Pflugerville Launches Chat Feature On Municipal Website

PFLUGERVILLE, TEXAS — Pflugerville has launched a chat feature on the municipal website, PflugervilleTX.gov, to allow website visitors to quickly engage in a chat with city staff to find answers to their questions, officials said Friday.

“Add a quick text chat from your cell phone or computer to the list of ways you can contact the city,” City Manager Sereniah Breland said. “The goal is to be transparent and provide timely information to users in a way they want to connect. A quickly-typed message is now an option in addition to a phone call or direct city email.”

How it works: When a user comes to the city’s website and enters a department’s page, a chat feature will appear in the bottom right corner of their browser window to offer immediate assistance. The chat function is similar to texting except it is through the website. The user will type their question and enter the cue for an answer from city staff. If no chat agents are online, the user may submit their question for a later email response.

The chat feature is not an automated computer search or artificial intelligence, but instead a direct interaction with a city employee, officials noted. The chat feature is always available, but after hours website users can send a message for a response on the next working day.

Chat is currently live on the Utility Billing and Library pages of the website. Plans call for expanding chat to include Parks and Recreation, Pflugerville Animal Welfare Services and Public Works and Development Services, according to a press advisory.

The process is intended to expedite customer service by responding quickly to questions. The software includes the ability for city staff to create automatic responses to questions about specific incidents, allowing staffers to provide accurate, consistent information. Chat agents and users will be able to exchange documents and web links via their desktop or mobile phones expediting service.

The chat feature may help reduce call volume on the main municipal phone lines and enable the city to track customer inquiries. Additionally, officials said, the city may be able to auto-populate answers to questions to expedite customer service.

Officials encourage residents to add chat as one of the many new ways to Pf Connect with the City of Pflugerville. You can call the City; email the City; engage on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; visit the website or enter a direct text chat.

Get Patch's Daily Newsletters and Real Time Alerts

>>> Image via Shutterstock