I. Welcome -

Cliff Lee discussed the procedures for evacuation in the event of an emergency evacuation and/or "Shelter-in-Place" crisis. Participants were asked to sign the attendance sheet. NFC guests from New Orleans (Penny Forbes, Gary Gaspard, and Rick Minella) were introduced. Cliff informed clients that the 4th wing entrance will be closed beginning this weekend and until further notice due to on-going construction in the USDA South building. Visitors to this building will need to enter via Wings 1 or 7 until wing 4 is re-opened. Jody added that to permit easy access reps should present his/her Government ID to guards upon arrival.

II. Customer Briefing -

Penny Forbes reminded clients that he NFC Customer Briefing will be held on May 17 and 18, 2005 here at the USDA South Building. Opening day sessions will be held in the USDA Auditorium. The morning session on May 17th will be geared to the Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and Chief Information Officers (CIOs). The afternoon session on the 17th will be an information exchange for Human Resources (HR) and the CAPPS community to discuss e-Gov, HRLOB, etc. On May 18, 2005, the regular monthly CAPPS meeting will be held in the Lincoln rooms. This will be followed by NFC system demonstrations that will be held in various rooms of the training center.

III. Payroll Portal on OPM Web Site -

Cliff Lee provided a brief background on the payroll portal project. The Payroll Portal is one of the E-Payroll standardization initiatives regarding building a payroll portal for all payroll related information on OPM's site. All four payroll providers are participating in this workgroup. The proposed portal will provide one entry point for employees and HR offices to obtain payroll and payroll-related information. The site will also link from OPM to the four Payroll Providers. It will cover such topics as TSP, TALX, FSAs, Social Security, etc. Cliff also reminded representatives that an outline of the proposed payroll portal site was e-mailed last week with comments due by COB today, March 16th. He indicated that he had received a few. Any remaining comments are due by COB today because comments must be submitted to OPM no later than March 17th. (This is an OPM deadline and not one that PPSPS can extend.)

IV. SPPS Web -

Cliff Lee announced that NFC will begin Quality Assurance (QA) Testing for the new .NET version of SPPS Web from April 18-May 13, 2005. Users can test from their work site for this session. The .NET version is not changing the functionality of SPPS Web and the system changes are generally cosmetic in appearance. NFC encourages the users to take advantage of this testing period to become familiar with the new SPPS web screens during this QA process. The procedure and instructions to request access and complete this task will be available within the next two weeks. Cliff will e-mail further information and instructions (including security procedures) to the CAPPS representatives in the near future.

V. Benefits Updates (Jody Nyers)

A. SF-2809 hard copy versus electronic copy for carriers - Jody contacted OPM after last month's CAPPS meeting to follow-up on the discussion on FEHB carriers not accepting an electronic statement reflecting a FEHB change or election. Per OPM, in the 2005 FEHB brochures, in the section under Identification cards, there is a standard sentence that says, "Until you receive your ID card, use your copy of the Health Benefits Election Form, SF 2809, your health benefits enrollment confirmation letter (for annuitants), or your Employee Express confirmation letter." OPM realizes that there are Federal agencies that use electronic enrollment systems other than Employee Express and they will be reviewing their brochure language for 2006 and considering making this sentence more inclusive of these other systems. But the general concept remains the same, that until the enrollee receives an ID card, he/she should use the enrollee's copy of SF-2809 or an enrollment confirmation letter if an electronic enrollment system was used. Since an increasing number of enrollees are making FEHB Open Season changes by means of electronic enrollment systems rather than a hard copy SF-2809, we expect that more providers will become familiar with, and accept, these confirmation letters. Currently you can add up to sixteen family members via the electronic system but the information that is provided on the RFQS Notification Letter does not include the detailed data on each family member. It only includes last name and SSN. Because carriers want more information than this, NFC is also looking into adding family information on the ESS documents.

