One thing is certain for Cities across the country. When the snow falls, the phone rings. Wether it's from citizens calling to report streets that need to be cleared or ask when their street will be cleared, the influx of calls during inclement weather can easily inundate the City's 311 call center or public works department. Worst yet, its near impossible to predict how many calls will come in and when, and often the city is understaffed because employees can't make it to work to handle the calls.
This year, however, the City of Kansas City, MO (KCMO) is prepared to handle calls for snow removal no matter when the storm arrives by deploying a "Snowbot" for their 311 Call Center.
Snowbot is a conversational voice application that allows citizens to report issues through our automated voice system just like they would if speaking with a live agent. This enables the city to process requests much faster, and citizens will not need to wait on hold to speak with an agent. Snowbot was built using Xaqt's Cognitive Voice Automation Portal (CVA) and was modeled after the successful "Trashbot" deployed in KCMO, which handles calls from citizens that are reporting missed trash and recycle pickups.
Why its effective:
- Absorbs call spikes during inclement weather events, freeing-up agents to continue to handle other calls.
- Citizens won't have to wait in queue to speak with an agent.
- Citizen calls will be handled even if employees can't make it to work during inclement weather.
- Captures critical information from Citizens and communicates to the appropriate city staff in a timely manner.
- The City realizes an 80% cost reduction over calls being handled by agents.
Snowbot was developed as part of our ongoing partnership with KCMO and is now standing-by and ready for winter for any City.
