Council launches new automated phone system where you can talk to a robot
When you call Telford and Wrekin Council, it's likely that you will encounter their new digital, automated assistant, Ask TOM.
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Adding to the council's Ask Tom system that was launched in 2021, the new 'Tom Telephony' technology will answer the phone, can listen and speak, and can send information directly to customer's devices.
The technology has already cut customer waiting times by 50 per cent for Telford and Wrekin Council whilst answering more than 13,000 of residents' queries and providing more than 100 services - 24 hours a day.
The new phone system will understand and respond to callers' enquiries and provide quick and simple answers from its 'extensive' knowledge base. The technology can also send other information directly to your device, if you wish to have it.
Telford and Wrekin Council says that the technology's ability to deal with 'routine enquiries and requests' will allow the council's Customer Contact Centre staff to 'focus on handling the more complex issues that callers have'.
Callers will discover that the council's menu systems have been removed, but the system is still 'underpinned by real people', ensuring that customers can easily get through to a human advisor if they need to.
Telford and Wrekin Council's cabinet member for finance, governance and customer services, Zona Hannington, said: "Ask Tom is already a great example of how we're using innovative technology in local government to improve the customer experience in our contact centre, boost service delivery and increase residents' satisfaction.
"This exciting evolution of the system means Ask Tom can now understand and respond to a wide range of customer queries and send the information direct to customers phones if they want.
"By using technology to handle these 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, who can now access a wider range of council services 24 hours a day.
"The new automated assistant feature is built on an extensive knowledge base of council information that's been widely tested, so it can provide information and send links, with information that's accurate, relevant to our local area and specific to the enquiry or issue."
