#Japan #Shibuya #Persol #Digital Center

Supporting Shibuya's Digital Contact Center

Persol Business Process Design, part of the Persol Group, which thrives on the vision of "Work and Smile," has taken significant steps to assist the Shibuya City government in the establishment of its Digital Contact Center. This initiative is pivotal, particularly amidst a declining working population and the rising demands for efficient municipal services.

With the implementation of the center, Shibuya has maintained commendable response rates of 80% since its launch. As of July 2025, the district's citizen satisfaction rating soared to an impressive 4.8 out of 5, showcasing the effectiveness and quality of the operations. Furthermore, the first contact resolution rate has shown a remarkable increase, jumping from 17% in January 2024 to 35.6% by July 2025, demonstrating the success of the strategies adopted.

Background

The decreasing labor force presents clear challenges for municipalities striving to improve citizen services while optimizing limited staff resources. Addressing everyday queries from phone and in-person consultations has been identified as a significant burden on personnel, thereby underscoring the urgency for enhanced efficiency and diminished workloads. A transformative approach, known as 'digital shift,' is essential for reframing citizen engagement as an opportunity for service enhancement rather than merely a cost center. This shift also strives to facilitate an environment where employees can focus more on grassroots administrative activities by engaging with local communities through dialogues about issues and needs.

Implementation Details

The initiative to develop the Shibuya Digital Contact Center commenced in January 2024, rolling out in phases. Early-stage efforts included the installation of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, SMS services for guiding residents to web pages and FAQs, a call support system for transcribing conversations, and the adoption of Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) principles. This multi-faceted approach has established a robust framework for directing inquiries to the appropriate departments or digital resources. The collaboration between the contact center and municipal departments has strengthened, fostering an environment ripe for knowledge accumulation and proactive engagement with likely inquiries.

Future Plans

While digital transformations have begun at the contact center level, the aim is to extend these efficiencies directly to departmental inquiries in the future. Retaining a top-notch customer experience while implementing this digital shift hinges on meticulous data management for interaction history and knowledge production. Shibuya intends to centralize all inquiries directed to departments via the contact center, integrating automated transfer systems and recording exchanges, thus harnessing valuable data for generating insights adequately tailored for the digital environment.

The ultimate aspiration is to leverage accumulated data to introduce an autonomous voice AI agent capable of handling up to 80% of inquiries, thus realizing the complete digital transformation of citizen interactions.

Persol Business Process Design is committed to these strategic initiatives, aimed at enhancing citizen service quality and enabling staff to engage in higher value-added tasks.

Comments from Stakeholders

Shiori Kawagoe, Public Solutions Division, Persol Business Process Design:
"In this Shibuya initiative, by focusing on KCS principles for knowledge organization and enhancing FAQs, we've worked to improve both the first contact resolution rate and citizen satisfaction. I believe we have successfully supported the establishment of an efficient framework that balances inquiry operational efficiency with a reduction in staff burdens."

Teruyuki Okada, Shibuya Digital Services Division:
"Through our digital contact center initiatives, it has become increasingly evident how vital knowledge accumulation and updates are. By promoting self-resolution and first-contact solutions, we aim to enable our citizens to resolve their issues swiftly. This also allows our staff more time to focus on unique and creative tasks that only they can handle. Furthermore, we appreciate the weekly collaboration with Persol, sharing insights and proposals to actualize our digital contact center. We look forward to advancing this initiative to create new value for our residents."