How Salford City Council Are Transforming Digital Access to Local Services
Salford City Council is the local authority for one of the fastest growing urban areas in the North West of England. Like so many modern local authorities, Salford faces the challenge of delivering high quality services while managing growing demand and evolving expectations from residents.
Serving the city of Salford, which forms part of the wider Greater Manchester region, the council supports a diverse and expanding population across busy urban districts, established residential communities, and green spaces. The council provides a wide range of essential services, including housing support, council tax administration, environmental services, highways maintenance, social care, and community programmes. As the city continues to grow and regenerate, ensuring that these services remain accessible, efficient, and responsive has become an increasingly important priority.
In response, Salford City Council has placed digital innovation at the centre of its approach to service delivery. The council has invested in modern technology to improve access to services, streamline operations, and provide residents with convenient ways to interact with the authority. One of the most significant steps in this journey was the introduction of a live chat service that allowed residents to communicate directly with council teams online.
Rather than testing the technology gradually through a limited pilot, the council took a bold approach and launched live chat across every service area from the outset. This decision required careful planning, strong technical capability, and a trusted technology partner.
Supporting a Growing and Diverse City
Salford is a city that has experienced significant economic growth and regeneration in recent years. Major developments across MediaCity, Salford Quays, and surrounding areas have contributed to population growth and increased demand for local authority services.
At the same time, the council has remained focused on addressing inequality and ensuring that economic growth benefits communities across the city. Investment in housing, infrastructure, employment opportunities, and environmental sustainability all form part of the authority’s wider strategy for inclusive growth.
Delivering this requires services that are both effective and accessible. Residents need simple and reliable ways to contact the council, seek support, report issues, or request information. Historically, many of these interactions relied heavily on telephone contact and face to face appointments. While these channels remain important, they can place significant pressure on council resources during busy periods.
Digital channels provide an opportunity to improve access while increasing operational efficiency. For Salford City Council, introducing live chat for customer service represented a practical and resident focused solution.
The Challenge: Launching Live Chat Across All Services
In 2016, Salford City Council started investigating how to improve ways residents could engage with council services online. Live chat for customer support was identified as a valuable addition to existing communication channels, allowing residents to speak directly with council staff through the website in real time.
Many organisations introduce live chat services gradually, starting with one or two departments before expanding further. Salford wanted residents to benefit immediately from consistent access across every service area.
This ambition presented several operational and technical challenges.
- The solution needed to support all departments from the very beginning. Enquiries relating to housing, council tax, waste collection, highways maintenance, and environmental services would all be handled through the same system. The technology therefore needed to be flexible enough to support multiple teams with different responsibilities.
- Accurate routing of enquiries was essential. Residents contacting the council through live chat should be connected directly with the appropriate team. If queries were transferred repeatedly between departments, the benefits of the system would be lost.
- The live chat service had to manage varied demand. Some service areas experience predictable peaks in enquiries, while others receive more specialised requests. The system needed to handle this variation without affecting response times or service quality.
- Integration was also an important consideration. Council staff already relied on established processes and systems. Any new technology needed to fit naturally within these workflows rather than creating additional administrative complexity.
- The council required strong data protection assurances. As a local authority handling sensitive information, Salford needed to ensure that all resident data would be stored securely within the UK and managed in accordance with strict compliance standards.
To deliver on these requirements, Salford City Council partnered with Click4Assistance, a UK based provider of live chat and chatbot solutions for organisations that require high levels of reliability and data security.
The Solution: A Full Service Live Chat Platform
Working in partnership with Click4Assistance, Salford City Council implemented a live chat solution capable of supporting a city-wide rollout from day one.
Immediate Full-Service Launch
The council introduced live chat for customer support across all service areas simultaneously. Residents visiting the council’s website could instantly access online assistance regardless of which department they needed to contact.
This approach ensured that digital access was consistent across the organisation. Instead of restricting the technology to a limited number of services, every team was able to support residents through the same channel.
Skill Based Routing for Accurate Responses
To ensure that enquiries reached the right staff members quickly, the platform was configured with advanced routing capabilities.
Based on the page placement of the chat button within the website, when a resident initiates a chat, the solution directs it to the appropriate department. Housing queries are routed to housing specialists, while council tax enquiries are handled by the relevant revenue team.
This configuration reduces the need for internal transfers and allows residents to receive accurate information more quickly.
