Automating your projects: which bot is right for you?

At a time when the majority of our communications are online and consumers are increasingly expecting information at their fingertips, investing in automation technologies to support always-on communication is crucial.

As highlighted in our report, Better, faster and more innovative public services, 40% of millennials confirmed they use chatbots on a daily basis. With intelligent bots entering the market, AI presents an immense opportunity for organisations to change the way we work, appeal to a wider audience and boost productivity by up to 30%. 

Choosing your bot

Local and central government leaders share a common goal to improve the speed, quality and efficiency of public services. Yet with so many automation solutions on the market, it’s important that IT leaders outline the desired outcome, measure projected ROI and are realistic about their constraints, before launching into any implementation.

There’s no one size fits all approach. Organisations would be wise to spend time researching the different bot solutions available, as well as interviewing stakeholders across the business to determine their needs, budget and the overall level of IT skills and experience. When overhauling legacy IT systems, organisations should start small and scale up. A basic chatbot solution is a good building block to start accelerating your AI journey and there are three levels of application to choose from:

• FAQ bots are programmed to answer a set list of questions, which means they can reduce the amount of time employees spend responding to repetitive citizen queries
• Task-focussed bots support citizens through a process, for example booking an appointment
• Voice-enabled bots make self-service more accessible to an older demographic who may not know how to use or feel comfortable with online messaging services

Engaging end-users from the outset

Organisations should consider how these services will be used by different groups of people, for example, how accessible do they need to be? What is the demographic split of the future users and will voice be important to them? User research groups can help organisations create ‘personas’ for their future users, testing different technologies on these personas to ensure they’re meeting the needs of a diverse set of users.

Bots for all

Whether you’re a social housing association, a local library or a large-scale central government department, efficient and streamlined communications with citizens should be top of the agenda for any public sector organisation. And in today’s on-demand world, citizens have come to expect the same service from government that they get from their bank or favourite online retailer. Enabling AI-powered services is the first step an organisation can take to close the gap between current citizen expectations and reality, as well as to streamline the distribution of vital information and manage requests when demand spikes.

Tim Franklin, Managing Consultant, Digital, Civica