Stela Lauded for Efficiency, Hard Work and Sweet Disposition : U.S. Says New Worker’s Doing Just Great

WASHINGTON â€”  Stela works 12 hours a day Monday through Friday without lunch, putting in another eight hours on Saturday. She answers nearly 900 telephone calls daily and never utters an angry word.

One of the newest employees at the Commerce Department, Stela is a 4-foot-high minicomputer assigned the task of answering inquiries from U.S. businessmen eager to learn the status of their export license applications.

With more than 115,000 applications processed last year--and 6,000 license applications being handled at any one time--the computer’s role is becoming increasingly vital, according to officials at the department.

It has enabled the Commerce Department to make “a quantum leap� in keeping track of its records and in speeding up the time it takes to process applications, said Lee Mercer, deputy assistant secretary for trade administration. “That saves billions of dollars for U.S. exporters.�

Before Stela became operational last month, businessmen trying to get through to the export office often got busy signals. The six human operators could handle only 250 to 300 calls a day, and employees would often have to stop working to look for files.

There was no efficient way “to keep track of a license application within the system,� Mercer said.

Where’d-It-Go? Routine

If an application was not immediately found, “we didn’t know whether something was lost or in a crate in transit from another department.�

And when Mercer went to meetings with businessmen, they all asked the same question: “Would you please give me a number at the Commerce Department that is not busy?�

Now, those who call (202) 377-2752 reach the minicomputer, which is hooked up to a voice synthesizer with a female voice. “Hello, I’m Stela, the Department of Commerce Export License System. Please enter your license case number.� After searching the department’s computer, Stela, which stands for System for Tracking Export License Applications, gives the caller information on the status of his license. Such licenses are needed by exporters to ship certain technology to approved countries.

Stela’s role may be expanded to allow it to automatically approve routine applications involving products that already are on an approved list to go to certain countries and companies. Now, it takes at least four days to process such applications, Mercer said.

If the influx of calls increases, the department has an additional 26 phone lines it can use in addition to the six it is currently answering. At capacity, Stela can handle 3,840 calls an hour.