B. Corrected W-2's for FSA errors - NFC does not process corrections or adjustments in the NFC system for errors on employees participating in Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs). This is done by the FSA vender, SHPS, at their request. Therefore, NFC has no way of knowing when a correction or adjustment has been made to an employee's FSA data. The W-2 NFC issues is based upon the data stored in the NFC database, minus any correction/adjustment SHPS makes to the employee's account with them. In the past two weeks, Jody received several calls from irate employees who have incorrect W-2 information on their FSA data. She attempted to explain to them that the corrections are handled via SHPS and the employees are not happy about it. Jody raised the issue with a SHPS representative who advised that all corrections are handled thru them and the employee will have to deal with the IRS when it comes to their W-2's. Needless to say, this response did not go over well with the employees. Jody shared the SHPS discussion information with OPM. While OPM was not happy with the SHPS statement either they understand that is how SHPS has done, and want to do, business. Jody indicated that she believed an upcoming meeting between OPM, SHPS, and NFC will resolve this issue for the future. However, she still had these cases to address. In one case, the employee had withheld monies categorized as dependent care when she had no dependents. SHPS corrected the accounts in their system, but the NFC database is not affected by their internal changes and thus when her W-2 was issued, it showed her FSA dollars in the Dependent Care category/block. The employee could not file her taxes because she has NO dependents and could not claim those monies reflected in that block. Jody worked with the programmer at NFC and NFC was able to issue a corrected W-2 for her. The employee was extremely appreciative of NFC's support. However, she was very upset over the process by which SHPS insists it be handled. Jody advised the employee to raise the issue with Customer Service at SHPS. Jody indicated that she hopes FSA changes their process so this does not continue to happen. For now, if HR reps happen to discover an employee had a correction on his/her FSA's and SHPS has corrected it, the HR rep should submit an AD-343 to get the payroll side corrected as well. Of course HR will typically not know about these issues unless the employee brings it to their attention. Jody felt that she should provide the CAPPS reps a heads-up on this issue.

C. Re-employed Annuitant (RA) Information - Prior to the meeting, Jody distributed a copy of reference paper on processing actions for re-employed annuitants that she and Cliff prepared back in 2003. Lately, NFC has been inundated with RA actions that agencies are having problems with the processing. This "cheat sheet" if you will is for client HR offices to use when determining the correct retirement coverage code, annuitant indicator code, and TSP code combinations based on the employee's employment. Many times it appears that HR offices or Benefit offices do not know which annuitant indicator code to use for these employees. This is MOST critical in the processing of these actions. Programming has been done to accommodate the valid combinations and if HR offices are not processing correctly, actions will fall into suspense. Jody requested that CAPS reps please share this information with all of their offices.

1. The community asked that it be sent electronically and agreed to do so.

   POST MEETING UPDATE: Jody e-mailed the document on March 17, 2005.

2. Cliff reminded clients that NFC created a Special Employee Pay Code of "06" added a comment regarding the CSRS Offset annuitants and that we've. The SEC was necessary because OPM does not provide separate annuitant indicators to distinguish between CSRS Annuitants and CSRS-Offset Annuitants and the benefit entitlements for them differ in some circumstances. If you have a copy of the original document that Jody released a few years ago, be advised that this segment is new and was NOT in the original version.

D. Establishment of a Benefits Workgroup - Jody announced that she is looking for volunteers to participate in a newly established Benefits Work Group. This work group would be involved with all of the ongoing benefit issues (e.g., recent SF-2809 changes for FEHB, TSP changes to waiting periods (by the way the TSP Quarterly Meeting is tomorrow at 10 a.m. at DOC's Auditorium), FERCCA processing, new dental and vision benefits, and so on). Jody would like to establish a workgroup to review benefit changes, develop requirements as needed, and work with the programmers to get changes made. She indicated that she would be e-mailing CAPPS and the individuals on her Benefits Officer contact list to solicit volunteers. If a CAPPS participant is interested or if a rep thinks his/her Benefits Officer would be, please notify Jody.

POST MEETING UPDATE: Jody e-mailed a request for volunteers on March 17th with replies due by April 4th.

E. Personal Statement of Benefits - Jody indicated that the 2005 Benefits Statements have mailed and are also posted on the EPP. However, she also indicated that she has a large number of SSN's for employees who would not receive a statement for one reason or another. Jody distributed these reports at the meeting so that agencies could take appropriate corrective action for next year. If the error is the "Invalid 6C" error, remember that this means the 6C retirement date is earlier than the retirement SCD date (or is later than the benefit statement date). The other errors include such items as FEHB code invalid, old salary data, no AUO adjustments. Either way, agencies should make the corrections so a benefits statement can be generated next year.

VI. Employee Express Update/Employee Self Service -

George Morris indicated that he did not participate in the March EEX meeting because he was not provided with a dial-in number. He inquired if there was an update by other EEX reps - none received.

A. Q: BPD - Is there a projected date for the SF-50's on the EPP? A: Randy - No, NFC is still working through the requirements on that.

