AI Front Office for Local Government. An AI receptionist for local government that never closes
Zanus AI is an AI receptionist for local government that answers the residents of your city, town or county by phone, website chat, e-mail and web form, day and night, in their language. It answers from your approved pages, files each service request for the right department and hands every decision and emergency to your staff.
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7 days free · per company, never per seat · nothing to install
Easy setup
Answers & books
You talk. Lisa sets it up.
You“Gas smells and downed wires hear the emergency line; potholes become requests.”
Lisa“Emergency department: your line with the emergency number, then a transfer to the on-call supervisor. Public works: AI first, report filed. Apply?”
Any setting, in any module · applied only on your yes
Start with the one thing you need. Add more anytime by asking Lisa.
The whole Front Office › · All industries ›
Who reaches you
Who the AI answers for Local Government
- Residents reporting a pothole, a streetlight out or a missed recycling pickup
- Homeowners and contractors asking what a fence, deck or shed permit needs
- Callers with a utility billing question or a move-in date for water service
- Families booking a park shelter, a ball field or a summer day camp
- Local businesses renewing a license or asking about a street festival permit
- Neighbors looking for the clerk's office, a council agenda or a public hearing time
The front door
What an AI receptionist for local government handles
Every resident who calls, chats, writes or fills a form gets the same answer, from the pages your departments approved.
The main line and department lines
Answered on the first ring, day and night, with AI voices for the clerk's office, permits, public works and utility billing. Residents simply talk; nobody works through a phone menu.
The city website chat
A municipal chatbot on every page answers trash days, permit checklists and meeting times by text or voice, opens the page that explains them and files a report inside the chat.
Department inboxes
Mail sent to permits, public works or the clerk lands on its own desk, read and answered from your knowledge, or drafted for a person to approve before it leaves city hall.
Forms that answer back
A report-a-problem or permit intake form gets its reply the moment it arrives, in the sender's language, and the thank-you asks for the missing photo or document.
Service requests tracked
Calls, chats, mails and forms become tickets for the department that owns them, with the conversation attached and the reply time told to the resident at the open.
Inspections and appointments
Inspections, counter appointments and facility rentals book into free slots only, with the resident verified and the confirmation sent before the call or the chat ends.
A day at city hall
Citizen request management from 7 AM to midnight
Six moments from an ordinary week at a city or county office.
7 AM, after a windstorm
Forty residents call about limbs across the road. Each report is taken with its street and filed for public works, and nobody waits on hold behind the morning rush.
9 AM, the permit counter
A contractor phones to ask what a deck permit needs while two people stand at the counter. The AI reads him your checklist and books his plan review appointment.
Noon, utility billing
A new resident asks how to start water service on the first of the month. The AI gives the steps your billing page lists and files the move-in date for the desk.
4 PM, parks and recreation
A family asks whether the riverside shelter is free on a June Saturday. Only open dates are offered, and the booking waits for parks staff when your rule asks for approval.
8 PM, the clerk's inbox
An e-mail asks when the next council meeting starts and how to sign up for public comment. The reply comes from your posted agenda page, in the language the resident wrote in.
Midnight, a holiday weekend
A caller reports a streetlight out on Elm Street. The holiday message you wrote plays first, the report is filed, and public works finds it at the top of Tuesday's list.
Real screens
Inside a virtual receptionist for local government
Real Zanus AI screens with demo data, framed for a city, a town or a county.
Compared
An AI answering service for local government, a clerk or voicemail?
Clerks on duty, an outside answering service after hours or a voicemail box: here is how each handles the calls residents remember.
