Placer County: On-demand access to information and services through "Ask Placer County," a conversational AI virtual agent
About Placer County
Located in the scenic Sierra Nevada foothills, Placer County is one of California’s fastest growing counties. Placer County is expanding access to county services and critical information through innovative cloud and AI technology.
Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.
Contact usCalifornia’s Placer County utilizes AI technology via smart speakers, smartphones, tablets, PCs, and webpages to help citizens get the information they need.
Google Cloud results
- Increases accessibility of information to the public in a new format through smartphones, smart speakers, and an online chat program
- Provides answers conveniently—anywhere, anytime—to questions about permits, licenses, taxes, and more
- Optimizes county resources, freeing up staff for other citizen services
- Leverages the vast amount of information and services on the county website
Placer County’s virtual agent can answer more than 600 questions in real time
From the historic Gold Country to the rugged heights of the Sierra Nevada, Placer County encompasses more than 1,500 square miles—and provides services to nearly 400,000 residents. Across the county, residents access resources in person, over the phone, and through the county website. In 2018, the county piloted a suite of eServices through its Community Development Resource Agency (CDRA) with the goal of helping its geographically dispersed population more easily apply for permits, make appointments, and get immediate answers to specific questions.
Now, with the help of Google Cloud Dialogflow and Speech-to-Text API, the county has created a virtual agent that enables anyone, anywhere, to simply start a conversation by saying "Ask Placer County" into a variety of voice assistant hardware. This virtual agent builds on the success of eServices and helps the public access information through their smartphones or smart home devices, which is especially helpful for individuals without immediate access to a computer—such as the traveling public or a contractor working on-site, for example.
The pilot program has been an opportunity to explore new technology and create another communication channel to our citizens. “Our ambitious and long-term goal is that ‘Ask Placer County’ will be like having a personal assistant to everything related to Placer County. While the virtual agent is currently limited to a few departments, we plan to expand it countywide,” says Ben Palacio, senior IT analyst for Placer County.
“Our ambitious and long-term goal is that ‘Ask Placer County’ will be like having a personal assistant to everything related to Placer County. While the virtual agent is currently limited to a few departments, we plan to expand it countywide.”
—Ben Palacio, Senior IT Analyst, Placer CountyNew eServices get a boost from AI virtual agent
The CDRA, one of many departments and agencies within Placer County, deployed interactive eServices for residents. As part of this initiative, the CDRA made a special request to the information technology (IT) department: Build an AI-based virtual agent that would spotlight the eServices on the website and make them easily available through a conversational interface.
“Having a specific technology requirement voiced by an agency was visionary and very welcome. It meant they were engaged and excited about the possibilities that these new technologies had to offer,” says Mike Spak, IT Manager for Placer County.
Today, the CDRA’s eServices help residents answer important questions, such as: “Is my land zoned for adding a garage?” “What historical engineering work has been done on my property?” And, “How can I make an appointment at a permitting office?”
“Having a specific technology requirement voiced by an agency was visionary and very welcome. It meant they were engaged and excited about the possibilities that these new technologies had to offer.”
—Mike Spak, IT Manager, Placer CountyGoogle Cloud fit easily into Placer County’s multivendor environment
With the help of consultants from Dito, a Google Cloud Premier Partner, Placer County chose Google Cloud to help with “Ask Placer County.”
Placer County runs a multivendor IT environment. “Especially with the cloud, the easier it is to integrate a vendor’s capabilities with others, the better for everybody,” says Palacio. “Google Cloud was able to integrate with other vendors’ capabilities for this project.”
For example, Placer County uses the Google Cloud operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) to monitor, troubleshoot, and improve its cloud infrastructure and application performance. And it uses Dialogflow, which powers the natural language processing (NLP) interface of the "Ask Placer County" virtual agent. Both integrate easily with tools from other vendors.
“Especially with the cloud, the easier it is to integrate a vendor’s capabilities with others, the better for everybody. Google Cloud was able to integrate with other vendors’ capabilities for this project.”
—Ben Palacio, Senior IT Analyst, Placer CountyReal-time conversations powered by "Ask Placer County"
Dito got "Ask Placer County" up and running using App Engine and Datastore. Today, the "Ask Placer County" virtual agent provides information ranging from how to adopt a pet to short-term-rental compliance.
