User Story 1: Improving the customer experience
To transform our digital information & transaction offer to external customers
Adult Social Care Chat Bot
In-house development and deployment of an open conversation Chat Bot that signposts and provides people with adult care information related to equipment and other services to help them better understand options available to them. Available 24/7, 365 days per year on our website, and built using the Microsoft Bot Framework in Azure and Microsoft Cognitive Services (LUIS natural language processing), the Bot is able to recognise the language used by users and signpost them appropriately to further information and guidance, learning as it does. Longer term, our aim is that by enabling those able to, to access these services and information sources by themselves via the Bot, our social care teams can spend more time with those who need the extra help. You can see it here
WasteBot
Our in house developed “WasteBot” has taken a 14 day administrative process for requesting a permit to take a van to the Household Waste Recycling Centre down to 90 seconds using an SMS based chat bot. WasteBot has helped reduce confrontation on site, has engaged front-line staff in an iterative approach and is allowing more time to be spent on supporting users to separate waste, reduce contamination and identifying fraud.
Online repairs reporting for Your Homes Newcastle tenants
By improving the user experience of our online repairs offer for Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) tenants we’ve delivered a 400% increase in the number of repairs being reported in this way. Taking a user-centred design approach, we worked with groups of tenants to prototype and build the front end journey. Feedback is positive, with people recognising that online now provides a quicker reporting journey than using the phone. YHN are increasing communications of the service and are monitoring the impact that this improved offer has on reducing high call volumes.
Beta website
We’re going live with our new corporate website on 19th March! The website design and content has been fundamentally redesigned in line with GDS accessibility and best practice guidelines, and has followed a user centred design process with significant public engagement and iterative development. We want our website to be somewhere where customers, residents and visitors can easily find the information they need, transact with us in a simple and efficient way and a place for us to share news and stories about our great City. You can see the Beta website here