Innovation at United Way | Shawn Paton, United Way

0:00Well, the most fabulous thing is that people will get a response quickly to provide um some relief for our staff and allow them to really do the human work of connecting with people. >> Hi everyone, I'm Talia from Forell and this is Conversations and Impact. Today I'm speaking with Sean Payton, vice president of community impact at United Way of Pierce County in Washington State and one of our clients. Hi Sean, thank you so much for being here today. Yes. >> So, Sean, um, can you tell us a bit more about the challenges you were facing in handling phone calls and connecting people with the right resources before

0:40we started working together? >> So, we had been faced with a very long queue time. Our reputation in the community was um decreasing because people were having to wait a long time to be served and our staff was burning out very quickly because of the pressure of watching this queue kind of flashing at them as they were trying to do their best and be present with the caller they had in front of them. Um, so that is what brought us to, you know, thinking about how AI could complement our call center and provide um some relief for our staff and allow them to really do the human work of connecting with people.

1:27>> Regarding the phone agents, how did the roll out go and what are your expectations for this kind of technology? our staff was um had kind of mixed feelings about it because there's a lot of fear around AI. Um but when we started talking about the benefits and the things that AI could help support um not replace but support for them. um they really quickly got on board and became really excited about the opportunity to, you know, not have to spend time collecting demographic information and doing that piece and really just being able to focus on the person in front of them and helping them to their best ability. And so we are,

2:12you know, really excited. our team has really been really engaged in the the training of the process of the agent and you know we're just we're really excited to launch. >> Can you tell us a bit more about the project um how the agent is helping you and um how you expect it to work in your organization? >> The most fabulous thing is that people will get a response quickly. Um no more waiting on the phone for 15 20 minutes to get through to somebody. You know their call will be answered immediately. you know, the agent can handle collecting demographic information ahead of transferring through a live agent. It

2:50can um help determine the best navigator role for that particular call to go to and um and if that person is not available, they can schedule a follow-up at a time that works for the caller and get that on someone's calendar. So, we're not doing this back and forth trying to get a hold of somebody who left a message and is now unavailable for the next two hours and we didn't know that. Um, the other thing is the potential for an AI chatbot for our website. You know, for a long time we have missed this generation that doesn't necessarily talk on the phone. They prefer chatting and texting to actually

3:30talking with somebody. and we have not been effectively meeting that demographic in our community. So, this opens the door for us to kind of have multi-channel um response and be able to meet people where they are. >> Sean, what can you tell us about um your programs and all the different ways you are helping people? >> We have our call center is built on resource navigation and we have different agents who are specifically trained for different types of um resources. So, we have a transportation navigator. We have a housing navigator. We have a behavioral health navigator. We have family navigators that help

4:08with, you know, parenting issues and connecting folks with child care and and pediatric care and all of the things that are involved with, you know, being a new parent. Nobody's given a manual. You kind of have to figure it out on your own. Um, so our navigators kind of help people through that process as well. And so that's what's really great about the AI assistant is that they can get routed directly to the person who can best help them based on what they're calling about. And I think that also will free up time from, you know, being handed off to somebody who isn't necessarily the best person to meet that

4:45need and then having to be transferred or wait for a call back from the appropriate person. So over the next few years and given your experience and your community's needs, where do you see technology like this making the biggest impact? >> Well, we've had some community collaborative discussions around um implementation of aworked system. There are a lot of nonprofits in our community and we're all very siloed and the opportunity to connect and make sure that we're addressing the needs of people holistically as opposed to well I can meet this need and then I'll give you know I don't know where you go from

5:27here. So being able to holistically meet needs and have kind of a referral loop that lets people know what happened when somebody has been handed off to another organization and being able to transfer directly. Um we know our friends at Metropolitan Development Council are also using Forell AAI and Scott and I have had conversations about the possibilities of direct transfer into their LIE HEAP screening program so that somebody isn't having to make that additional call. It's just more efficiency. It's more um customer centric. Um helping them get to the right need at the right time. >> Thank you so much. Um is there anything

6:06else you'd like to add? >> Well, we're also, you know, thinking about how this might be implemented in other programs within our um organization. We have a center for strong families network that focuses on financial coaching and employment coaching. Um, I know that, uh, MDC has been using some, um, agent employment interview coaches. Um, and I think that something like that could also be very, um, helpful in our Centers for Strong Families work. In fact, we're looking at starting a young adult um financial and employment coaching pilot. And I think that young people in particular are more comfortable interacting with somebody

6:50that they feel is not judging them. And so having a a AI agent to um do that type of interview prep with, I think, could be really really beneficial. the ability of AI to process information so quickly and and provide those shifts um to direct people to the right place is is key. Um and I just I feel that the ability to be interconnected and do a you know a direct access. I know that there are other partners that are interested in doing this using this type of technology in their work as well. And so being able to have that kind of seamless handoff from one system to another I think is just really it's

7:42really difficult when you're in a place of crisis and your stress level is through the roof. Having to retell your story is retraumatizing for people. And so being able to tell your story once and then make those connections without having to retell that story and call more people and try and get to the right person within a different organization. I think it's just really a human- centered solution for our community. [Music]