A public chatbot case is credible only if adoption gains and resident frustration are reported together.
AI value · Call hold time
Verified
Two minutes within two months.
Result combined chatbot launch with telephony routing changes.
Before
Calls MC311 and waits for a customer-service representative. → Finds the relevant county service and answers or routes the request.
After
Answers information requests and directs residents across covered 311 topics and languages. → Handles unresolved, urgent, or complex requests.
Human boundary
Residents may use human channels; county staff retain service and case decisions.
Why it matters
A multilingual assistant can answer first-line 311 questions while urgent or unresolved needs route to people.
How the work changed
Before
How the work ran before the change.
Step 1 of 2
Resident
Calls MC311 and waits for a customer-service representative.
ControlTelephony routing.
Step 2 of 2
Representative
Finds the relevant county service and answers or routes the request.
ControlHuman service judgment.
What changed
A multilingual assistant can answer first-line 311 questions while urgent or unresolved needs route to people.
Decision rightHuman authority remains at the consequential boundary
After
How the same work runs now.
Step 1 of 2
Monty assistant
Answers information requests and directs residents across covered 311 topics and languages.
ControlCurated county knowledge and urgent-call routing.
Step 2 of 2
311 representative
Handles unresolved, urgent, or complex requests.
ControlHuman service authority.
Process model built from the published workflow evidence for Montgomery County, Maryland. Every step, actor, and control appears in full below.Every step, actor, and control
Exception path
Urgent calls are routed quickly; unsupported questions and negative feedback trigger human service and knowledge updates.
Decision authority
Residents may use human channels; county staff retain service and case decisions.
Before
#
Actor
Action
Control
01
Resident
Calls MC311 and waits for a customer-service representative.
Telephony routing.
02
Representative
Finds the relevant county service and answers or routes the request.
Human service judgment.
After
#
Actor
Action
Control
01
Monty assistant
Answers information requests and directs residents across covered 311 topics and languages.
Curated county knowledge and urgent-call routing.
02
311 representative
Handles unresolved, urgent, or complex requests.
Human service authority.
Work that left the path
Routine first-line 311 information lookup
Human role before
Representatives handled the full volume of routine and complex requests.
Human role after
Representatives focus on unresolved and complex needs while teams maintain the assistant's knowledge and monitor feedback.
AI role
Decision mode: informational self-service and routing; it does not decide benefit, enforcement, or emergency outcomes.
Outcomes
Call hold time
Verified
Five minutes before Monty 1.0 and telephony-routing changes.→Two minutes within two months.
First two months after launch. · Montgomery County MC311.
Result combined chatbot launch with telephony routing changes.
Call abandonment
Verified
25% of calls.→11% within two months.
First two months after launch. · MC311 call volume.
Monty 1.0 also drew negative feedback for limited scope and phrase comprehension.
What leaders can reuse
Anti-pattern
Attributing telephony improvement solely to AI or hiding scope failures.
Questions
01Which topics are safe for self-service?
02How quickly can residents reach a person?
03How is answer accuracy tested?
Portability conditions
Curated authoritative content
Urgent routing
Human access
Continuous resident feedback
Reputation risk
medium
Evidence and authority
What the public record supports.
Watch · updated
Watch status: verify the cited source and deployment condition before reusing this case.
1 independent; publication outcomes are verified.
Bundle 1.0.0 · reviewed 2026-09-06 · stable ID b54968e6258d7e13
