Video communication as a supplement to personal consultations

Partly due to the contact restrictions resulting from the pandemic, the Federal Employment Agency (BA), very soon created alternatives at its premises to its personal and phone consulting services. In the meantime, the BA has provided its customers video communication as a permanent option in many fields, including education and training consulting and in the rehabilitation and disability inclusion sectors. Since the beginning of this year, all customers who register online as jobseekers have been able to make an appointment for an initial video consultation. Now, around 160 job centres successfully use video alongside personal and phone consultations as a further communication channel.

The user numbers demonstrate the popularity of video communication. According to Dr. Markus Schmitz, the BA's chief representative, "more than 150,000 video consultations have taken place in agencies and job centres since the autumn of 2020, at a time when, in view of the pandemic, meetings with customers were severely restricted or sometimes impossible. All in all, that's more than five million call minutes. A recommendation rate of 95 percent proves that our customers are very receptive to the new and modern video communication interaction format, and will continue to use it after the end of the pandemic."

Since the end of last year, video consulting has become a permanent interactive feature at the BA, and is continually being expanded upon.

In a few clicks to your video consultation

The BA provides its customers with browser and device-independent video communication in a digital consultation room. Personal data is protected at all times, and the consultations are not recorded.

Further information on the operation and technical requirements of video appointments is available on the web page: Beratung per Video bei Ihrer Agentur für Arbeit.