Markham launches newly updated AI-enabled Virtual Assistant 2.0

Yorkregion.com
June 19, 2023

The City of Markham continues to pave the way as a leader in innovation and technology by launching the newly updated Artificial Intelligence-enabled Virtual Assistant 2.0, providing users with around-the-clock access to an even wider range of topics, any time, anywhere and on any device.

In 2020, Markham was the first municipality in Canada to use the AI-enabled virtual agent “IBM Watson Assistant for Citizens” to offer 24-hour customer service for residents looking for reliable, consistent and accurate COVID-19 information.

Developed in collaboration with teams from IBM and Converge, a platinum IBM Ecosystem partner, the updated Virtual Assistant combines IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding capabilities with IBM Watson Discovery technology to understand and respond to a variety of Markham specific questions. Questions include: “What events are happening in Markham?” “How do I register for a program?” “When will my garbage be picked up?” and more than 100 additional city-related topics.

The Virtual Assistant now has the ability to answer many more of the most common questions asked. Thanks to Comm100’s live chat software, users who need more support can now be seamlessly connected from the Virtual Assistant to a live customer service representative during regular business hours. To put the user at ease, the Virtual Assistant will tell you how many people are ahead of you in the queue, giving you the option to either wait or send your contact information and question for a representative to followup.

“Ensuring the City of Markham remains a leader in technological innovation is a priority and part of our Digital Markham Strategy,” said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “Of equal importance, we need to ensure the public has easy access to information that is accurate, and available when they are searching for it.”

The Virtual Assistant can be accessed 24-7 via the City of Markham website at markham.ca.

“We are proud to be working with the City of Markham in their continued journey on AI innovation. The city is a great example of how AI-powered solutions can help government entities increase their administrative efficiency and improve the quality of services to citizens,” said Deb Pimentel, vice-president for data, AI and automation at IBM Canada. “Whether it is being used to solve citizen challenges or to help streamline IT environments, AI is leading the way to scale innovation, insight, and expertise.”

“Meeting the support expectations of citizens while juggling budget restraints is no easy feat,” explained Chris Bechtel, vice-president of marketing at Comm100, “but we are thrilled to be helping the City of Markham get one very big step closer to this with Comm100 Live Chat. With our software in place, we are already seeing great improvements in team efficiency, which in turn is bringing resolution times down and raising customer satisfaction up.”

In 2022, the “Elections Markham Virtual Assistant, powered by Watson Assistant,” was launched, making it easy for voters to find information about the 2022 Markham municipal election.

After supporting both the municipal election and receiving a total of more than 42,791 COVID-19 inquiries, the COVID-19 Virtual Assistant will be retired, making way for the new and improved all-purpose Virtual Assistant.

The city says the announcement is just the first of many upcoming improvements for the Virtual Assistant, as the city continues to innovate, with more exciting technology projects to come.