AI phone assistant to answer some council calls

AI service Ask Tom will be able to answer, listen, and speak to people who call the council

A council says its new Artificial Intelligence (AI) phone assistant will allow it to help more people, as customers can make queries without having to speak to a member of staff.

Ask Tom was created at Telford and Wrekin Council in 2021, and was originally a digital assistant.

An upgrade to the system sees Tom able to answer, listen, speak and send information directly to customers' devices.

The authority said it would allow customer service staff to focus on handling more complex issues, and that callers would still be able to talk to a human advisor if needed.

When Ask Tom was launched, the authority said it had cut customer waiting times by 50%.

It hopes it will now help more people.

The council added that the system should prevent customers from having to call other numbers for specific information, as it could handle multiple questions in one call.

"The new automated assistant feature is built on an extensive knowledge base of council information that’s been widely tested," said councillor Zona Hannington.

"By using technology to handle these relatively simple queries, we enable our staff to concentrate on more important issues, meaning we can help more people, more rapidly.

"It makes us more efficient and more effective for our residents, who can now access a wider range of council services 24 hours a day."