Council develops digital services ten times faster, reduces costs and expands transformation programme with AI-powered website search
Wokingham Borough Council has reduced the cost of owning and operating its customer relationship management (CRM) platform by £218,000 per annum through reduced licensing cost while accelerating digital service development as part of a major transformation programme designed to improve services for residents and reduce pressure on council teams.
Working with Netcall, the council has replaced its legacy CRM platform with Netcall’s Liberty platform, enabling new digital services, like garden waste and alcohol and tobacco licensing, to move from concept to deployment in days rather than weeks or months. The programme has also automated high-volume processes, simplified access to council services and reduced reliance on specialist development skills.
Like many local authorities, Wokingham faces increasing demand for services while operating under significant financial pressure. With one of the lowest levels of government grant funding in the country, the council needed to modernise services while ensuring every technology investment delivered measurable value.
Its previous CRM platform was expensive to operate and difficult to develop, with high licensing costs limiting expansion and complex development processes slowing innovation. Now, using Netcall’s Liberty platform the council has migrated services including waste management, garden waste subscriptions, highways maintenance requests, general enquiries and Blue Badge applications toNetcall’s Citizen Hub. This has created a more consistent digital experience for residents while giving its four-person development team the tools to build and improve services internally.
The transformation has already delivered significant operational improvements. Around 90% of residents now renew their garden waste subscriptions online through a fully automated process, replacing a completely manual system that previously required residents to visit local libraries or shops.
The council has also automated a HR support process that previously generated around 10,000 emails each month, saving £40,000 while allowing staff to focus on higher-value work. Automation of alcohol and tobacco licensing has delivered a further £150,000 in savings by removing manual administration.
Sally Watkins, Director Corporate, Community and Change at Wokingham Borough Council, says: “Netcall has worked closely with us to understand our priorities and support our digital ambitions. Their knowledge of our services has helped us identify where technology can make the greatest difference for both residents and our teams.
“For residents, this means simpler, more accessible council services. For our staff, it means we can respond more quickly to changing needs while making better use of our resources.”
The council is now entering the next phase of its transformation programme by extending AI across its digital services. Alongside upgrading its contact centre through Netcall’s Liberty Converseplatform, Wokingham has begun deploying Netcall’s AI-powered website search capability, Agent-Ex: Search, to help residents find information more quickly and easily online.
Future plans also include introducing AI-powered virtual assistants for residents and employees, extending access to information beyond traditional office hours, together with further robotic process automation to remove repetitive administrative work.
Before automating services, the council used Netcall’s Liberty Spark process improvement software to identify where changes will deliver the greatest operational impact, helping ensure investment is focused on the areas that matter most.
Glynn Davies, Service Director, Data & Technology at Wokingham Borough Council, says: “Liberty gives us the flexibility to improve services at our own pace. We can connect systems, simplify customer journeys and develop new services much faster than before. It puts us in control of our own transformation while delivering better value for the council.”
As councils across the UK prepare for continued financial pressures and Local Government Reorganisation, Wokingham’s approach demonstrates how low-code, automation and AI can help local authorities modernise services without increasing complexity or placing additional strain on already stretched teams.
Mark Gannon, Director of Client Solutions, Netcall says: “Wokingham’s transformation is about much more than replacing legacy technology. The council has created a platform for continuous improvement, reducing costs, accelerating service delivery and now extending those benefits through AI-powered capabilities such as intelligent website search.
“As local authorities look for practical ways to improve citizen services while managing financial pressures, Wokingham provides a strong example of how connected automation and AI can deliver measurable outcomes today while creating the flexibility to adapt for the future.”
