The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) announced the latest addition to its performance data dashboards today, a chart tracking call volume and wait times in the agency’s call center over time.
The chart, which can be found on the agency’s Occupational Licensing: By the Numbers dashboards, utilizes a bar graph to track average wait time in minutes. It also includes a corresponding trend line showing how many thousands of calls received. A “date range” dropdown allows you to manipulate the data to show weekly call volume and wait times over a specific number of weeks, months, quarters, or years. The data goes back to the beginning of 2024.
“When we launched these dashboards in 2023, DSPS and the Evers Administration made a commitment to transparency and sharing information useful to license holders and other professionals who rely on DSPS services.” DSPS Sec. Dan Hereth explained. “Knowing recent wait times is certainly useful to anyone reaching out to us via the call center.”
DSPS has seen a significant increase in average wait times for those dialing the call center, starting in July, the beginning of the state fiscal year. That’s when DSPS lost more than half its call center staff.
Governor Evers’ budget request for DSPS earlier this included 14 permanent positions to help staff the agency’s call center. The legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) instead voted in late May to extend just five of the 21 contracted positions DSPS was set to lose in its call center. As a result, DSPS went from 28 call center staff in June to 12 when the new fiscal year started in July, a 57% decrease in staffing.
“The increase in wait times highlights the fears we expressed to legislators and the JCF during the budget process: that a significant decrease in staffing equals less efficient service for Wisconsinites.” Sec. Hereth said. “However, we are not sitting on our hands. We’re pulling the levers available to us to try and minimize wait times.”
DSPS has cross-trained staff in other divisions to work in the call center and help supplement call center staffing, though Hereth admits this must be carefully managed so it doesn’t negatively impact other areas of the agency’s work.
DSPS is also working with vendors to develop a “current wait time” notification to inform callers of the expected wait time when they first call, as well as a “request call back” feature that logs when someone called and allows them to request a call back from staff without losing their place in line.
“We’re also encouraging professionals and the public to thoroughly explore the Self-Service options on the DSPS website and take advantage of the support ticket option for licensed professionals available in the LicensE portal,” Sec. Hereth said. “You may be able to access the services you need or get answers to your questions without making a call.”
DSPS launched its performance data dashboards in August 2023 and added more data tools in 2024. Among other things, the dashboards report on average number of days for staff to review new application submissions, review times by profession, and new credentials granted annually.
