How to Deliver Better 311 Services with Less Effort 

4 Min Read

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January 6, 2026

For many residents, 311 is their primary connection to state and local government. It’s where they go to report a pothole, ask about bulk item pickup, submit a noise complaint, or check the status of a service request. As expectations for digital access continue to rise, 311 departments are being asked to deliver faster, more intuitive service, often without additional staff, budget, or technical resources. 

Today’s residents don’t reset their expectations when interacting with government. The experiences they have with banks, airlines, and retailers have quietly established a new baseline for speed, accessibility, and responsiveness. If they can get instant, accurate answers from an enterprise organization serving millions, it’s reasonable for them to expect the same level of service from the agencies they fund with their tax dollars. 

For state and local governments, this shift is especially challenging. Residents expect always-on access, clear answers, and seamless service across digital and voice channels, yet most agencies operate with small IT teams, tight budgets, and strict security requirements. Meeting enterprise-grade expectations using traditional call centers and custom development models is no longer sustainable. 

This growing expectation gap is driving governments to rethink how 311 services are delivered and why scalable, secure AI has become a practical necessity rather than a future ambition. 

At government agencies across the country, call volumes keep climbing, and many of the requests coming in are repetitive, predictable, and time-consuming for human agents. Residents want answers and action immediately, while governments need solutions that scale without adding operational complexity or risk. 

That’s where Zammo Agents come in. 

Why Governments Are Exploring AI-Powered 311 

Communications teams, IT leaders, and civic technologists alike recognize that traditional approaches to 311 support don’t scale well in today’s digital world. Residents increasingly reach out through mobile devices and expect conversational experiences that feel natural and responsive. Cities like the City of Kelowna have already embraced this shift, deploying AI-powered chat and voice tools to provide accurate municipal service information around the clock without increasing costs or staffing burdens. Officials describe this as part of a broader strategy to create a “fully digital-friendly 311 information service, available 24 hours a day.”  

Similarly, Montgomery County, Maryland, has taken substantive steps toward harnessing AI to improve access to public service information. Their upgraded AI chatbot known locally as “Monty 2.0” now supports conversations across thousands of public service topics in over 100 languages, helping residents get timely answers to common 311 questions.  

These initiatives underscore a clear trend: governments want tools that deliver reliable, scalable citizen engagement with minimal operational overhead. 

The Promise of an AI-Driven 311 Assistant 

Imagine a municipal service experience where residents can simply ask, “How do I report a pothole?” or “When is my bulk pickup day?” and receive a prompt, accurate, contextual response. Now imagine that same system can help them file a request and track its progress, all without navigating multiple systems or waiting in a queue. 

With Zammo Agents, this vision becomes a reality in a fraction of the time traditionally required. Instead of months of development and complex integrations, a government team can use natural language descriptions to build an intelligent agent that: 

  • Understands resident questions and answers them using trusted, sourced knowledge (through Retrieval-Augmented Generation). 

  • Conversationally guides users to capture details and submit service requests to backend systems like ServiceNow. 

  • Retrieves and communicates real-time ticket status, keeping residents informed without human intervention. 

And because the platform orchestrates connectivity and workflow configuration automatically, non-technical teams can design and launch these experiences without writing code.  

Eager to learn more? Check out our videos showcasing AI innovation across all industries with various use cases. 

How the Experience Translates for Residents 

A resident might start with a simple question: “When is streetlight maintenance scheduled in my neighborhood?” An AI assistant grounded in official city content can respond with relevant policy information and explain next steps. If the resident wants to take action, the assistant can step them through a conversational intake, prompting for needed details, and then submit a request on their behalf via a backend integration. 

This kind of interaction not only delivers a better constituent experience. It also reduces the volume of repeat inquiries that human agents must handle creating capacity for staff to focus on the most complex or sensitive cases. 

A Practical & Powerful Path Forward for Government 

For decision makers in state and local government, the question isn’t whether AI will play a role in constituent services, it’s how quickly and responsibly it can be adopted without adding technical complexity. Zammo Agents remove the traditional barriers to building AI chatbots by allowing organizations to create and deploy AI-powered 311 assistants using natural language alone. There’s no code to write, no UI to build, and no technical expertise required. Users simply describe the conversation they want the agent to have, and Zammo Agents automate the entire bot-building process, from knowledge grounding to backend integration and deployment. 

With Zammo Agents, governments can: 

  • Launch AI-powered 311 services in days instead of months 

  • Build and update bots using plain language, not technical workflows 

  • Deliver trusted answers grounded in official policies and content 

  • Enable residents to submit and track service requests end to end 

  • Reduce call center volume while improving constituent satisfaction 

  • Support both digital and voice channels for broader accessibility 

See What’s Possible 

To help visualize how a modern AI service assistant can function across channels and integrate with backend systems like ServiceNow, explore this demo of a government-oriented AI bot in action.