Prime Highlights:
Catharine is an AI-driven virtual assistant available on the City of St. Catharines’ website, designed to enhance user experience and website navigation.
The assistant helps residents easily find information about City services, property taxes, recreational activities, water bills, and more.
Key Background:
The City of St. Catharines has introduced an innovative new feature on its website, designed to provide residents with more efficient and accessible assistance. A pilot project has launched a virtual assistant named Catharine, an AI-powered tool that enhances website navigation and user experience. Available on the City’s official site, stcatharines.ca, Catharine is poised to offer reliable and timely help, available anytime and anywhere.
This digital assistant, developed using Microsoft Copilot Studio’s AI technology, aims to streamline searches for City services, property taxes, water bills, recreational activities, and other essential information. By understanding natural language queries, Catharine provides answers in a conversational manner, ensuring residents can easily locate relevant information.
Jonathan Wright, the City’s Manager of Customer Service, emphasized the value Catharine brings to the website: “Catharine enhances the City’s website by making it more accessible for users, providing easy access to information, City services, recreational activities, and much more. Catharine guides residents effortlessly to the information they need, promoting a simple and efficient way to access services and information right at their fingertips.”
Traditionally, website search bars require specific keywords or phrasing to yield useful results, often making navigation challenging for users. Catharine addresses this issue by offering a more intuitive and interactive approach. The digital assistant engages users in friendly conversation, ensuring that queries are fully understood before providing the necessary information or directing users to the appropriate resources. Should Catharine be unable to resolve an inquiry directly, it offers to forward the request to the City’s Citizens First team for further follow-up during business hours.
Catharine continuously learns and improves with each interaction, enhancing its ability to understand and respond to user inquiries. While user data is collected during conversations, robust security measures are in place to protect privacy. If further assistance is needed, Catharine can collect contact details, such as name, email, or phone number, to facilitate communication with Citizens First.