Data Security and Compliance
For a local authority, data protection is a fundamental requirement. The live chat solution used by Salford securely hosts all communication data within the United Kingdom. With ISO 27001 certified by BSI, along with GCloud registration, Click4Assistance was able to satisfy all requirements.
This approach aligns with public sector compliance standards and gives the council confidence that sensitive information is managed in accordance with strict security policies. It also reassures residents that their data is protected when they interact with council services online.
Training and Operational Support
Effective use of digital tools requires confident and capable staff. As part of the implementation, Salford City Council teams received in person training delivered by a Click4Assistance specialist. These sessions focused on practical skills, including system administration, managing live chat conversations, and delivering high quality online customer service.
Staff were also provided with guidance on how to optimise the platform over time, then ongoing support from a dedicated account manager, allowing departments to refine workflows and improve response efficiency.
Introducing Chatbots
In 2023, Salford City Council enhanced the service further by introducing a CONI chatbot.
The chatbot handles common and straightforward enquiries automatically. Residents seeking information about routine matters such as service processes, or frequently asked questions can receive immediate answers. Where a more complicated response is required, the Chatbot can seamlessly hand off to a human colleague. This capability allows council staff to focus their attention on more complex or sensitive enquiries that require personal support or specialist knowledge.
Together, these measures create a secure, resilient, and scalable live chat environment capable of supporting the council’s full range of services.
The Impact: Faster and More Efficient Resident Support
The decision to launch live chat for customer support across the entire organisation has delivered clear benefits for both residents and council staff.
Faster Access to Services
Residents can now contact the council quickly through the website without navigating lengthy telephone menus or waiting on hold. The ability to communicate directly with council teams in real time has significantly improved accessibility.
For many users, live chat is also more convenient than making a phone call. Residents can continue with other online tasks while speaking with an advisor, making the interaction more flexible.
A Consistent Experience
Because live chat is available across every department, residents encounter the same digital contact option regardless of the service they need.
This consistency helps build familiarity and trust. Once residents have used live chat successfully for one enquiry, they are more likely to return to the channel in the future.
Improved Operational Efficiency
Live chat allows advisors to manage multiple conversations simultaneously, which is not possible with traditional telephone support. This capability helps reduce pressure on phone lines while enabling staff to respond to a higher number of enquiries within the same period.
As a result, the council can maintain service quality while managing demand more effectively.
Greater Capacity for Complex Enquiries
The addition of chatbots has further strengthened the service and expanded the council’s ability to respond to residents quickly and efficiently. Since 2023, Salford City Council has introduced multiple Coni chatbots across its website to support specific service areas and manage a growing range of enquiries.
The first wave of chatbot deployment focused on high demand services where residents frequently seek guidance or updates. Dedicated chatbots were introduced to assist with enquiries relating to business grants, council tax and business rates, and benefits support. These areas often experience large volumes of enquiries, particularly during periods of policy change or when new funding schemes become available. Automating responses to standard questions helps ensure that accurate information is available at any time of day.
The council has also implemented chatbot support within its Digital, Data and Technology service, commonly referred to as DDaT. This chatbot helps users navigate digital services, resolve basic technical issues, and find relevant online resources. By guiding users through common digital tasks, it supports the council’s wider goal of improving access to online services and encouraging greater digital engagement.
This approach allows council teams to focus their expertise where it is most valuable. Staff can dedicate more time to detailed enquiries, case specific issues, and situations that require careful discussion or investigation. At the same time, residents benefit from faster responses to everyday questions.
Building a Future Ready Digital Channel
Salford City Council’s approach demonstrates how local authorities can use technology strategically to improve both accessibility and efficiency.
Launching live chat for customer service across every area required confidence in the chosen provider and a clear understanding of operational needs. By partnering with an experienced provider and investing in staff training, the council created a digital channel that could support the entire organisation from the outset.
The introduction of chatbot technology has ensured that the system continues to evolve as demand changes. Rather than treating digital services as a one-off project, the council has adopted a model of continuous improvement.
For residents, the result is a modern and convenient way to interact with local authority. For the council, it represents a practical solution that supports service quality while making better use of staff resources.
If your organisation is looking to improve digital access to services while maintaining strong data protection and operational efficiency, live chat and chatbot technology can provide a practical and scalable solution.
To learn how Click4Assistance can support your organisation with secure, UK hosted live chat and AI chatbot solutions, speak with our friendly team about your requirements today.
