8x8 Launches AI-Powered Solution for Councils to Help Increase Electoral Engagement and Reduce Local Authorities’ Election Workloads

New 8x8 Ballot It! Self-Service Offering Empowers Citizens with Election Information Aiming to Boost Turnout for Regional and National Elections in the UK

8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT), a leading integrated cloud contact centre and unified communications platform provider, today announced the availability of 8x8 Ballot It!, an AI-powered self-service solution that aims to empower UK citizens with the latest and most relevant election information and help boost voter turnout in regional and national elections.

A voice and digital chat service for public sector organisations that seamlessly integrates into their contact centre and embeds into existing websites, Ballot It! is powered by the conversational AI capabilities of 8x8 Intelligent Customer Assistant. The new solution is intentionally engineered to ensure the electorate in each region has real-time access to relevant up-to-date information around candidates and polling stations, while also relieving local government staff and volunteers of a number of election-related tasks, easing their workloads.

“From the moment an election campaign begins—regardless of it being a general election or local election—there’s a lot of extra pressures, requests, and demands placed on councils,” said Darren Davies, IT User Support Manager and Technology Adoption Manager at London Borough of Harrow Council. “So anything that helps with that while also helping the electorate is to be welcomed.”

“In many parts of England in the recent elections, turnout was lower than previous years. With the UK general election coming up very soon, and Scottish and Welsh elections in around two years, vendors, like 8x8, have a role to make sure technology is being seen as a helper and not a hindrance,” said Jamie Snaddon, EMEA Managing Director at 8x8, Inc. “We developed Ballot It! to support local government efforts to encourage voting, as we believe it’s important to ensure that every citizen is given the resources they need to make informed choices and exercise their right to vote on election days.”

The top value of deploying AI is to enable organizations to provide customers with quick responses to inquiries while at the same time increasing employee productivity.

The benefits of Ballot It! include:

• Empowered Citizens: 24/7 access to accurate information and resources about upcoming elections to enhance knowledge and manage voting preferences.
• Streamlined Resources: single access point for publicly-available information.
• Instant Self-Service with Customised Information: provides voters with links to specific local projects and candidate information via voice and digital channels.
• Enhanced Productivity: Reduces contact centre and staff workloads for councils and local governments with automated messages directing citizens to the relevant online resources.

Delivering Ballot It! reinforces 8x8’s understanding of the needs and pain points of the local government sector in the UK. The 8x8 cloud contact centre and unified communications platform supports the constituent and employee experience requirements of some of the best known councils in the UK, including City of Westminster Council, Liverpool City Council, Sefton Council, and London Borough of Hounslow.

For more information about 8x8 Ballot It!, visit 8x8 for Local Government, download the guide Ways Conversational AI Can Support Local Government or contact 8x8.

About 8x8, Inc.

8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) is transforming the future of business communications as a leading Software as a Service provider of 8x8 XCaaS™ (Experience Communications as a Service™), an integrated contact center, voice communications, video, chat, and SMS solution built on one global cloud communications platform. 8x8 uniquely eliminates the silos between Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) to power the communications requirements of all employees globally as they work together to deliver differentiated customer experiences. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com, or follow 8x8 on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook.

8x8^®, 8x8 XCaaS™, Experience Communications as a Service™, Experience Communications Platform™ are trademarks of 8x8, Inc.

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.@8x8 announces the availability of 8x8 Ballot It!, an #AI-powered self-service solution empowering citizens with access to real-time election information for regional and national elections