Council phone system 'universally awful'

A local authority's digital customer service system has been described as "universally awful" by a councillor.

Telford and Wrekin Council introduced Ask Tom in 2021 and last July voice-recognition software was added to filter questions from callers.

The council said the service had cut customer waiting times by 50%, but Peter Scott, an independent who represents Newport West, told a committee the experience of people he had spoken to was not good.

In April councillors are due to discuss a new customer strategy, which will include the use of artificial intelligence.

Mr Scott said he had asked members of the public on his Facebook page what they thought of the Ask Tom service.

"The response was that it was universally awful," he said.

He reported one person told him: "Money would have been better spent on employing real people."

That person added: "Tom leaves you feeling frustrated, confused and angry."

Another said it "doesn't have a clue what you're on about" and that their enquiry was sorted in a couple of minutes once they spoke to a human operator.

A third said they "gave up in complete frustration".

Carolyn Healy, the councillor responsible for neighbourhoods, planning and sustainability, said Tom was not designed to answer every inquiry, just the most commonly asked questions.

She also said Ask Tom was handing 37% of calls, freeing up customer service staff to deal with the less common and more complex issues.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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