Richmond upon Thames Council and Wandsworth Council have completed a breakthrough voice AI pilot that helped them to manage their occupational therapy waiting lists and troubleshoot, recover, and check-in on care technology devices being used by residents.

Using Tovie AI’s AI-powered voice assistant, the pilot helped the councils improve public service efficiency and manage large-scale communications.

In turn, this reduced the administrative work that occupational therapists (OTs) need to perform and created the capacity for them to increase residents’ contact time and focus on their primary duties applying their core OT skills.

The pilot focused on two high-demand areas: occupational therapy waiting list management and care technology device check-in, troubleshooting, and recovery.

For occupational therapy waiting list management, the AI assistant accelerated the process by contacting residents, collecting status updates, and improving prioritisation for service delivery.

The councils experienced positive results using the AI assistant for occupational therapy waiting list management.

The councils made calls using the AI with a 74 percent success rate, gathering the necessary information and prioritising people who draw on care and support. In addition, they experienced a significant reduction in administrative burden and improved response times and prioritisation for urgent cases.

Through this project, the councils keep residents informed, ensuring they feel acknowledged and supported.

For care technology device check-in, troubleshooting, and recovery, the voice AI solution contacts residents who have been provided with devices, ensuring they are being used and offering troubleshooting assistance. If a device is not in use, the information from the call is used to update information and reallocate the device to others in need where appropriate.

The councils also experienced positive results using the voice AI solution for care technology device recovery.

77 percent of the calls successfully identified whether the devices were in use or could be reallocated to other residents.

Automated device check-ins reduced manual workload and ensured more efficient resource allocation for the councils.

The AI further provided real-time troubleshooting, which minimised service disruptions for residents.

The councils also freed up a significant amount of time for highly qualified staff as a result of using the AI, allowing them to focus on personally contacting residents instead of handling administrative tasks.

Interestingly, while the councils initially considered whether younger individuals might interact more easily, results showed that with the right conversation design, age or physical health did not impact engagement.

” The pilot demonstrates that AI can significantly improve the communication process, including how information is collected, updated, and streamlined for review by skilled staff,” said Violina Harpar, Occupational Therapy Service Manager at Richmond and Wandsworth Councils.

“By reducing the administrative work that OTs need to perform, it creates capacity for them to increase residents’ contact time and focus on their primary duties applying their core OT skills. This showcases how AI can transform the delivery of services in the public sector. ”

By handling hundreds of calls concurrently, the AI assistant significantly reduced the staff workload while ensuring timely engagement with residents. Safeguarding protocols enabled the AI system to flag urgent cases immediately, expediting appropriate responses.

Joshua Kaiser, CEO at Tovie AI, commented: “Richmond and Wandsworth Councils have shown real leadership in adopting AI to enhance resident services.

“Public perception of AI has evolved rapidly as personal use becomes more widespread, and this pilot demonstrated just how willing people are to engage with AI for seamless communication with their council.

“As populations grow and age, councils across Britain will find that investing in AI-powered solutions isn’t just an advantage—it’s a necessity for delivering efficient, responsive public services.”

Tovie AI’s technology leverages advanced speech recognition and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) for natural and efficient interactions. The AI assistant skilfully navigates conversations, making people feel more comfortable sharing personal and sensitive information. This reduces reliance on human operators for routine inquiries, allowing service teams to focus on tasks that require specialised OT or social care skills, as they are trained to handle.