VII. PAYE processing schedule -

Penny Forbes informed the clients that NFC is proposing to move the last pass of PAYE to Friday in FY '06 (October 2005). This change will allow NFC and the agency time for verification of the last pass prior to forwarding the payroll information to Treasury. This is just a suggestion and NFC is looking for client feedback via e-mail. One of the reasons for this suggestion is that there are few T&A's and personnel/payroll documents processed on Saturday. Moving the date will definitely eliminate NFC overtime currently incurred due to the Saturday pass of PAYE. Penny requested that each representative discuss this initiative with his/her agency. She requested that comments and/or suggestions be submitted to: NFC.CustomerSupport@usda.gov.

A. Q: TR - One of our bureaus will frequently request a delay in the first pass. Can they still do this? A: Penny indicated they will continue to work with TR on their requests to alter the schedule. FQ: At a cost? FA: Penny indicated that NFC cannot commit to this. However, we will work with agencies who have a need for delays.

Penny continued by saying that they are paying between 5,000 - 6,500 employees on that Saturday pass which is a very small segment of the client population. If NFC moves the last pass of PAYE to Friday, the information for BEAR and database clean-up work could be accomplished sooner.

B. Q: FCC - Right now it is Thursday and Saturday so are you saying you'll be changing to Thursday & Friday? A. Correct.

Please submit comments regarding the "2nd pass of PAYE moving to Friday" to Customer.Support@usda.gov. Mark Liegey suggested clients enter something in the subject about the "2nd pass of PAYE" so the reps reviewing the box can ensure that the message goes into the correct queue.

VIII. OIG Audit concerns -

Penny Forbes distributed an OIG letter that was mailed to the client community back in November. This letter discussed the results of the OIG 2004 General Controls Audit that identified the need to increase the testing process when making systems changes and the requirements to have user sign-off on functional requirements prior to beginning any development. Penny indicated that GESD meets on a bi-weekly basis to determine when the system changes can be implemented based upon priorities and customer request. Results from this process are posted on the GESD Tracking Report in the Reporting Center.

Due to this OIG requirement, and to produce a higher quality product, the NFC is requesting that the clients become more involved in the testing phase of the systems development. The new process will also entail limiting system changes to once per pay period. The proposed process change would be that once the system request comes in, the requesting agency's Customer Support Representative (CSR) would contact you regarding the request and to help identify test cases that could be used to ensure that the requirements were interpreted properly and that the programming changes are working properly. NFC will expect the customer to sign-off on the functional requirements document before development begins. (NOTE: This is on a non-technical level, the agency is not expected to be knowledgeable on the detailed system requirements.) In the event that the change will require establishing a reimbursement agreement (RA), the RA would also have to be approved before development could begin. The new process would entail continuing unit testing conducted by the developers working for Randy Gonzales (Applications Development). User acceptance testing will be accomplished by the Quality Assurance Group in the Payroll Operations Branch, the CSRs, and/or the clients. Both types of testing must be completed before moving system modifications in to production.

Penny indicated that the suggested changes are needed and will reduce the amount of risk in making multiple modifications to the Payroll/Personnel system without through testing. NFC has had some bad experiences that have affected clients and NFC that could have been identified with more thorough testing prior to implementation. However, she cautioned that while the new process will require additional time from submission to implementation, but stressed that it is necessary to ensure quality system changes. Therefore, NFC is encouraging the clients to forward any time-sensitive requests as far in advance as possible in order to have them implemented timely.

A. Q: DOJ - Will there be dummy records or are you using employees in the database? A: Penny - NFC is hoping to use the production individuals in a test environment. NFC just needs to make sure enough test environments are available to do this.

POST MEETING UPDATE: Penny indicated that we can use live data for our tests.

B. A: DOJ - When the requester sends the specifications, can they provide scenarios for the test cases along with SSN's or can they just give the specs? A: Yes, it would be most beneficial if the agency provides the specific SSN's and scenarios to use in the testing.

C. A: TR - Right now we submit requirement to NFC. Will what we review include information on what systems will be changed? A: Randy - The document you review will tell you the functional changes not the detailed system changes. However, the document you review would indicate that the change involves IRIS, TINQ, EPIC, etc. Gary added that the idea is to paraphrase your business requirement to ensure that we captured it correctly. Penny indicated another benefit is that we will be able to provide you with a more accurate reimbursable assessment since the agency would review and approve the requirements package before the reimbursable is completed.

