Atlantic County launches AI-powered EVA for customer service

“For residents seeking food and shelter for themselves and their family members, time is of the essence,” stated County Executive Dennis Levinson. “Being the second poorest county in the state, the number of residents in need continues to grow. We recognize the importance of providing efficient and responsive customer service. This new software is a tremendous tool that we are pleased to implement and have serve as a model throughout the state.”

Atlantic County partnered with TipCo Automated Systems, a women-owned technology company that was founded to improve access to those in need.

The EVA AI-powered phone system can handle more than 1,000 simultaneous calls. It can respond to inquiries about benefit applications and required documents, schedule appointments, relay office hours and locations, in addition to providing real-time translation to reduce language barriers.

EVA is available 24/7 to direct callers to resources, including responding by text with website links where customers may receive immediate assistance. EVA-companion provides staff with an AI assistant to help expedite staff review of regulation and policy compliance.

EVA is also assisting SNAP customers that may be in jeopardy of losing their benefits for failure to meet new federal work activity requirements.

During June, EVA helped direct or respond to more than 6,500 calls to the Department of Family & Community Development. Nearly half of those initial inquiries requested call backs, which typically occurred within 24-48 hours. In many cases, EVA is able to help collect information to further expedite response time.

“With the support of EVA, staff can focus more of their time on case management,” added Levinson. “We believe this will help us become more efficient in meeting our customers’ needs. We look forward to identifying how other areas of our organization could also benefit from this new technology.”

Levinson noted that the county previously implemented AI-powered customer service assistance for the Central Municipal Court of Atlantic County where it now handles 30 to 40 percent of incoming calls. The consolidated court is the first of its kind in the state and the first to use AI software.

“We are still exploring the opportunities these advanced technologies can provide,” he said, “but our initial experiences have been very positive. I applaud the efforts of our internal Information Technologies team that has worked closely with staff to identify their customer service needs and find effective solutions.”