intended that the review be completed all at once. Any item reviewed before the scheduled operational review should not be repeated. However, the results of such reviews must be included in the documented annual review.

To provide continuity and a record of the problems and progress of each organizational component, review memorandums and all follow-up action items should be maintained in file folders or binders by organizational component. A signed and dated copy of the initialed memorandum(s) and all follow-up documentation must be placed in the EPF of the appropriate manager for future use in the evaluation process.

Managers must follow up to ensure accomplishment of action items identified in their reviews. Whenever an action item is documented, give a date for completion; use a desk calendar or other device to trigger the follow-up. One method to document the follow-up is to leave a few blank lines below each action item in the review memorandum. The reviewer then documents follow-up results directly on the file copy of the review memo and will not have to initiate another memorandum describing the follow-up.

The follow-up must be performed timely and include actions taken on problems identified, updated progress actions taken towards completion and any further actions identified. All actions requiring additional follow-up must be documented with a second date for completion.