Derek ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
:
: 3. Since I won't be working I won't be paying much taxes either,
:    but I sure will file for unemployment.
:

You may even file using a system from India's Tata Consulting Services:

   http://www.tcs.com/0_media_room/releases/200211nov/20021121_insurance.htm
   TCS - Press release >
   TCS delivers award-winning unemployment insurance claims system for
   New Mexico department of labor

  "TCS delivers award-winning unemployment insurance claims system for
   New Mexico Department of Labor


   TCS press release, November 21, 2002

   New Mexico residents seeking to file unemployment insurance claims now
   have an alternative to waiting in long lines at the Department of
   Labor. A new, award-winning system unveiled by Tata Consultancy
   Services (TCS), one of the world's largest and fastest-growing
   software and IT services firms, incorporates web and phone
   functionality to give users a virtual one-stop to department services.

   By combining web-based features, an intranet system, and an
   interactive voice response (IVR) call center, users have access to the
   new system onsite via an intranet browser and offsite via an internet
   browser or phone, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, making it the
   only system of its type in the United States. It also uses bilingual
   functionality and is ADA-compatible for blindness and deafness.

   "I can say on behalf of the New Mexico Department of Labor, the
   unemployment insurance system is truly providing a better product and
   better services to the citizens of this state," said secretary of
   labor Clinton D Harden Jr. He also noted that the majority of the
   technology was financed through federal funds.

   "This is going to be extremely good for the citizens of the state of
   New Mexico, and I think we're going to be establishing a model for the
   rest of the country to follow," said Alex Georgieff, deputy division
   director for the department's employment security division and the
   project manager for the UI claims system.

   TCS beat out several of the top US consulting firms to win the
   project, which recently won the 'best solutions' prize from the
   government technology conference, one of the country's largest and
   most respected conferences for state and local government.

   Additionally, the system is expected to benefit the Department of
   Labor by:

   o Reducing human error associated with manual processing

   o Expanding and fully integrating channels for claims collection

   o Providing transparent and intuitive user interfaces

   o Enhancing customer service through better work allocation

   o Maximizing the interface with other government agencies, and

   o Eliminating cumbersome paper-based record keeping

   The department's prior procedure for handling claims was based on a
   30-year-old mainframe legacy system and highly dependent on manual
   data entry. This created a slow and inefficient process with
   independent silos of information that were not easily shared across
   departments and often prone to error. Moreover, users were also only
   able to file claims in person at various Department of Labor
   facilities located around the state. New Mexico is the country's
   fifth-largest state in square miles, but only the 36th largest in
   population. For many residents, the closest facility is several
   hundred miles away, making unemployment insurance benefits difficult
   to file.

   The team of 25 consultants from TCS's s-Governance practice worked
   onsite in New Mexico and 80 additional consultants worked offshore in
   India to build the multi-tiered UI system architecture on a J2EE
   platform that utilizes Java Server Pages (JSP), Enterprise Java Beans
   (EJB) and Java Servlets, with DB2 in mainframe as its database. The
   internet and intranet browsers use common HTML and JavaScript
   interfaces, and the call center uses IVR technology developed from the
   Enterprise Interactive Center (EIC) server by GovConnect, an
   Ohio-based government consulting firm. This technology allows the
   system to expand to accommodate an unlimited volume of potential
   users. It is also flexible enough to be implemented in other states,
   regardless of size, in a matter of months.

   "We need technology that the private sector is using today put into
   our government so that our citizens can be served to the best of our
   ability, and that's what is being delivered today," said lieutenant
   governor Walter Bradley.

   TCS and the Department of Labor completed the project within 15
   months, an aggressive timeframe according to Georgieff, who said that
   similar projects in other states typically take three to four years.
   Using a phased implementation that began with a pilot introduction on
   the department's intranet in July, the team launched the fully
   integrated system at a November 14 event. TCS used its onsite /
   offshore methodology to leverage its strong software development
   centers based in India, 15 of which have been recognized for achieving
   SEI CMM Level 5, the industry's highest quality standards. Of the
   company's 12,000 consultants that work from these centers, more than
   1,600 are certified quality analysts (CQAs).

   "We are confident the UI claims system will significantly improve the
   New Mexico Department of Labor's ability to accept and process claims
   and demonstrates the exciting innovations that are possible when IT
   solutions are introduced into government services," said TCS America
   president Arup Gupta.

   TCS' s-Governance practice has worked with a number of state and local
   governments to develop frameworks that lead to more process-oriented
   and participative government services. It offers a wide range of
   expertise in areas such as unemployment insurance, law enforcement,
   workflow and knowledge management, revenue and taxation, public
   safety, human resources and payroll, and geographic information
   systems among others. Some of the practice's recent clients include
   the US Department of Defense, the states of Pennsylvania and Montana,
   Charleston County, South Carolina, and Durham County, North Carolina."


I've heard that Pennsylvania outsourced its unemployment insurance
workers to India, but don't have a cite yet.

--Jerry Leslie
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