Modernizing TRS member service with ScaleCapacity on AWS

Using the legacy platform, TRS representatives fielded calls every day from public education employees and retirees seeking answers about their retirement benefits, often on urgent personal timelines. Behind the scenes, staff were boxed in by a legacy system that could not keep pace with the agency’s desires for its member experience. Under the prior provider, TRS had lost the ability to self-administer changes, so when staff wanted to make updates, they could not make them on their own. Managers had to request reports through central IT rather than pulling their own data, which limited how quickly the team could spot trends or respond to member needs. The legacy system also offered no intrinsic self-service capabilities for callers, and Spanish-speaking callers were routed manually to bilingual staff, with no dedicated queue or reporting to track that experience. Even as TRS developed a clear vision for improving service, the tools available to its team blocked that path forward.

TRS began looking for a new solution. ScaleCapacity bid for and won a state contract to replace the previous solution with Amazon Connect Customer, a customer experience solution that helps enterprises deliver exceptional, AI-powered experiences, built to meet customers where they are. Amazon Connect Customer offered capabilities that the legacy platform lacked, including built-in online chat, evaluation tools, and call and chat summaries. The internal appetite for change at TRS, paired with a state contract that removed up-front cost barriers, set the stage for a rapid transition.

Having chosen to implement Amazon Connect Customer, TRS and ScaleCapacity moved from discovery to go-live in about 10 weeks. TRS went live in two phases, launching the core system first and adding automated appointment scheduling a week later. “This approach was very helpful because it gave us time to test the core solution, identify any needed adjustments, and become comfortable with the system,” says Kourtney Heard, information center member manager at TRS.

The solution layered several Amazon Connect Customer capabilities on top of the base migration. AWS agent assist solutions give representatives, particularly newer staff, quick access to knowledge articles during live calls without switching screens. A web chat channel, integrated with a knowledge base and custom vocabulary specific to the TRS system, used Amazon Connect Customer AI Agents to transform customer service with agentic AI, answering common member questions without human agent involvement. The team also used Amazon Connect Customer Conversational Analytics to monitor, measure, and continuously improve the customer experience, applying near real-time call summarization and conversational analytics to TRS’s member interactions.

Dedicated Spanish-language queues, voicemail, and callback features replaced the prior practice of manually transferring Spanish-speaking callers to bilingual agents. A multichannel survey solution, covering calls, web, chat, and in-person QR code appointments, consolidated feedback into a single system for the first time. “ScaleCapacity took the time to understand what we wanted to accomplish and helped implement AWS services that improved both the member and staff experience,” says Heard.

Since launch, TRS has deflected an average of 48 percent of calls through automated appointment scheduling and self-service options, freeing representatives to focus on complex member issues. Transfer rates dropped from approximately 10–14 percent before implementation to 8–10 percent after. TRS also gained native analytics for the first time, giving staff direct visibility into call volumes, caller intent, and the split between self-service and agent-handled interactions. Those insights were previously available only by request through central IT.

The usage-based pricing model let TRS extend call recording and information access to managers and legal staff without buying individual licenses, a flexibility that the licensed-user model of its prior platform didn’t provide. “Having greater visibility in our data helps us better understand member needs, identify trends, and make more informed decisions to improve our processes and staffing,” says Heard. TRS has already identified additional enhancements to pursue with ScaleCapacity, a sign of the confidence that the migration has built. “ScaleCapacity did a great job understanding our needs and helping translate them into solutions that fit our business processes,” says Heard.

ScaleCapacity helps organizations modernize and transform legacy systems into intelligent cloud solutions.