Transforming Richmond & Wandsworth Public Services with Tovie AI Voice Bots

Channels

Contact centre

Industry

Public Services

Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council is the local authority
for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London
with a population of 198,019

Wandsworth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Wandsworth in Greater London, which has an estimated population of 329,677

Background

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils needed to improve service efficiency. Social care demands were rising, putting pressure on communication. Many resident complaints came from delays or lack of updates.

Managing assistive devices in occupational therapy was yet another challenge. The councils weren’t always sure which devices were in use, and which weren’t. This made reallocation slow, leaving some residents waiting longer than necessary.

To solve these issues, the councils looked for innovative solutions. They wanted to improve service delivery and resident communications, as well as reduce administrative workloads. Partnering with Tovie AI, they piloted voice AI in two key areas to transform community engagement.

Key use cases

Occupational
therapy waiting
list management

Care technology
device check-in
and recovery

Challenges

Occupational therapy waiting
list management

Over 700 people on the waiting list for monthly check-ins
Phone calls averaging 20 minutes
Unsuccessful attempts adding extra time
Post-call admin tasks causing further delays
Backlogs in case processing and unsustainable workloads

Care technology device check-in
and recovery

Thousands of care tech devices in circulation, many unused
No clear overview of active devices
Residents unaware of their deactivated devices
A small team manually contacted people, slowing recovery efforts

The AI solution

Tovie AI introduced voice bots designed to handle high call volumes.
This enabled the councils to accelerate the processes and keep resident communication natural and engaging

Key features:

Automated campaigns managing hundreds of calls within minutes
Clear messaging informing residents they were speaking to AI
Safeguarding mechanisms to flag urgent cases for human follow-up
Real-time call summaries shared instantly with council teams
AI-driven conversations for more personalised interactions

Implementation & results

74%

calls gathered the needed information and helped prioritise resident

Occupational therapy waiting list management

AI-driven calls proved faster and more efficient
Voice bots reduced call duration and post-call admin work
Residents valued the outreach, reinforcing the need for regular communication
AI improved response times and the councils promptly handled urgent cases

Care technology device check-in and recovery

AI bots efficiently identified unused devices, automating recovery and reallocation
Real-time troubleshooting improved service efficiency and reduced delays
Highly qualified staff could focus on personally contacting people instead of handling administrative tasks

77%

of calls confirmed whether devices were in use or ready for reallocation

Conclusion

Older, less tech-savvy residents
engaged well with the
voice AI system

Call automation freed up highly qualified employees to focus
on the tasks they were trained to do

Councils plan expanding
AI-driven communication
to other services

Integrating voice AI enables call recording, improving tracking and service continuity

Transform your resident services with Tovie AI