Ask Raleigh portal shows faster response times; city to pilot AI phone routing and digital assistants

Karen Ray, leading the customer experience program in the City Manager’s Office, presented an update on Ask Raleigh, the city's online service request portal. Ray said the system provides data to track service request open/close times, helped staff identify miscategorized 'public nuisance' reports and has reduced duplicate tickets by improving routing and category descriptions.

Ray showed a public dashboard that lets users drill into status, category and zip code, and described changes such as adding clarifying questions and repositioning 'public nuisance' choices so users route issues correctly. Councilors asked for key performance indicators, and Ray said service‑level targets exist by category but that citywide standardized KPIs are still being developed as part of the phone consolidation work.

Staff described planned pilots: a consolidated phone routing platform (with an AI assistance pilot to improve first‑contact routing) and one or two digital assistants to test features such as translation and enhanced search. IT's Tia Reeves and Sustainability's Megan Anderson said they are coordinating on evaluating environmental implications of AI and data‑center impacts; Raleigh Water partners are engaged where appropriate.

Ray said enhancements to Ask Raleigh are expected later in the year and the city aims to pilot a consolidated phone system and open a customer experience center at the new City Hall in 2027.