City of Folsom: AI-Powered Citizen Engagement

The Challenge

The City of Folsom was facing increasing demands on their customer service team, with citizens requiring assistance across multiple channels at all hours. The city's customer service department was experiencing several challenges:

• High Volume of Inquiries: The city was receiving thousands of inquiries monthly across various departments, from utilities and permits to recreation and public safety.
• Limited Staff Resources: The customer service team couldn't efficiently handle the volume, especially during peak times and after hours.
• Inconsistent Responses: Different staff members provided varying information to similar questions, leading to citizen confusion.
• After-Hours Support: Citizens needed assistance outside of regular business hours, but staffing a 24/7 service desk was cost-prohibitive.

The city needed a solution that could provide consistent, accurate information to citizens at any time while reducing the burden on their customer service staff. They wanted to improve citizen satisfaction while managing costs effectively.

Our Solution

After conducting a thorough assessment of the city's needs and existing systems, we developed a comprehensive AI-powered citizen engagement solution:

The solution was integrated with the city's existing systems, including their knowledge base, service request system, and department databases. This integration allowed the chatbot to access up-to-date information and provide accurate responses.

We also implemented a continuous learning system that allowed the AI to improve over time based on citizen interactions and feedback. This ensured that the system became more accurate and helpful as it processed more inquiries.

Current Status & Projected Outcomes

The implementation of our AI-powered citizen engagement solution is currently underway, with several key milestones already achieved:

• Initial Assessment & Strategy: Completed comprehensive analysis of the city's needs and existing systems.
• Requirements Gathering: Identified key stakeholders and documented primary use cases and requirements.
• In Progress: Initial prototype design and development planning.
• Upcoming: Core AI development, integration planning, and testing.

We are in the early planning and design phases of this project. Initial requirements gathering has been completed, and we're now working on the architectural design and prototype development. We anticipate moving into core development in Q3 2024, with full deployment expected in Q1 2025.