Proponent Agency

Philippine Veterans Affairs Office

Date

24-28 August 2020

Theme

Client Experience

General Description

“Bayani,” the PVAO assistance chatbot, aims to ease the client experience in accessing their benefits. It is the aim of this project to make the benefits available and accessible to all PVAO members. This way, the pension and non-pension benefits will be utilized more efficiently and effectively throughout the country.

Project Background

The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) is the Philippine agency for Filipino war veterans. Under the Department of National Defense, PVAO serves to fulfill a national commitment as embodied in Section 7, Article XVI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. It has provided immediate and adequate care, benefits, and other forms of assistance to war veterans and veterans of military campaigns, their surviving spouses, and orphans through the years.

One major challenge that the agency is facing today is the accessibility of the veterans. Given this day and age, our veterans find it hard to adapt to technology, accessibility, and physical activity. The onset of the pandemic has made it doubly hard for PVAO to reach out to its members, given the age, physical condition, and location restrictions. In effect, the benefits that our unsung heroes should enjoy are not fully realized.

Thus an initiative to assist our veterans in accessing their benefits is timely and relevant. It aims to inform the members of their benefits and pensions and foster a community of technologically adept veterans who can cope in these trying times.

Potential Impact

  1. Resolved issues, inquiries, and concerns of PVAO clients.
  2. Reduced response time for common inquiries of PVAO clients.
  3. Increased online presence of PVAO’s customer service.
  4. Lessened physical contact of PVAO personnel with its clients.

Project Features

  1. “Bayani”- A chatbot named “Bayani” will address queries and frequently asked questions, and site navigation will be accessible online. It will assist the clients in registration, benefits inquiry, application, and claims.
  2. Integration with Social Media Platforms- The “Bayani” chatbot will be integrated with various social media platforms, thus making it readily available and accessible to veterans anytime, anywhere.
  3. Client Feedback Mechanism- The program is equipped with a customer feedback mechanism that will help the Pangkat PVAO improve its existing project and make it more sustainable.
  4. 24/7 Accessibility – Since this is a virtual platform, the chatbot is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Feedback and rerouting mechanisms will be in place to make sure that queries outside office hours will be handled.
  5. Video Tutorials – Video tutorials on accessing and using the Bayani chatbot will be disseminated through the existing PVAO social media platforms. This will help its client gain knowledge on how to maximize the chatbot.

Project Milestones

  1. Identification of FAQ – September 2020
  2. Planning of Process Flow – October 2020
  3. Systems Development – November 2020
  4. Proposal to Management – December 2020
  5. Adjustments and incorporation of additional features – January 2021
  6. Drafting of appropriate policy guidelines – January 2021
  7. UAT with end users – January 2021
  8. Training of concerned personnel – February 2021
  9. Pilot implementation – February 2021
  10. Enhancement and monitoring – February 2021 onwards

Innovation Team

Name: Pangkat PVAO

Innovation Champion: Olivia C. Alejandrino
Innovation Manager: Joeanne Marie Jomalesa

Team Members:

  1. Angel Gumaru
  2. Julienne Macasaet
  3. Mary Aileen Dumaguit
  4. Flordeliza R. Pinol
  5. Juan Manuel B. Ramos