D. A: TR - Will there be a maximum of 26 changes per year? A: Rick - There will be a maximum 26 releases (i.e., a release may contain multiple changes). Penny added that changes often take every day of a two-week pay period to implement leaving little time for testing. Agencies know best what the system should be doing based upon the changes requested. NFC wants to improve the product. Clients can expect to hear much more via CAPPS and from the CSR's as the new procedures are implemented.

IX. User & Work Group Updates

A. Awards - Jo indicated that the Awards User group met February 9th and formally decided to go to quarterly meetings in lieu of monthly meetings. Therefore, the next Quarterly Meeting is scheduled for May 11, 2005. The last meeting included a brief update on the new student loan NOA and nothing else of significance.

1. Q: DOJ Is there a bulletin coming out about the new NOA 817? A: Jo indicated the draft was "signed off" on this week and should be posted soon. FQ: This does not pay the student loan correct? FA: Correct. Agencies must still use SPPS (or agency method) to initiate payment for the student loan repayments. The 817 NOA is merely to document/track student loans for OPM. This new NOA in EPIC will NOT pay the student loan. NFC realizes that clients now wish for us to automate the process. However, until OPM's E-standardization team decides on the "industry standard" for payment, NFC will not make a change. It may be many months before the initiative standardizes this item. Initially NFC agreed to make these payments via EFT on an annual basis. However, some clients now have us paying these on a biweekly basis via a paper check. This broad range of options would be difficult (and expensive to program) and not worth the effort if OPM is going to change the specs.
   
   
2. Q: TR - One of our bureaus is the one requiring paper checks, but that is because that is what loan company wants. A: Jo indicated that she knew what the issue was. However, federal FMS regulations from the early 1990's dictated that all entities receiving federal payments were required to utilize EFT. She was not sure how the student loan granting companies were permitted to by-pass those regs when vendors, unions, court enforcement orders, etc. were required to utilize EFT. Every entity should abide by the same rules. Either way, once OPM standardizes, NFC will go with the NFC method and those companies may not have a choice.

B. EPIC - Penny Forbes indicated there was nothing to report.

C. EPP - Polly Smith indicated there was nothing to report. She added that the issue of SF-50's on EPP was still pending

D. FESI - Donna Speed indicated that we currently have nine clients in FESI testing and they are working with some who need extensions - nothing pressing.

E. ICAMS - Rick Minella discussed a PeopleSoft system currently called ICAMS that is run by several USDA agencies. The system will be transitioned to NFC in January 2005. The name has been changed to Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS). Currently GAO and LOC are also using ICAMS/HRIS. DHS has also agreed to use it. Coast Guard (CG) and Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) will be the first DHS agencies to implement. In addition, NFC is conducting a fit-gap analysis with the USDA Forest Service to see if they want to use this as their front-end system. They will go to the department level in USDA and say yeah or nay. If yes, they may be the next client.

Glenda Dorsey is in charge of this system and will be leading the effort for USDA, GAO, LOC, and the DHS agencies. NFC staff will need to decide if clients need separate environments, tables, etc. for HRIS. HRIS users will still need to use EPIC History for correction actions. Glenda, Larry Barreca and Linda Daigrepont will transition some of the NRCS employees. The target date to have the HCUP process completed is April 30, 2005. NFC staff is confident that this can be met due to the expertise on this group. The next issue to address is to permit override codes in HRIS. They are looking for the top 10 overrides. If this override portion of the interface can be worked out the information will be beneficial to clients with other FESI systems.

As NFC moves forward (and if we are selected to be a Service Center) our goal is to enhance HRIS to address all of the other HR system issues such as a performance system, SF-52 tracking, etc. - maybe even offering personnel servicing and a help desk. Currently a help desk service is provided by NRCS in KC and they have agreed to do this until NFC gets one established somewhere under Penny's jurisdiction. LOC & GAO do their own help desk. NFC would like to get a team together to work on this project. The team would be comprised of technical staff, business staff, and customer relations staff. NFC will obtain client input for this process.

Any clients interested in getting on the schedule for HRIS, should contact their Customer Service Representative (CSR). Right now NFC does not know how or when implementation of new agencies to HRIS will be handled. However, the agency CSR will put you in touch with Glenda and/or Rick. NFC's number one priority is to get USDA's improvements and enhancements completed. The next priority is getting TSA and CG implemented. Everything else falls behind that somewhere. NFC does not plan to bring anybody else on-board with HRIS until after September 2005. As NFC moves forward with this process we will restructure the teams, right now it is under e-Gov, but this will change.

