A Scottish local authority implemented over 150 changes in a week to a new AI-powered call handling system as a council officer said: ‘It continues to learn.’
Renfrewshire council is working with its IT supplier to provide a better service to customers for its new digital assistant ‘Millie’, which was introduced in November last year as a 24/7 digital assistant and support for telephony-based staff.
For one month, the service resolved 36 per cent of all calls received by the council’s contact centre, according to information presented to the council’s finance, resources and customer services policy board, which met on February 13. The other 64 per cent of calls were transferred by the digital advisor to a human call operator.
Gary Innes, senior service delivery manager for customer and digital operations at the council, told the online meeting of councillors and officers: “We do know that there are a small number of customers who have experienced difficulty, but within experiencing that difficulty with Millie, and we referenced that in the report, the AI does continue to learn.
“But even if the customer does experience difficulty, they always receive an outcome of either being transferred or being provided an answer.”
The figures were provided in an official report, which showed that in December of the 18,791 calls handled, 64% (12,003) were transferred to customer service advisors and 36% (6,788) were provided the answer they were looking for by Millie.
The top 5 reasons for transfers, which account for 78% of all transferred calls were:
- Report a new housing repair 28%
- Make a payment 13%
- Council Switchboard 13%
- Council Tax 12%
- Recycling 12%
The report said: “The digital advisor is new, and Millie continues to learn from every call handled. The service are also learning how to manage and deliver the ongoing training that is needed to continuously improve the customer experience.
“Overall, the call volume received in the call centre was lower than the same period last year. This could be attribute to the introduction of the Digital Advisor however there are multiple factors which impact on call volume, particularly in the winter months.”
The report added: “We recognise that some customers have experienced difficulty in using this new service, and we continually monitor this using call flow information and customer feedback, to ensure we train Millie to handle calls better next time round. Members should note that the digital advisor is always learning, and can be compared to the knowledge and experience journey a customer service advisor will go through when they first start in their role.”
During the online meeting a Labour councillor expressed concern about the service. Councillor Graeme Clark, a representative for Paisley Northeast and Ralston, said: “I struggle with AI, whether it be Copilot [Microsoft] or Apple intelligence, it’s quite a difficult thing to work with to get right, and Millie is there, but the figures seem to indicate a perfect service, which was really not the case. I know that a number of councillors have expressed concern about this, as have many of the members of the public.”
Innes responded: “This is brand new, councillor Clark, and we are learning. Millie is learning, and we’re working closely with our partner to ensure that she continues to provide a better service every single time a customer is answered. And only just in the last week, there’s been over 150 changes that have now been processed through Millie to make her more effective going forward.
“So this is one that we’ll watch, because we start to understand more of the system, and we report more regularly to the board, but hopefully that that provides the assurance that you’re looking for around around customers being being handled in the solution.”
According to a contract notice published in August last year on Public Contracts Scotland – the procurement website for public sector bodies in Scotland – the council agreed a £560,000 contract with Basingstoke-based ICS.AI Ltd to provide an automated assistant for customer services. The company uses Microsoft Copilot technology.
It said: “The council has a new requirement for the provision of an automated assistant for customer services. As part of the council’s customer strategy approved in November 2023, there is an action to adopt an automated assistant to further enhance the choice the council offers its customers via the customer service centre, and expand the service currently provided to a truly 24/7 operation for routine transactional services.”
In an interview published on the supplier’s website last year, Innes said the council was motivated to explore AI by ‘internal curiosity and external observation around innovation in public service delivery’, saying: “There were lots of internal conversations about AI. Our head of ICT was particularly inspired after attending an ICS.AI webinar, impressed with the potential of AI assistants for phones and web.”
He added: “It was crucial for us to dip our toes in the water with AI. This trial wasn’t just about testing technology; it was about understanding its potential and integrating it into our existing digital platforms.”
