Public Act 094-0620
 
HB1589 Enrolled LRB094 09848 RSP 40104 b

    AN ACT in relation to State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Human
Voice Contact Act.
 
    Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
finds that:
        (1) the people of this State, from time to time, need
    contact with State agencies because of problems or
    concerns;
        (2) often when a person calls a State agency that
    person needs to talk to an individual, and it is not
    necessarily convenient or practical for that person to
    leave a message or to follow an automated menu;
        (3) the purpose of State agencies is to serve the
    people of this State in a manner that is as accessible,
    efficient, and responsive as possible;
        (4) when a person calls a State agency and receives an
    automated operator or an automated menu instead of a live
    operator, often that person is not able to adequately
    receive assistance or services; and
        (5) the number of people calling a State agency and not
    getting the assistance or services that they are entitled
    to because the State agency does not have a live operator
    answering incoming phone calls grows by the day.
 
    Section 10. Definition. In this Act, "State agency" means
the same as in Section 1-7 of the Illinois State Auditing Act.
 
    Section 15. Automated telephone answering equipment. A
State agency that uses automated telephone answering equipment
to answer incoming telephone calls must, during the normal
business hours of the agency, provide the caller with the
option of speaking to a live operator. This Section does not
apply to field offices, telephone lines dedicated as hot lines
for emergency services, telephone lines dedicated to providing
general information, and any system that is designed to permit
an individual to conduct a complete transaction with the State
agency over the telephone solely by pressing one or more touch
tone telephone keys in response to automated prompts.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2007.

Effective Date: 1/1/2007