1. Q: Do we need to have an HRLOB function? A: Right now, Rick's E-Gov team will become the HRIS migration team. Glenda's team will do system support and conversion work.
   
   
2. Q: Smithsonian just implemented PeopleSoft as our front-end system in December 2004. Should we be interested in HRIS? A: Yes. FQ: Currently we use PS for financial and HR. Is HRIS going to be financial and personnel or just personnel? FA: Right now NFC is only doing HR because that is our current E-Gov initiative. There is also an E-Gov initiative for Service Centers and USDA did not bid on that one. Rick indicated that the way he understands the concept is that you can continue to maintain your front-end financial/personnel until you ask for development or upgrade money. At that point, OMB will say no you have to go to an HR or Financial service center and OMB does view these service centers differently. Penny added that this may control whether an agency wants to move. Rick agreed and indicated that it may depend on how tight an agency's systems interface is. However, if you do go to HRIS, NFC would still feed your financial data to you. FQ: A few years ago we talked with the Beltsville team who suggested that SI piggyback ICAMS. However, were told by our management not to pursue ICAMS since SI also needed the financial piece.
   
   
3. Q: TR - Since HCUP is in HRIS does that mean you will load the same history that you load to EPIC HCUP? A: Glenda and Larry are looking at this issue as part of their initiative. Right now we do not know. One thought has been "can it be pulled from P-History?"
   
   
4. Q: DOJ - Since this new system is being developed does this mean that EPIC web will be dropped? A: No. NFC has to continue with the current EPIC initiatives due to time constraints for implementation AND due to the cost associated with PeopleSoft for our smaller clients. At some point, as HRLOB grows, NFC will probably discontinue EPIC web but that will be no time soon.
   
   
5. Q: Smithsonian - Are there plans to include T&A's in HRIS? A: Rick indicated that PeopleSoft offers an integrated Payroll/ Personnel system with a T&A bolt-on. NFC will need to look at this feature. With "ORACLEsoft," (People Soft was recently purchased by ORACLE) the long-term outcome will probably include all aspects, but that is not expected to be ANYTIME in the near future. Long-term, OMB is looking at competition among the selected service centers for HR services. However, several issues need to be worked out with OPM and OMB once the service centers have been identified and prior to such competition.
   
   
6. Q: TR - How many Service Centers will there be? A: Rick indicated that the number is not firm yet. It may be only three, but may be as many as six. Currently, six have been tentatively identified. From FY-06 to FY-10OMB will select "x" of these six. Eventually some of these service centers may even be private industry entities. OMB planning a "bake-off" within the next 60 days.
   
   
7. Q: TR - From a cost perspective, who funds ICAMS? A: At this time there is a reimbursable agreement with USDA even though the information and enhancements will benefit everyone long-term. DHS has agreed to pay for TSA and CG. New clients will pay for their HRIS services and this cost will be separate from the normal Payroll/Personnel costs.

F. PMSO - George indicated that there was no report on this initiative.

G. T&A (Jo Bonner)

1. Jo indicated that the TINQ changes for Comp Time for Travel have been completed. Agencies may begin entering CTT via TINQ from PP-02, 2005 forward as needed. The NFC Bulletin is out there and the Chapter 7, Section 4 directive will be updated soon. There is enough information in the bulletin for agencies to get by until the new directive is released (i.e., the bulletin includes the codes for CTT used/earned).

   a. Q: DOJ - Is the bulletin on website? A: Yes, it was posted on 3/15/05.

2. There is also a bulletin which is expected to be released today that covers release 4.25 of STAR. This release covers the availability of the Leave Error Report and Confirmation Report via STAR. It is a key feature due to the discontinuance of the mailed Leave Error reports and moving it to the Reporting Center (RC). STAR users now have an interface to access to the RC and can pull this data by their T&A contact point(s). No separate RC user ID and/or password is required. STAR 4.25 was implemented in PP-04. These new features are something for you to consider when considering moving to STAR.

   a. Q: DHS - You indicated that this capability is available for STAR users. Is it just WEB STAR? A: Yes, it is just Star 4.25 which is the web version. FQ: What about batch file jobs? BP and SS batch T&A data to you. Can they have this feature? FA: No, it is only available thru STAR. We do not have an interface for STAR client users or non-STAR clients. If you have your own system, we have no way to feeding it back to you. FQ: The feed back via STAR is different than RC? FA: Yes, the RC will be populated for the leave error report, but not the confirmation report. Permitting this via STAR is just an additional benefit we can offer to our users because both systems use NFC security. RC users utilize NFC security and so do STAR 4.25 users. Therefore, whatever you have access to in STAR 4.25 can be used to pull your pertinent RC data. However, if the TK uses an agency/private T&A system, NFC security does not interface with it.

