Case Study: City of Kobe reduces citizen support calls with Microsoft Power BI

City of Kobe connects citizens to key information during COVID-19 with Microsoft Power Platform

The City of Kobe turned to Microsoft Power BI and the broader Microsoft Power Platform when COVID-19 created urgent citizen service challenges. The city was overwhelmed by more than 40,000 daily calls about a special cash payment program, had no easy way to track application status, and was spending significant time manually updating COVID-19 information for its website.

Using Microsoft Power Platform, the city quickly built a Power Apps portal for citizens to check application status, a model-driven app for staff, an automated phone enquiry service with Power Automate and Twilio, a COVID-19 chatbot with Power Virtual Agents, and an interactive COVID-19 dashboard with Microsoft Power BI. The result was a 90% reduction in call-center volume, from 40,000 calls per day to 3,000, plus better accessibility, faster service delivery, and significant time savings for city staff.

City of Kobe

Kizo Hisamoto

Mayor