Rimini Chatbot - Rimini
City / Region
Rimini (Italy)
In a nutshell
The Digital Assistant (Chatbot) is an innovative tool available 7/24, that supports citizens looking for information related to all the administrative services offered on the institutional portal of the city of Rimini. Using a chat window it is possible to talk with the digital assistant, asking it questions and requests, obtaining information, assistance and support.
This is possible thanks to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as machine learning and deep learning used to implement the AI training with the application of natural language processing for the understanding of human language.
What makes the service user-centric?
The digital assistant was designed following the principles of conversational design in order to ensure an interaction experience that is as natural and intuitive as possible. Thanks to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and deep learning algorithms, the Digital Assistant is able to understand user requests more and more precisely by answering an increasing number of questions.
In this way, citizens who need to use the Municipality services, is supported and made autonomous in the search for information and in accessing the services themselves. The continuous availability and speed of response of the Digital Assistant allow to take advantage of a complementary channel than traditional ones (e-mail, telephone, physical counter ...) thus also lightening the workload of the operators.
In this way, citizens who need to use the Municipality services, is supported and made autonomous in the search for information and in accessing the services themselves. The continuous availability and speed of response of the Digital Assistant allow to take advantage of a complementary channel than traditional ones (e-mail, telephone, physical counter ...) thus also lightening the workload of the operators.
What impact has the service had?
In the first five months of activity, the Digital Assistant responded to over 50,000 messages sent by citizens of the Municipality of Rimini. There were about 15,000 conversations: 93% were managed independently by the robotic assistant without the need of a human operator intervention.
The strengths of the digital assistant are:
• The 24/7/365 availability in assisting and guiding citizens in accessing and using all the services of the Municipality of Rimini;
• The speed and immediacy of response via chat, as well as the ability to manage multiple conversations initiated by multiple users at the same time, lightening the workload of operators;
• The ability to take on different requests and to respond on topics that are also very different from each other;
• The ability to recognize and interpret requests expressed in natural language;
• The possibility for the administration to be able to modify, update and expand the information field on which the digital assistant is trained.
The strengths of the digital assistant are:
• The 24/7/365 availability in assisting and guiding citizens in accessing and using all the services of the Municipality of Rimini;
• The speed and immediacy of response via chat, as well as the ability to manage multiple conversations initiated by multiple users at the same time, lightening the workload of operators;
• The ability to take on different requests and to respond on topics that are also very different from each other;
• The ability to recognize and interpret requests expressed in natural language;
• The possibility for the administration to be able to modify, update and expand the information field on which the digital assistant is trained.
How was the service co-created?
The Digital Assistant was implemented in collaboration with the domain experts of the Municipality of Rimini who were involved in the first place to define the topics on which to respond to the citizen and subsequently also to test the conversational flows designed. Initially, the Digital Assistant responded to some macro-themes that over time, also thanks to the analysis of the requests from citizens received in the chat, have been enriched and expanded up to the definition of the current information perimeter.
The digital assistant was tested following specific standard guidelines for evaluating the usability of conversational interfaces, involving citizens in usability test sessions carried out within the Municipality offices. During the tests, the effectiveness and efficiency of the Digital Assistant were assessed, the level of satisfaction of citizens and the propensity of the latter to use the chat in the future, not only as an information search tool, but also as a support through which to directly manage your requests.
Following the online start of the Digital Assistant, periodic maintenance activities were organised for the service involving the administration representatives. In this way, the tool is always updated and the administration acquires and consolidates the digital skills necessary to manage the service.
The digital assistant was tested following specific standard guidelines for evaluating the usability of conversational interfaces, involving citizens in usability test sessions carried out within the Municipality offices. During the tests, the effectiveness and efficiency of the Digital Assistant were assessed, the level of satisfaction of citizens and the propensity of the latter to use the chat in the future, not only as an information search tool, but also as a support through which to directly manage your requests.
Following the online start of the Digital Assistant, periodic maintenance activities were organised for the service involving the administration representatives. In this way, the tool is always updated and the administration acquires and consolidates the digital skills necessary to manage the service.
