Telford & Wrekin Council has turned to the latest AI – artificial intelligence – to help answer day-to-day questions from residents, with the launch of Tom, its new chatbot.
The smart piece of technology is able to handle customer queries over a wide range of topics 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through the council website, freeing council staff up to deal with more complex issues.
And Tom, as the bot is called, is already proving a major success.
Developed by leading public sector artificial intelligence supplier ICS.AI, the initiative has racked up an efficiency score of 96.8 per cent in its first few weeks in operation. That compares to an average score at a call centre for a first call of 84.5% and it also makes this chatbot the top performing ICS.AI chatbot currently in operation.
Cllr Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin’s Cabinet Member for Enforcement, Community Safety and Customer Services, said: “With Tom, our chatbot, we have put this council at the cutting edge for the use of artificial intelligence, using the latest chatbot technology to provide information that local people can access through our website at any time of the day or night.
“Tom, is part of our wider campaign to encourage customers to engage with us through online technology rather than by phoning us in the first instance. It also means they don’t have to wait until our offices are open – Tom is available 24/7.
“By using technology to handle relatively simple queries, we enable our staff to concentrate on more important issues, meaning we can help more people, more rapidly. It makes us more efficient and more effective for our residents.
“We are carefully assessing how our chatbot performs and have been delighted at its efficiency scores so far. It is performing extremely well.”
This new development is at the heart of Telford & Wrekin Council’s ASK TOM campaign to encourage more people to use online technology, using the catchphrase: “Hi, I’m TOM. ASK me a question”.
Urging local people to “save time, do it online”, the Council has worked with the developers at ICS.AI to make more than 100 services available to customers online accessible 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
The more people that use Tom means that council staff are more readily available during those peak times, while also providing help for people in the evenings and at weekends when council offices are closed.
Comparisons between a ‘smart’ AI assistant like Tom and a human call centre staff member show more issues are resolved on the first call, chatbot callers are never put on hold or asked to queue and the number of queries that can be handled are unlimited.