6 FAH-5 H-020
THE CUSTOMER’S ROLE
(CT:ICASS-72; 03-27-2018)
(Office of Origin: CGFS/ICASS)
6 FAH-5 H-021 CUSTOMER RIGHTS
(CT:ICASS-20; 08-31-2011)
(Applies to participating ICASS agencies)
a. As partners with the service provider(s) in the administrative support platform abroad, customer agencies have the right to express views regarding programmatic needs and the needs of service recipients belonging to that agency as well as the agency’s ability to afford potential levels of service. As a partner in a transparent, consensus-based relationship, the customer agency has the right to expect that its views will be considered seriously in the development of a consensus although the result may not accommodate completely all the agency’s expressed desires.
b. Cabinet level and independent agency customer representatives fulfilling the criteria in 6 FAH-5 H-222.3, have a right to a seat on the post ICASS Council. Customer agency representatives fulfilling the criteria in 6 FAH-5 H-222.4 have the right to a seat on the post ICASS Budget Committee (BC).
c. Customer agencies have the right to receive services at the level to which they have subscribed on a basis equal with other customer agencies that subscribe to the service at that level.
d. Customer agency representatives have the right to suggest modified work counts, where the customer agency believes it receives, or wishes to receive, partial services, for post ICASS BC consideration and approval.
e. Customer agency representatives have the right to receive a full budget briefing to hear about budget priorities in advance of post invoice preparation. Customer agency representatives, as post ICASS Council members, have the right to review the budget and new ICASS positions requested.
f. Customer agency representatives at post have the right to receive the following six ICASS reports at least 10 workdays prior to the date on which they must sign their post ICASS bill (either initial or final):
(1) Budget Summary Worksheet;
(2) Cost Center Detail by Agency: Includes Unit Cost;
(3) Agency Invoice Summary;
(4) ICASS Data Summary;
(5) Time allocation worksheets; and
(6) Workload Summary.
Where post has nonresident customers, the service provider must agree with them in advance about the means for delivering their six reports and ensure that nonresident customers also have 10 work days to review the reports and return signed post ICASS bills. Additional or special reports are subject to negotiation with the service provider. In the case of disagreement between the customer agency representative and service provider over additional requested reports, both parties must follow the established disputes procedure (see 6 FAH-5 H-462.1 and H-462.5) in resolving the disagreement.
g. Customer agency representatives have the right to get a copy (via diskette or some other electronic medium) of the ICASS post software for use of the agency. Customer agency representatives have the right to electronic copies, if they request, of the six ICASS reports listed in paragraph f of this section.
h. A customer agency has the right to withdraw from an ICASS service by providing six months' notice in writing, with the six-month period commencing on the next April 1 or October 1, whichever is closer.
i. Customer agency representatives have the right to expect full service provider participation in ICASS meetings, including the reading of materials provided in advance of the meeting.
j. Customer agency representatives have the right to receive an electronic copy of the Uniform Service Standards for the services to which they are subscribed.
k. Clients have the right to propose for negotiation with the service provider new ways of doing business, contracting out, or analysis of current service delivery methods for possible reinvention.
l. Customer agencies that also provide ICASS services have the right to designate the chief service provider from that agency as the agency’s representative for those cost centers where the agency is solely a customer and not a provider of service. For cost centers where the agency is both a customer and provider of service, the agency must designate another individual as its customer agency representative.
6 FAH-5 H-022 CUSTOMER AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES
(CT:ICASS-72; 03-27-2018)
(Applies to participating ICASS agencies)
a. As partners with the service provider(s) in the administrative support platform abroad, customer agencies have a responsibility for protecting the interests of the U.S. taxpayer in effective interagency administrative support at the lowest overall cost.
b. Customer agency representatives are responsible for ensuring their active and positive participation as ICASS partners, including attending Budget Committee and/or Council meetings and reading materials in advance. Customer agencies are responsible for sending to meetings, the chief of agency or for designating as the agency ICASS representative another U.S. direct-hire employee with at least Secret clearance who has the ability and authority to commit agency funding independently and to approve agreements on behalf of the agency.
c. Customer agency representatives are responsible for ensuring that, when they take official positions at post ICASS Council or post ICASS BC meetings, they have the authority to commit that level of the agency’s resources, and that the agency will subsequently provide those resources to the service provider. Customer agency representatives also are responsible for standing behind and supporting the post ICASS Council and post ICASS BC consensus with their service recipient community and their Washington headquarters. This includes abiding by commitments made by their predecessors or themselves regarding cost-center workload counts and service-provider time allocations.
d. Each customer agency is responsible for ensuring that its representative is trained appropriately and is familiar with the basics of the ICASS system prior to appointment as agency representative.
e. At post, each customer agency representative is responsible for signing that agency’s post-level invoices and responding to the service provider within established deadlines, especially when it comes to the initial, final and NSDD-38 payments. At headquarters level, each customer agency representative is responsible for signing and returning inter-agency memoranda of agreement, issued by the service provider agency, within established deadlines.
f. Each customer agency is responsible for providing the post financial management office and/or the Washington ICASS Service Center with accurate billing information, including name, address, telephone and fax number of the headquarters office point-of-contact/representative responsible for authorizing payment(s). Each customer agency representative is responsible for reviewing and updating this information annually.
g. The customer agency representative at the post level is responsible for taking any actions necessary to ensure prompt approval of the interagency reimbursement agreement at the headquarters level. That might mean that the customer agency representative at post would forward a copy of the signed, post-level invoice, to the headquarters office authorizing official. At the headquarters level, the customer agency representative authorizing the inter-agency reimbursement agreement is responsible for taking any actions necessary, such as forwarding a copy of the signed interagency reimbursement agreement, to the agency’s accounts payable office to ensure prompt payment of the headquarters-level agency ICASS bill either by check or an intra-governmental payment and collection (IPAC) transaction.
h. Each customer agency representative is responsible for bringing unresolved complaints about service first to the senior service provider representative and to follow the established dispute procedure policy (see 6 FAH-5 H-462.1 and H-462.5) in resolving issues concerning service quality/timeliness.
i. Each customer agency representative is responsible for communicating fully to their agency’s service recipients the level of services the agency signed up for, the affordability decisions the agency made, and the service levels the agency approved. Each agency’s Council and BC representative is responsible for communicating post ICASS Council and post ICASS BC decisions accurately and completely, and the justifications for those decisions, to their agency’s service recipients.
j. Each agency’s Council representative is responsible for participating in the review of the ICASS customer satisfaction survey, myServices data and other resource data in collaboration with the Management Counselor and Council Chair to assist them in the preparation of their annual performance assessment of post’s ICASS platform. Review should be based on the mutual understanding of roles/responsibilities and mission priorities that are clear and well known to all before the beginning of the year.
6 FAH-5 H-023 through H-029 UNASSIGNED