#Japan #AI SaaS #IVRy #Kuwana #Kuwana City

Transforming Communication Efficiency with AI

Introduction

In a groundbreaking move towards digital transformation, Kuwana City in Mie Prefecture has successfully implemented the conversational AI SaaS known as "Aibury" to address challenges in handling phone inquiries. This innovative technology has resulted in an impressive 75% reduction in the volume of calls managed by the City Hall's General Affairs Division, allowing municipal staff to refocus on their core responsibilities and enhance citizen services.

Background Challenges

Kuwana City has been proactively working on digital transformation initiatives to realize a society where no one is left behind. However, managing the mainline phone inquiries posed substantial challenges, including:

• - High Volume of Unelected Calls: A significant number of phone inquiries were directed to the General Affairs Division due to the caller's inability to identify the responsible department. This led to staff interruptions from their core duties, such as legislative duties, document management, statistics, building management, and election operations, to handle manual call forwarding.

• - Limitations of Traditional IVR: Despite the implementation of a conventional Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, calls that were not responded to would inadvertently connect to the General Affairs Division. Consequently, the division was overwhelmed, handling approximately 20 calls daily without any reduction in workload.

Decision for Aibury Implementation

The introduction of Aibury was pivotal in alleviating the workload on city staff while simultaneously decreasing the wait times for citizens. Highlights of Aibury’s features that contributed to the decision include:

• - Instant Transfer through Voice Recognition: Aibury employs advanced AI to promptly recognize citizens' inquiries, automatically routing them to the appropriate department based on an extensive Q&A database of over 300 entries.

• - High Accuracy and Broad Coverage: Aibury also efficiently responds to inquiries unrelated to the main office, such as passport issuance, thereby resolving the reliance on individual staff experiences in providing guidance.

Impact of Aibury's Implementation

The implementation of Aibury has resulted in remarkable effects in terms of both staff efficiency and the quality of administrative services:

• - Focus on Core Responsibilities: With the elimination of call forwarding duties, city personnel are now free to dedicate their time to core functions, thus improving overall operational efficiency and service to citizens.

• - Facilitating the City’s Mission: Beyond mere efficiency gains, the time saved from reduced phone handling is now being funneled into enhancing regular operations and citizen services, paving the way for sustainable municipal governance.

Future Prospects

Kuwana City aims to achieve zero call forwarding in the future. Plans are in place to integrate the official city website's information with the AI system, allowing for automatic updates of call forwarding destinations during organizational changes. This forward-thinking initiative holds great potential for further enhancing the city's service delivery. Aibury is committed to supporting digital transformation endeavors across various municipalities, contributing to improved working conditions for staff and enhanced resident services.

Insights from Kuwana City Officials

Yano, an official from the General Affairs Division, emphasizes the importance of such technology, especially for departments dealing with numerous inquiries: "Being freed from call forwarding tasks significantly alters the workload for employees. By adopting Aibury, we can generate time that can be focused on enhancing citizen services, which is a great advantage for municipalities."

A Word from the CEO of IVRy

Ryoha Okunishi, CEO of IVRy, expressed his gratitude for partnering with the innovative Kuwana City in implementing Aibury: "Facilitating the complex nature of call forwarding in a City Hall setting allows staff to concentrate more on delivering essential administrative services and improving citizen experience. Through this collaboration, we are excited to aid the City in continually enhancing the quality of administrative services via data utilization."

Conclusion

The integration of conversational AI SaaS Aibury marks a significant step towards optimizing the efficiency of municipal services in Kuwana City. With ongoing enhancements and a commitment to future developments, this initiative is set to inspire other municipalities in their digital transformation journeys.