Overview
Give citizens better and faster answers with AI-driven automation
Whether it’s an unexpected natural emergency or helping a citizen with a question about public services, your ability to answer every inquiry in a timely manner has never been more important—or more challenging. At the same time, new regulations are requiring state and local governments to uplevel the citizen experiences they deliver. Watson Assistant’s advanced AI chatbots use natural language processing (NLP) to streamline fast, accurate answers that deliver elevated experiences with measurable cost savings and rapid ROI, brought to you by the global leader in conversational AI.
Public sector realities
Rapid deployment
1 week
The city of Austin, Texas was able to deploy Watson Assistant in just one week to meet the public’s need for pandemic-related information 24/7.
Managing call volume
95%
London Borough of Redbridge reported a 95% satisfaction rate among users of their chatbot during the Christmas period.
Shifting expectations
>800
Watson Assistant chatbots handle 6,200 calls per month for New Jersey, which translates to over 800 hours in time saved.
Benefits
Superior citizen support
Transform the experience you deliver to your constituents with powerful AI capabilities that can be scaled across a wide range of use cases.
Better results, minimal training
Watson AI empowers your team to deliver impressive results with minimal training across nearly any possible channel of communication.
Connect with your constituents
IBM Watson Assistant uses natural language processing and available data to help ensure the chatbots set the right tone, on apps, government websites, by phone or more.
Leverage existing templates
Pre-defined government-specific templates help your team quickly get Watson Assistant operational with integrations, dialog flows, and more.
Empower user self-service
Enable citizens to get the latest community updates, find answers to inquiries like tax deadlines or school closings, and schedule appointments—all available 24/7.
Drive departmental savings
By scaling your team with chatbots, get more work done at less cost while saving up to USD 5.50 per contained call according to Forrester. (PDF, 1.2 MB)
World-class security
Built with IBM security, Watson Assistant protects chatbot data privacy and protects customers against vulnerabilities.
Features
Integrations with existing backend technology
Leverage seamless integrations with multiple channels and backend systems and deploy on multiple channels.
Watson Natural Language Understanding
IBM Watson® Natural Language Understanding uses deep learning to extract meaning and metadata from unstructured text data.
Leverage low-code and no-code capabilities
Minimize the need for developers. Empower government employees to build and maintain advanced conversational flows without any programming knowledge.
IBM named a Leader in the Magic Quadrant™ for Enterprise Conversational AI Platforms.
Citizen support
Agent Assist
Agent Assist
Empower citizens to access basic inquiries, allowing them to answer basic inquiries for anything from questions about paying bills to upcoming events.
Digital citizen support
Digital citizen support
Deliver your best self-service support experience across all citizen engagement points and seamlessly integrate AI-powered agents with existing systems and processes.
Voice citizen support
Voice citizen support
Leading natural language understanding (NLU) paired with advanced clarification and continuous learning helps achieve better understanding and sharper accuracy.
Testimonial
We were able to stand up the Watson Assistant for Citizens chatbot platform very quickly. It was a ‘just add water’ solution for the City of Austin.
Alicia Dean
Marketing Communications Consultant
City of Austin
Frequently asked questions
How can I be sure Watson Assistant will meet my constituents’ needs?
Watson Assistant puts the control in your citizens’ hands, allowing them to answer their own basic inquiries and learn how to perform a wide range of functions related to your product or service. It can do this at scale, allowing you to focus your human resources on higher business priorities.
When a citizen does require human intervention, Watson Assistant uses intelligent human agent handoff capabilities to ensure residents are accurately routed to the right person. With Watson Assistant, the residents arrive at that human interaction with the relevant data necessary to facilitate rapid resolution. That means people get what they need faster and more effectively, without the frustration of long hold times and incorrect call routing.
Do I need a dedicated development team to build my Watson Assistant chatbot for government?
With Watson Assistant, no developers are required. This intuitive platform helps get you up and running in minutes with an easy-to-use drag and drop interface and minimal operational costs. Easily customize your chatbot to align with your visual identity, and then intuitively embed it into your website or mobile applications with a simple cut and paste. Built with IBM security, scalability, and flexibility built in, Watson Assistant understands any written language and is designed for safe and secure global deployment. Turn it on today and empower your team to realize the benefits of happier constituents, increased efficiency and cost savings, and a more efficient, effective government—without having to hire a specialist.
Can we deploy Watson Assistant chatbots to multiple channels, such as phone, web and social?
Yes, you can deliver an omnichannel experience to your citizen, deploying to apps, such as Facebook Messenger, Intercom, Slack, SMS with Twilio, WhatsApp, Hubspot, Wordpress, and more. Our seamless integrations can route callers to your telephony and interactive voice response (IVR) systems when they need them.
Why is Watson Assistant so relevant for today’s state and local governments?
Citizens look to their state and local governments in time of need, and the call center is often the first stop. Whether it’s a natural disaster, a quickly spreading pandemic, or they are just looking for guidance on how to pay a bill, citizens shouldn’t be forced to count the minutes in wait time to speak to a human agent when chatbot technology can provide instant responses. And it’s often during unexpected emergencies where people desperately need guidance that call volumes spike.
IBM Watson Assistant uses natural language processing (NLP) to elevate citizen engagements to a uniquely conversational level. IBM’s advanced artificial intelligence technology easily taps into your wealth of insurance system data to deliver the right answers at the right time through robust topic understanding and AI-powered intelligent search, with more complex calls being routed to the appropriate human agents.