LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says she’s making improvements to the secretary of state branch offices but there is still more work to do.
On Thursday she held a news conference in Lansing where she addressed customer service challenges and her goal of getting Michiganders in and out of a secretary of state office in 30-minutes or less.
“When I ran for this office, I committed to offering appointments statewide to guarantee we could get anyone in and out of a branch office in less than 30 minutes. I am proud that pledge is now in place and any Michigander who plans ahead can do business at a branch office in under 30 minutes. That does not mean our job is done. We have a lot more work to do. We have severe structural problems and inefficiencies that were decades in the making, and I am committed to implementing long-term solutions to streamline and modernize our services,” Benson said.
In other words 30-minutes can now be achieved if a customer makes an appointment ahead of time. She says customers with appointments do not wait in line at all.
Throughout her term Benson has been visiting branch offices stating in the past much of the department was dealing with broken technology, inaccurate data-tracking methods, and increasing wait times over the last several years.
Benson also announced that in the first months of 2020, same-day appointments will be available at branch locations, which is expected to cut down on the wait times for walk-in customers.
“In addition, a lot of the traffic in our branch offices is unnecessary. We estimate that 50 percent of the residents who come into a branch office don’t need to at all, and could instead conduct their business by mail, online, or at a self-service station. Part of our work in the coming year will be educating Michiganders on their options so they can make informed decisions about how to renew their plates and licenses, or get a Real ID,” Benson said in a statement.
