A Phone-First Community, Frustrated by the Dial Tone

For almost two decades, the City had relied on a centralized help desk staffed by members of the City’s senior population to answer constituent questions and serve as a friendly, knowledgeable point of introduction at City Hall. However, when the program was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City reverted to an outdated and difficult to navigate phone tree. 

Before Polimorphic, Newport’s central line reflected a common post-pandemic reality: limited operator capacity with callers escalating unaddressed questions or concerns to the highest ranking staff member they can reach. Fielding questions and complaints placed a constant burden on all city staff, impacting their ability to progress on larger goals which formed a vicious cycle. 

The biggest challenges for the team included:

• Unanswered or misrouted calls at the main line and complex, unclear, or hard to find info online. Residents often escalated straight to the City Manager or Mayor.
• A phone-centric, older demographic expecting live help beyond standard hours.
• Language access needs, including Spanish, without a practical way to scale coverage.
• An ever-growing website with thousands of pages, which led to inconsistent or outdated answers.
• Political visibility of customer service. Leadership needed clear progress without a heavy lift.

Start Quietly, Prove Value, Then Turn Up the Volume

Newport and Polimorphic outlined a soft-launch strategy that respected local culture and staff capacity.

• Step 1 — Chat and AI Search (quiet launch): Add the chatbot to the website without a press push. Staff tested it heavily while the City’s Communications team led a website audit to prune redundancies and fix outdated content. When the AI surfaced a bad link or answer, the team patched it quickly with a content update. Trust grew with each fix.‍
• Step 2 — Voice after hours: With confidence growing, Newport activated Polimorphic Voice AI for nights and weekends, the same hours when residents typically handle errands like tax payments or permits.
• ‍Step 3 — Voice, full time: Satisfied with accuracy and routing, Newport promoted Voice AI to primary operator on the main line, 24/7. It now handles questions and routes callers to the correct department or contact.

This phased approach fit Newport’s culture and earned broad support. With strong utilization and routing data, a typically cautious council unanimously approved the renewal of Polimorphic.

“It was a light lift compared to most software rollouts,” said Shevlin, noting it ran smoothly even as the city transitioned to new billing, HR, and financial systems.

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Results: Measurable Usage, Fewer Complaints, Stronger Confidence

Newport’s team was able to see the impact of their phased approach almost immediately.

• 22 chats per 10,000 residents per day. Adoption climbed even without a big public campaign.
• About 65 daily interactions or after including Voice. This level is sustained through peak tourist season.
• Primary operator, 24/7. Voice now answers the main line, triaging callers to departments and answering common questions.
• Procurement and cost rationale: Annual renewal approved unanimously thanks to clear ROI. Leaders point to service levels that would otherwise be unattainable without adding staff, including nights, weekends, and multilingual coverage.

Plus, qualitative wins that highlight the impact on service levels.

• Complaint volume dropped. Leaders report a noticeable decline in “no one picks up the phone” complaints compared to last summer.
• Workflow fit. Staff incorporated chat and voice tickets into daily routines. No ERP-style change management required.
• Faster website content fixes. The AI surfaced broken or stale content online. Communications used that signal to clean up pages or draft targeted replies to unique questions using Polimorphic’s platform.
• Accessibility foundation. Spanish and multilingual support are available as the city explores broader outreach.

“Every time I have an employee who doesn’t have to answer a phone call is another chance for them to be creative or engage positively with a community member,” Kennedy said. “You can’t put a price on that.”

“The biggest shift is we’re not hearing people say they can’t get through to anybody anymore,” added Shevlin.

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The New Normal and What’s Next

Newport’s story is not about flashy tech. It is about earned trust. Start small, listen, fix, then expand. With Polimorphic, the city restored confidence that someone is always there to help.

“In New England, your local government is an extension of your family,” Kennedy said. “And a warm, empathetic voice, even an artificial one, can bridge divides.”

Next up, Newport’s upcoming Harbormaster project will turn hundreds of recurring maritime questions into instant answers by phone or chat, 24/7. Currently, most of Newport’s maritime questions rely on the operational knowledge and availability of one staff member, and nowhere else online. On a Monday morning, it’s common to have 200 voicemails inquiring about common topics Polimorphic is suited to address at any hour. The project will turn weekend bottlenecks into instant answers providing benefits to staff, the community, and its many visitors. From there, Newport plans to deepen workflows and integrations at a pace that fits its culture.

Biggest takeaway: If your community is anxious about Voice AI, lead with a soft launch. Prove value after hours. Then make Voice the friendly operator that picks up every time.
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