   b. Q: FMCS - Does the bulletin indicate how to stop the hard copy version? A: Yes. FC: If you want your paper confirmation reports stopped, leave your JCL blank and you will only receive it electronically. FQ: So that confirmation remains until another T&A comes in? Is there any archive so the information can be available for historical reasons. FA: Jo indicated that during the testing phase the data was available for all pay periods/ transmissions. This capability will not be indefinite, but a cut-off time frame has not yet been established. The T&A groups will need to discuss this. Theresa Trentacoste added that the bulletin mentions the leave error report and the transmission report.

   c. Q: TR-BPD - Just want to clarify the statements above. NFC is going to consider making the electronic confirmation report available to non-STAR users? A: This issue was raised by DOC-Census at a T&A user group meeting. Currently the requirements team is working on issues critical to the release of STAR 5.0. After that, the work group will re-visit the pending issues. This is one of the pending issues, but Jo indicated that no priority had been set for any of the pending issues.

3. Jo inquired from the programmers if the Leave Error report available via the RC was populated every pay period or every other pay period like the old hard copy mail out? Randy Speed indicated that the RC data is populated every pay period.

X. CAPPS - How are we doing?

Gary Gaspard indicated that Customer Support felt that it was time to do a self-assessment of CAPPS and obtain feedback from the clients on how the group was working. He indicated that staff and New Orleans had been discussing CAPPS with the PPSPS staff as a reflection on the way CAPPS has been operating and/or used to operate in light of the changes coming up on the horizon (i.e., E-"everything" is changing the way we do business). CAPPS is 15 years old and thus it is probably appropriateness to do self assessment of what we do, what we should be doing, is it working effectively, are we following the charter, are changes needed/not needed in the charter, should we head a different direction, are there new "bolt-ons" that need to be included? NFC does not want to make assumptions because we may miss issues that need to be addressed and try to alter items that might not be broken. Gary stressed that this should be an open discussion and we want to hear what you have to say so please participate. Along these lines, we are thinking about developing a questionnaire to prompt thought on certain areas. We would use the current charter as a basis for functionality and responsibility. Sample questions would be "Are we doing what we should be?", "How well are we doing it?", "Is communications good/ poor/fair?" "What's working?", "What's not working", "What directions should we be taking in light of these new initiatives?" We need your feedback and are interested in the good, bad, or whatever you want to say. For example, it may simply be: "I don't like the facility."

A. Q: FMCS - Will this go to all the agencies that are serviced or just to those who attend CAPPS? A: It will go to all the names/contacts we have on our lists. Some folks don't necessarily provide comments. We will send the survey out to everyone on our e-mail listing or REP listing.

B. C: Some suggested questions might be "Do you attend?" "How regularly?" You look around and where is everyone else. FC: Jody followed with "Is that a symptom of what's broken? Why aren't we getting participation from all clients? The meetings used to be standing room only. We're happy to see the current participants here but we'd like full participation from everyone. NFC does not want to dictate to the clients, it is your forum but most of you are just hear listening to us, taking notes, and heading back out the door. FYI as we were talking Jo just counted the total agencies participating today and we have 21, the number of agencies NOT represented here today also equals 21.

C. Q: DHS - The reason we know longer have standing room only is that you've cut that back by dictating one representative and one back-up per department to attend the meeting and for large agencies it's not enough - it is too much for one person to handle. R: Having one rep and a back-up is directly from the Charter which we are going back to enforcing. Some days we are discussing mainframe applications and others and we are discussing such things as HRLOB. There are time that you as the agency rep needs to be sharing CAPPS information with pertinent parties within your organization and there are times when one or more of them may need to attend with the CAPPS reps. In some cases, the official CAPPS representative never attends, but s/he sends someone else from the organization. Perhaps agencies need to address who they are sending and who can/should attend? Gary indicated that this is the type info NFC needs to receive during this review - who goes to the meeting and who does not.

D. C: Another issue is that there is no more prioritizing by CAPPS because NFC does that. R: Gary indicated that this issue relates back to the 26 releases a year. Currently NFC has a two-week window and planning time is minimal. As we spread out the releases, NFC will have more time to do this and/or that. We would be able to add on other things and actually do some planning to get the most bang-for-the-buck. FC: CAPPS should have input to these priorities.

