NETCALL SUCESS STORY / TEWKESBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL
AI-enhanced citizen experience
How custom AI solutions are transforming public sector services, while still providing the personal touch residents expect from their local council.
IMPACT & OUTCOMES
1.
98,000+ interactions in first 3 mos.
2.
38% shift to online services
3.
AI-powered routing & triage
Brief
Tewkesbury Borough Council is a small local authority in Gloucestershire with a big vision: supporting people and strengthening communities. Outdated systems, especially the phone system, made it hard to deliver effective services. Residents faced confusing menus when contacting the council, and staff spent too much time on routine enquiries that could have been automated.
To solve this, the council aimed to move away from traditional complexities and adopt a more flexible, customer-focused approach. This shift will help provide modern, efficient services and allow staff to dedicate more attention to vulnerable residents who need extra support.
About Tewkesbury Borough Council
- Services 95,000 residents
- 44,862 residential properties
- 4,285 registered businesses
Integrated tech stack
Tewkesbury Council was already improving digital services for residents with Netcall's Citizen Hub, its easy-to-use platform for councils. To make support even smoother, they adopted Netcall's Liberty Converse, its AI-powered contact centre solution with smart routing. Tewkesbury is the first in the UK to use the newest version, featuring Natural Language Processing (NLP) for better understanding of queries and a custom language model designed for local government needs.
“Liberty Converse uses advanced natural language processes (AI) to understand and respond to our wide range of our customers’ queries. This means our residents receive quick, accurate help – regardless of what they’re contacting us about – online, over the phone or via webchat.”
Clare Evans
Transformation Director, Tewkesbury Borough Council
Solution
Strategy for AI-implementation
Liberty Converse uses advanced AI to make resident interactions smoother and more efficient. Acting as the first point of contact, the system understands questions in plain language – so residents no longer have to search through complicated menus or use technical council terms. Each request is automatically sorted by type and urgency, and then directed to the right team or resource. For common questions, residents get immediate answers, saving them time and providing quicker service.
The AI also guides residents to relevant online services and self-service options, helping them resolve their needs instantly. This reduces call volumes for routine enquiries, letting more residents complete tasks digitally while keeping the service personal and friendly. When self-service is the best option, Liberty Converse recognises this and makes it easy for residents to help themselves – boosting efficiency for everyone.
With predictive routing, the AI learns from past interactions, better anticipating what residents need and routing their questions for faster resolutions. It spots trending issues early, so the council can address them proactively, and ensures similar queries are handled consistently.
Continuous AI monitoring provides valuable real-time insights, including performance metrics, demand trends, and resident satisfaction – all helping the council make data-driven decisions and improve services based on genuine resident needs.
One of Tewkesbury's goals was to introduce a “golden number,” giving residents one simple contact point for all council services. This single access point makes it easy for residents to get help and streamlines internal operations for the council.
Measurable impact
Since introducing Liberty Converse, Tewkesbury has been using its analytics to track trends, measure performance, and drive ongoing improvements. These insights – covering call volumes, reasons for contact, wait times, and call abandonment – are helping to transform their customer care approach.
The results speak for themselves: call wait times have been cut in half thanks to better call routing, and abandoned calls are down by 17% due to shorter queues.
The team has also seen a 38% increase in residents choosing online services, supported by more automation and simplified call flows. By better understanding what residents need and guiding their inquiries, the council is making services more accessible and efficient.
In just the first three months with Converse, the team managed over 90,000 interactions, with about two-thirds via phone and 21% by email. Live chat is a new option and is expected to grow as more residents discover and use it.
Seamless integration
Liberty Converse and Citizen Hub work together to create a smooth customer experience. Liberty Converse quickly handles incoming contacts, while Citizen Hub gives agents instant access to citizen information and case histories. For example, when an agent answers a call, they immediately see a pop-up with up-to-date details about the resident, both past and present. This means agents are better informed and can offer faster, more personalised service. Instead of searching for information, agents spend more time helping customers.
The Garden Waste Renewal process shows how well Citizen Hub, powered by Liberty Create, and Liberty Converse integrate. With almost 20,000 customers using this service, renewals are one of the busiest times for the Customer Care Team. They created an online renewal application in Citizen Hub, linked directly to Converse, and over 80% of residents renewed online. A new dashboard for the Customer Services Team now tracks renewals and lets them know when residents will receive their sticker packs, helping the team handle calls more efficiently.
“Netcall’s support in rolling out new technology has been absolutely brilliant. Their approach to supporting their customers is, from our perspective, second-to-none. There are so many suppliers out there that get this bit wrong, and the impact is massive.”
Clare Evans
Transformation Director, Tewkesbury Borough Council
Results
38% shift to online
encouraging residents to self-serve online, reducing the dependency on traditional channels
98,000+ interactions
67,000+ inbound calls, 7,500+ outbound calls, 21,000+ emails and 2,500+ call-back requests
Improved engagement
50% shorter wait times & 17% reduction in abandoned calls
Staff redeployment
to higher-value activities
Improved data visibility
enabling evidence-based decision making
Increased efficiency
due to intelligent automation
A blueprint for public sector AI
Tewkesbury has demonstrated how AI can improve public sector services by selecting technology tailored to the specific needs of local government. This approach not only delivers immediate benefits but also sets the stage for future innovation.
Tewkesbury plans to expand AI automation by adding a 24/7 chatbot, making it easier for residents to handle routine tasks anytime. By putting citizens at the centre, Tewkesbury is leading the way in smart, effective public service and showing that any local authority can use AI to benefit its community.