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Contact Center

Case Study: FEMA Disaster Assistance Contact Center

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Client's Challenge

In response to an increasing number of natural disasters—including hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, and wildfires—a federal agency required a large-scale, agile contact center to provide critical assistance to affected individuals. The program needed to be quickly mobilized and capable of delivering consistent, multilingual support across multiple service lines and emergency response tasks. Our client was looking for external resources to support these efforts.

Key challenges included:

  • Standing up a 600+ person contact center workforce, with 35% bilingual capacity.
  • Managing high call volumes from individuals in crisis following natural disasters.
  • Recruiting and onboarding a workforce requiring DHS adjudication and rapid deployment.
  • Delivering training across multiple specialized business lines, including Tier 2 and Document Validation.
  • Maintaining a consistently high QA performance across numerous task orders since 2016.

Midtown's Solution:

Midtown partnered with this federal agency to lead the Disaster Assistance Contact Center operations, providing scalable, bilingual customer support and consistent, high-quality service for nearly a decade.

Workforce Recruitment and Compliance:

  • Recruited, vetted, and onboarded more than 600 agents, supervisors, and QA specialists through our internal “alumni” network, and ensured all personnel completed the full onboarding process.
  • Maintained a workforce with 35% bilingual capability to serve English- and Spanish-speaking constituents.

Comprehensive Training and Upskilling

  • Co-developed and led training programs in partnership with the client, tailored to distinct business lines:
    • Registration Intake
    • Helpline Support
    • Tier 2 Resolution
    • Document Validation
  • Conducted an 8-day foundational training program with assessments and wrap-up sessions.
  • Assigned dedicated QA specialists and supervisors to conduct daily pre-shift meetings and one-on-one coaching.
  • Delivered an additional 8 days of advanced training for specialized roles.
  • Hosted frequent pre-shift sessions and ongoing knowledge-based testing to support agent performance.

Technology and System Integration:

  • Deployed NICE inContact for call handling, case management, and workforce management (WFM).
  • Utilized Slack for real-time communications, collaboration, and access to the knowledgebase.
  • Accessed job aids and guidance via HSIN and the agency’s secured portal.

Exceeding Quality Standards:

  • Stood up a 600+ agent contact center, operational since 2016.
  • Maintained 35% bilingual staffing to serve diverse communities.
  • Provided 24/7 emergency response services for natural disaster victims.
  • Delivered training across multiple service lines, ensuring rapid readiness for all roles.
  • Developed and implemented a quality assurance framework aligned with client specifications, achieving an average QA pass rate of 88%—consistently surpassing the client’s 85% target across multiple task orders.
  • Recruited, provisioned equipment, and deployed a DHS-adjudicated workforce with speed and compliance.
  • Enabled seamless communication and knowledge-sharing through integrated platforms (NICE inContact, Slack, HSIN).
  • Maintained operational continuity and adaptability through major national emergencies.
  • Built long-standing partnership with a federal agency based on trust, performance, and reliability.