Sumter County Shares One Year of Voice AI Results at Stanford Local Government Institute
Stanford, CA - July 25, 2026
On July 25, Sumter County Assistant County Administrator Stephen Kennedy joined EffiGov at the Stanford Local Government Summer Institute to share the county's experience deploying voice AI across its resident phone lines.
The presentation, "Answering the Phone in Sumter County," focused on the practical realities of moving government services onto AI: building staff trust, earning community confidence, expanding one department at a time, and maintaining reliable human fallback.
Sumter County began with a bounded deployment in Animal Services before expanding to Building Services, the Community Responder program, Veterans Services, the Fire Chief's office, and the county's Citizens Information Center.
A year into the rollout, six EffiGov agents now handle more than 12,000 calls per month, with approximately 72 percent of calls resolved without requiring a county employee. The system supports residents across departments, transfers callers while preserving context so they do not have to start over, and automatically responds in Spanish when needed.
We started with a focused deployment and expanded as the technology proved itself across departments. Presenting at the Stanford Local Government Summer Institute gave us an opportunity to share what we've learned over the past year, including the results we've seen and the practical lessons that come with deploying AI in local government.
Lessons for other local governments
Kennedy shared several lessons for other local governments considering AI:
- Start with one clearly defined department.
- Give department leaders control over scope and ongoing improvements.
- Design for outages, escalation, and human fallback from the beginning.
The presentation also covered lessons from live production, including identifying gaps in government website information, responding automatically to provider outages, and improving transfers so residents do not have to repeat themselves.
Successful adoption took trust, not just technology. Sumter County's approach shows what responsible AI deployment in local government looks like: start small, measure results, keep staff in control, and expand only after the system proves its value.
Request the presentation
Local governments interested in the full presentation, "Answering the Phone in Sumter County," can request a copy or book a walkthrough with the EffiGov team.
Media Contact: press@effigov.com