E. Q: DOJ - Looking at releases, does NFC have a file they refer back to that has old system requirement changes that have been forgotten? A: Gary indicated that NFC has a configuration control board comprised of senior management within GESD. This board meets each week to discuss the projects on the Timeline. There are some things that do not get reviewed or implemented. The group does not have the time to sit and discuss all of the long-term projects because of the fires that are burning daily. This board is focused on the small slice of the timeline that includes yesterday, tomorrow and the near future, not the large projects that are coming down the road. Whether it's working 100% is our self-assessment of that area, which we'll do as well. We'll go thru the software management release process and how do we determine what work goes into those releases. Penny added that NFC also has things that they do not address immediately. As much as we would like to have a 99% success rate on implementing client requests timely, this is not always possible. After awhile items must be re-reviewed. This is necessary because sometimes things are put on a back burner and priorities may change at the requester's department level for a particular item. That is why we ask you to resubmit at a later date if it is still important to you.

F. Q: DHS - Do we publish Configuration Control Board info anywhere so that we can see what other agencies are requesting. A: There is a timeline on the RC that everyone can view, but it will not have all the requests. We would like this, i.e. CAPPS, to be the forum for that. We have gotten away from the agencies role in priorities but we need to get back to the strategic thinking that this is AG, DHS, TR's etc. Payroll/Personnel System. It is shared by all. Some issues will take priority such as regulatory changes and system enhancements. Then we address such things as webifying. C: A long-long time ago, all projects had to be submitted to CAPPS and CAPPS representatives had to approve the change before it went forward. Now agencies can go directly to NFC. FA: That is correct, now all changes are routed through NFC.GESDREQUEST. Is this working? Is it working the way you want it to work?

Cliff and Jo are the NFC representatives on the E-Payroll standardization work group. Regulatory/legislative changes come thru one funnel at OPM for review. NFC is confronted by both E-Payroll standardization as well as E-Government HR reform. It is hard for NFC to meet both of these needs; we are an e-payroll provider and as such we meet with OPM/OMB on a biweekly basis and discuss these things and plan for the future. If a database change is needed, we have to accommodate the changes that are coming down to us. We usually get a few weeks, which is clearly not enough time to implement the changes.
Penny added that NFC cannot stress enough the importance of CAPPS, this is not a move to abolish it.

G. Q: TR - when Jerry (Lohfink) visited us last year he discussed NFC going to establish a CSR Workgroup and CAPPS have their own because sometimes issues do not get resolved and we have to step in Are we going to have such a group? We send stuff down and never hear form NFC. A: Gary reminded clients that there is an escalation procedure for issues that are not resolved. On the other issue, there is a Customer Service improvement workgroup and NFC is making steps toward this initiative by establishing the Call Center. Currently in Mose's area (manual pay) the staff handles written inquiries, calls, help desk, and manual payments, in addition to conducting training, clearing T&A, etc. In April 2005, NFC will pull those who will be answering phone calls to a separate location in another area of the NFC building. This staff will handle answering phone calls into the National Finance Center. The phone system itself will include an interactive voice response system to assist in ensuring that the caller is routed to an individual equipped to answer directly or refer the call to the appropriate office/individual. This office will handle all of the incoming numbers. The idea is the one face of NFC (otherwise referred to as the one "voice" since most contact is via telephone). This should alleviate the issue of "Who do I call?" You should call NFC and be able to work thru the phone tree to get to the answer regardless of the nature of the question. Pulling people out of doing other duties to simply answer the phones was not efficient. We will also enhance our knowledge base system to get the answers correctly. This initiative includes moving the x5230 number into the Call Center and freeing up the CSR from answering the general questions. Analysts should be working on your training, strategic needs, testing documentation, etc. in lieu of performing basic phone duty. The bottom line is that we are working toward the Customer Improvement that has been promised for so long. NFC has not had the resources to devote to it, but we are hoping that the Call Center will be a step in that direction. FQ: Will there be an e-mail box for this also? FA: We'll use REMEDY Problem Tracking Software. Just send requirements thru GESD.

H. Q: Smithsonian - So you are not going to change the phone number? A: We will leave phone numbers "as is" at this time but once we get to the one face/one voice, we plan to have one number directly into the Call Center. It will probably be the x4630 or x5230 number.

