Railroad Retirement Board
RRB Reminds
Customers About Availability of Toll-Free Services
October 2010
The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is reminding its customers about the benefits of using its nationwide toll-free telephone number to obtain a wide variety of information and services. Since the number, 1-877-772-5772, was first available in late 2008, it has handled almost 2.5 million calls from railroad employees, retirees and their family members.
One of the main benefits is that the number allows individuals to contact the RRB field office which services their area by dialing a single toll-free number from anywhere in the country. The system can also route calls to nearby offices during emergency situations and peak workload periods.
In addition, the number offers options for self-service through automated menus, such as obtaining written confirmation of benefit amounts, duplicate tax statements and replacement Medicare cards.
The toll-free number was phased in starting in November 2008, with all 53 of the agency’s field offices covered by the new system in February 2009.
This system replaced a previous toll-free number, called the
“RRB Help-Line,” that had been established in 1996. The previous toll-free
number had a more limited range of services available through a series of
automated menus and prompts and did not allow a person to connect with an RRB
representative.
Shortly after the new 1-877-772-5772 number became available, the RRB started playing a recording on the older “Help-Line” directing callers to the new number. This message ran for a year, and the old number was then discontinued.
Since then, the RRB has replaced references to the old
number, which had the traditional “800” toll-free prefix, in its publications
and on its web site. However, it has come to the agency’s attention that some
customers may have outdated publications that still contain references to the
old number.
In most instances, callers dialing the old number will
simply receive a recorded message that the number is not available or has been disconnected.
However, it is possible in some areas that the old number has been reassigned
to another entity. Anyone wishing to obtain assistance from the RRB should only
call the new toll-free number of 1-877-772-5772.
Public Affairs 312-751-4777
Posted: 10/23/10