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Efficient Customer Service through AI: Aberdeen City Council's Transformation
Applicable Industries
- Cities & Municipalities
Use Cases
- Chatbots
- Smart City Operations
The Challenge
Aberdeen City Council, a large government organization in the United Kingdom, was facing challenges in its digital transformation journey. The council was struggling to provide efficient and timely responses to the numerous queries from its 8,000 employees and 250,000 residents. The situation was further exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic, which forced many council services to cease overnight. The council needed a solution that could quickly adapt to the changing circumstances and continue to provide essential information and services to its employees and residents.
About The Customer
Aberdeen City Council is a large government organization based in Aberdeen, a thriving, cosmopolitan city in the northeast of Scotland. The council provides a wide range of information and services to its 8,000 employees and 250,000 residents. As part of its commitment to digital transformation, the council has been actively seeking innovative solutions to improve its service delivery and enhance the customer experience for its employees and residents.
The Solution
In response to these challenges, Aberdeen City Council collaborated with Microsoft Services to launch a chatbot named 'AB-1'. This chatbot was designed to respond to internal queries from employees and answer questions from citizens. It was capable of directing users to information on a range of topics, providing almost instant responses. The chatbot was also designed to have a bit of personality and could understand phrases from the local Doric dialect. During the pandemic, the council was able to quickly design new conversational flows for AB-1, enabling it to respond to the different types of questions that customers were suddenly asking.
Operational Impact
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