CASE STUDY

Turnkey Solutions Designs and Implements a Virtual Agent to Help Improve the Citizen Experience

Background and Overview

Time was running out for a mid-sized municipality that was about to lose their call center service due to an expiring contract. Urgently in need of a reliable replacement, they turned to the expert team at Turnkey Solutions for help. Turnkey Solutions quickly crafted a customized call center solution that met the city’s needs with a fast turnaround time.

Challenges

The City needed to implement the call center solution within a few weeks of contacting Turnkey Solutions.
The City’s existing phone system configuration involved multiple phone trees, which yielded a frustrating customer experience.
Employees were often unavailable to answer the phones, leading to multiple callbacks without a resolution.
Citizens often called about issues that could be resolved via the website or a mobile application.

Solution

When the mid-sized municipality initially sought out Turnkey Solutions for a call center solution, they had live agents in mind. However, after careful consideration, the City decided to go with a virtual agent instead. Turnkey Solutions didn’t skip a beat and was able to design and implement the virtual agent in a matter of weeks.

To get started, Turnkey Solutions provided the City with a list of suggested frequently asked questions (FAQs). The City then supplied answers to these questions, along with additional questions and answers from their various departments. The resulting virtual agent was able to replace the initial IVR phone tree and provide customers with a more conversational-style flow for asking questions and requesting transfers. The virtual agent also helped answer citizens’ FAQs and assist with transfers, reducing the workload on overwhelmed departments and front desk agents.

But the virtual agent didn’t stop there. It was able to assist with certain citizen requests even after hours and follow up with text message links, phone numbers, addresses, and instructions at any time of the day. Turnkey Solutions was able to track the most common citizen inquiries and incorporate feedback from the City and the virtual agent itself to continuously improve the system.

Impact and Conclusion

Thanks to Turnkey Solutions’ expertise and collaborative approach, the City was able to implement a custom virtual agent that addressed citizens’ FAQs and provided transfer assistance around the clock. The virtual agent proved to be a game-changer, easing the workload on front desk agents and departments that were struggling to keep up with the high volume of calls.

The City has expressed their satisfaction with the system and the benefits it has brought to their citizens. They are now considering additional services offered by Turnkey Solutions to further enhance the customer/citizen experience.

With Turnkey Solutions on their side, the City is poised to continue improving their services and meeting the evolving needs of their community.