I. Q: PSA- When an application is taken down for a specific database, but information regarding this is not on the bulletin board, it would be helpful if we knew when the system is down. If it's not going to get back up quickly, then we need to be notified. A: If it is something that affects a particular agency, we use CSR to call them. FC: Well for example, TINQ was down for 24 hours for CV06 with no notification to clients that it was going to be down and/or that it WAS down. On another occasion RFQS was down for a whole day. FA: For something like RFQS, we may be the last to know because we do not use it daily. FQ: What's the best way to notify NFC that there is a problem? FA: Call OCC on 504-255-5037 when an application is not working. This is most effective for mainframe applications which this office can monitor. Gary indicated that NFC needs to work on internal applications as well. When a call comes in regarding a system issue, the staff must determine what the impact is. Then they can assess the situation and alert everyone. Penny indicated that OCC has the monitoring software within OCC and they are to call CS and put it out on the bulletin board or email if there is a system problem. However, old news is not something we want to be issuing when it is fixed right away. FC: IBWC - We agree, but when you call the Help Desk the recording always says the "systems is operational" even though you just tried to use it and it is not! Can't that recording be updated at a minimum?? FA: We will look into that. Gary indicated that they are also looking at our contact list of all customers. There were some recent e-mail changes requiring modification to all external e-mail addresses which has been giving us heartburn. We plan to revamp our email list at this time and our current thoughts are to split the users across CV's. This way if something in CV06 is down then we can address a notice only those customers in that particular e-mail group. FQ: What if the application is down? Why doesn't NFC just have the screen indicate that the say "SYSTEM DOWN"? FA: We cannot always intercept the codes to do this.

J. Q: TR- When one face/voice is implemented, can we send in emails? A: The PPO box will still be around. We're not going to eliminate that PPO box but rather eliminate the variety of phone numbers to call in to us. However, even with the new process agency points of contact will still be able to call their customer support representatives directly just as they do today.

K. Q: Smithsonian - Is this survey to be sent electronically. A: Yes. We will send it as an attachment using the CAPPS distribution. If you wish to submit comments anonymously then there will be a box in the back of the room and you can simply drop off hard-copy responses.

XI. Potpourri

A. PSA - Regarding manual payments, are there any procedure on turnaround time when a manual payment is coming up and it will occur for several pay periods? How do I answer the employee? A: Mose - Are you doing the manual payment via SPPS? R: PSA has another employee to be paid manually outside the system for several pay periods and need to tell the employee when s/he can expect their monies via a 14-line doc? A: Mose indicated that the payment will occur for the same time. If it is an EFT on Monday or if it is a hard copy check it is Thursday. FR: The representative indicated that she has been faxing the information on the Monday prior to PAYE and the employees are not being paid timely. She has called regarding this particular case and Nadine indicated that she will handle this one personally, but the rep expressed concern about the general process. When is the earliest it should be sent? FA: Mose requested that the rep contact him off-line and he will work with her. FC: The rep indicated she would do so, but the point is that NFC needs to live-up to deadlines and it would be nice to know what they were. If you have issues you need to let us know.

B. DOC - Currently using an automatic system to identify C-TAP employees, is anyone else using this? A: No replies were provided. However, if you find out your agency does use this, please email DOC's rep.

C. Randy reminder reps that the Agency Security Officers meeting is next Tuesday, March 22nd at 9:00. Please contact Jim Julian or Mike Zeringue for the agenda.

D. SBA - Is there an update on the PRD "R" problem for the SES? A: Cliff indicated that GESD is working on the changes and we will contact clients when they can process the corrections.

E. TR - The city of Philadelphia will be taxes FEHB (pre-tax), does this also apply to FSA? A: Jody will check into this.

F. Jody reminded reps that the TSP Quarterly meeting is 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, March 18th at DOC.

XII. Attendees:

A. Clients:

1. In person: AG, CFTC, CSOSA/PSA, DHS, DOC, DOJ, DOL, FCC, FERC, FDIC, FMCS, GAO, HUD, NEH, OGE, PC, SBA, SMITHSONIAN, and TR
   
   
2. Via teleconference: IBWC, TR, TR-BPD, PSA

B. NFC

1. In person: Cliff Lee (chair), Jo Bonner, Penny Forbes, Gary Gaspard, Mark Liegey, Rick Minella, George Morris, and Jody Nyers.
   
   
2. Via teleconference: Randy Gonzales, Mose Lindsey, Polly Smith, Donna Speed