Users can say "Ask Placer County" into their smartphones or their computer microphones and access targeted information from the pilot departments. IT staff reviews the asked questions and are constantly updating the virtual agent to provide more accurate and responsive information.
“You could be in your backyard with a contractor trying to get a project started, and if the contractor has a question about permitting or zoning, they can use their smartphone to get an answer right then and there, rather than having to interrupt the meeting, get back in their car, and drive to a county office,” says Palacio.
The county hopes "Ask Placer County" will improve the efficiency of in-person interactions between the public and county employees as well. Because the public can access common questions and information online or through the virtual agent, employees’ interactions with the public can be more focused and productive.
“We are providing more effective and efficient service to our customers through 24/7 access to information and by reducing the proportion of staff’s time in responding to emails and voicemails to answer our customer questions,” says Shawna Purvines, Principal Planner for Placer County.
According to Placer County, the virtual agent currently answers a monthly average of around 200 questions for the CDRA, and the county continues to develop more and more complete answers across participating departments.
“We are providing more effective and efficient service to our customers through 24/7 access to information and by reducing the proportion of staff’s time in responding to emails and voicemails to answer our customer questions.”
—Shawna Purvines, Principal Planner, Placer CountyConstantly evolving based on users’ needs
To best serve the needs of the CDRA, and potentially other departments over time, "Ask Placer County" continues to evolve. The county can add and retire questions based on the needs of constituents. This technology can be tailored to address current needs, such as responding to COVID-19. “Our hope is that, in quickly evolving situations, the virtual agent can be a resource for the public to access real-time information about public services,” says Palacio.
As a component of the eServices group, "Ask Placer County" has kept construction and development in Placer County operational during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it continues to provide opportunities for the public to access county resources without coming in to the counters, reducing the need for in-person visits. In fact, according to Placer County data, permit applications have increased by 17%.
Placer County also performs analytics using the Google Cloud operations suite to gain insights into the most popular questions and, just as importantly, the questions that are not being answered. “We get insight into what we’re missing—for those times when the virtual agent can’t find a response in our database,” says Palacio. Placer County uses these insights to improve answers and ultimately improve the efficacy of the virtual agent over time.
“This continual, real-time learning is the exciting part of the application that lets us help constituents in entirely new ways. It’s really cool,” says Palacio.
County IT workers actively analyze CDRA webpages to determine which are the most visited and to craft questions and answers to add to "Ask Placer County." According to Placer County, the number of questions the virtual agent can answer is now more than 600. But the CDRA pages are just a small subset of the 5,000 pages that make up the Placer County website. A future goal is to provide a backstop for customer questions that can’t be answered, transferring those customers to county staff for resolution.
“Looking ahead, this technology has the ability to provide answers to thousands and thousands of questions,” says Palacio.
“This continual, real-time learning is the exciting part of the application that lets us help constituents in entirely new ways. It’s really cool.”
—Ben Palacio, Senior IT Analyst, Placer CountyScaling "Ask Placer County" countywide
The limited rollout of the virtual agent technology allowed IT to monitor its effectiveness and make initial adjustments. As the virtual agent evolves, the Placer County chief information officer sees opportunities for it to engage the public countywide.
The "Ask Placer County" virtual agent can truly be a concierge, helping the public navigate county resources. It can help citizens become more engaged with their elected officials, it can provide information, and it can more efficiently connect the public with the services they seek.
Some of the future possibilities include providing current information on board meetings and individual elected officials, checking on permit status and burn days, and getting the latest county news. “There are so many ways we can use this solution to tackle issues within the county that we’re going to have to somehow prioritize them,” says Palacio.
“There are so many ways we can use this solution to tackle issues within the county that we’re going to have to somehow prioritize them.”
—Ben Palacio, Senior IT Analyst, Placer CountyTell us your challenge. We're here to help.
Contact us
About Placer County
Located in the scenic Sierra Nevada foothills, Placer County is one of California’s fastest growing counties. Placer County is expanding access to county services and critical information through innovative cloud and AI technology.