Big step forward for West Lindsey District Council as it pilots its first ever chatbot.
The Council has worked with Inform Comms to develop a chatbot which will answer questions and signpost visitors to our website. Initially it will focus on signposting people to the latest information they need relating specifically to the roll out of the separate paper and card collection.
The software is being piloted to help residents with their purple-lidded bin enquires, in order to take pressure off the customer services team. If it is successful the chatbot could be used to handle a number of popular Council related requests for example missed bins collections, garden waste.
Chatbots are designed to answer and resolve all initial enquiries without support from a customer service advisor. From this week the chatbot will be accessible on certain areas of the Council’s website, along with the Council’s Facebook messenger.
Leader of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr Owen Bierley welcomed the trial of the new software.
He said: “The purple-lidded bin roll-out has presented the Council with a great opportunity to trial a chatbot for the first time!We are hoping that the use of Artificial Intelligence/Chatbot will help alleviate some of that added pressure by giving our customers 24/7 access to information and answers for queries relating to the purple lidded bins.
“It’s been a real team effort to get the ‘bot’ ready for launch, working closely with our colleagues in waste, customer services and the communications team and I would like to thank everyone involved. The lessons we learn and the statistics we gather will help inform our decisions on the potential for future chatbot projects and usage.”
Residents will be able to ask the bot questions such as:
- ‘Do I have to have another bin?’,
- 'Can I opt for a smaller bin?’
- 'What happens if I put the wrong materials in my bin?’
All these questions and more will receive an automated reply, to help provide them with the answer immediately.
Customer Services Manager at West Lindsey District Council, Lyn Marlow welcomed the use of the new software. She said: “This is an excellent addition to the Council, particularly as calls and emails are increasing due to the roll out of the new purple lidded bins and the ‘Right Thing, Right Bin’ promotional campaign. The new chatbot will be a huge help to the team.
“We are looking forward to trialling the new chatbot, and we can’t wait to see the positive impact it has on the team. Any feedback towards the new chatbot would be highly appreciated.”
The chatbot is also designed to collect and pass on customer’s information to the customer services team if issues do not get resolved and this will be followed up personally by the Customer Services Team.