State: Calls blocked to jobless hot line
TALLAHASSEE (AP) – At least one cell phone company blocked some calls to Florida’s toll-free unemployment compensation hot line because the line is frequently busy, but the problem has been corrected, state officials said Monday.
Officials now are trying to find out whether other cellular companies have been doing the same thing. They urged jobless workers to use land lines if possible to call the Agency for Workforce Innovation’s toll-free number – 1-800-204-2418.
Officials last week discovered Alltel, recently acquired by Verizon, had been blocking calls from its cellular customers to hot lines when calls began backing up apparently as a cost-cutting measure, said agency spokesman Robby Cunningham. The number was unblocked Friday. The blocking was done by an intermediary service Alltel once used, but it has been discontinued, state officials said.
It costs money for a cell phone company to link to a toll-free line.
“There have been no rules or laws broken but certainly it’s not acceptable to us,” Cunningham said. “We want our customers to be able to reach us every time they call us. We’re not certain how many customers were not able to reach us, but we’re certainly very concerned that some of our customers were not able to get into the system.”
State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said some constituents have complained about getting a busy signal or being disconnected when they call the hot line.
“The biggest concern that I have is that people … who are legitimately due unemployment compensation have not even been able to apply for it or at least contact a person who can assist them in applying for it and they’re not getting any income,” Fasano said.
Verizon spokesman Chuck Hamby said the company is still researching the matter.
“The important thing is everybody can use the number now,” Hamby said.
Greg Prescott, deputy director of communication and information technology services for the state Department of Management Services, outlined the problem in an e-mail to Workforce Innovation obtained through a public records request. He praised Workforce Innovation and Alltel staffers for identifying and fixing the problem.
“From my informal communication with some technical folks it seems this practice of holding calls for short periods of time is an accepted practice,” Prescott wrote.
It’s a way to hold down expenses because cell phone carriers face multiple fees when linking to toll-free numbers.
“It’s a mathematical nightmare to crunch all the numbers,” Prescott wrote.