| What a city or county needs | Clerks at the counter | An outside answering service | Voicemail and a phone menu | Zanus AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A storm-morning surge | One caller at a time, the rest on hold | Messages stacked for staff to retype | A full mailbox by 8 AM | Every resident answered: on the first ring, each report filed with its street |
| A permit question at 9 PM | Waits for the counter to open | A message slip with no answer | A recording nobody hears tonight | The checklist read from your page: and the plan review appointment offered |
| A resident who speaks Spanish | Answered if a bilingual clerk is free | Depends on who is on the shift | Menu prompts in English only | Answered in Spanish: from the same approved pages, at any hour |
| A pothole report | Written on a pad, then typed in | Taken down, then forwarded by mail | Left as a voice message | A tracked ticket: for public works, with the reply time told |
| A gas smell | Transferred if someone hears it | Read from a script, then passed on | Lost among the messages | Your emergency line spoken: with the emergency number, then the transfer your rule sets |
| What department heads read | Notes typed between calls | A few lines per caller | Recordings to replay | Every call in writing: with its transcript and summary on the resident's record |
Guardrails
What stays with your staff, and what the AI never says
Decisions stay human
No permit approved or denied, no fine waived, no benefit or eligibility ruled on, no zoning opinion. The AI explains the published steps and passes the case to the department.
Emergencies never handled
Fire, gas, a crash, a downed wire: the resident hears the line your rule sets, with the emergency number. The AI never takes an emergency down as a service request.
Approved answers only
Every answer comes from the pages, documents and fee lists your staff approved. With no source, the AI says so and offers a person instead of guessing at a rule.
Your own staff on transfers
Your call handling rules decide who a transfer rings: a clerk, an inspector or the on-call supervisor, on the computer, the phone app or a mobile. No outside call center ever speaks for the city.
Calls only with consent
Auto-Call phones only residents who gave the city their number, or an attested list, inside the hours you set, and stops for good when someone says stop calling me.
An AI that says it is one
Asked, the AI agent tells residents it is an AI and never claims to be a clerk. Anyone who asks for a person is put through, or leaves a message for the right desk.
Set-up
Set up your AI receptionist for local government in 2 minutes
Forward one line
Forward the city hall main number to the Front Office; it answers from that moment, with no porting and no new phone system to buy.
Let Lisa read your website
Lisa reads your department pages, your frequently asked questions, the trash calendar and the fee tables, then asks who takes calls and in which languages.
Name your departments and rules
Tell her the clerk's office, permits, public works, utility billing and parks, their hours and holidays, and the emergency line residents must hear.
Try it free for 7 days
Run it on your own line with no credit card, and read every call, chat and request it handled when the week ends.
Questions & answers
Questions cities and counties ask about an AI receptionist
What is an AI receptionist for local government?
It is software that answers the front door of a city, town or county: the main line, the website chat, the department inboxes and the online forms. On the phone each department becomes an AI voice agent with its own name and voice. Zanus AI answers from the pages and documents your staff approved, files each request for the department that owns it and passes residents to a person whenever your rules say so.
How are local governments using AI with residents?
Mostly at the front door: common questions about trash days, permit steps and office hours answered at any hour, service requests taken in the resident's own words, inspections and counter appointments booked, routine mail replied to. Decisions stay with staff. Zanus AI does that work across phone, chat, e-mail and forms from one approved knowledge base.
Can an AI answer city hall and 311 calls?
Yes. AI Phone answers every call to your main number, your department lines or your 311 line on the first ring, with 24/7 coverage that includes storm mornings. Residents just say what they need; the AI answers from your published information, files the report with its address and transfers the call to your own staff when your rules call for a person.
Does the AI decide permits, fines or benefits?
No. It never decides eligibility, never approves or denies a permit, never waives a fine and never rules on a benefit, a zoning question or an appeal. It explains the published steps and forms, then hands the case to the department with the whole conversation, so a person makes every decision about a resident.
What happens when a resident reports an emergency?
The AI never handles an emergency. A caller who mentions a fire, a gas smell, a crash or a downed power line hears the line your emergency rule sets, with the emergency number, and is transferred where that rule says. Nothing of it is filed as a routine pothole or pickup request.
Which languages can residents use?
Their own. On the phone the AI hears the language from the first words, and the website chat follows the page or asks, across 40 languages. A resident who speaks Spanish, Vietnamese or Arabic can report a leak or ask about a permit without waiting for the one bilingual clerk on duty.
Is an AI answering service worth it for a small town?
For a town hall with two clerks, most missed calls come at lunch, after five and on storm days, when call volume jumps and the front desk is already busy. An AI answering service for local government answers those calls in full instead of only taking a message, writes each one down and is priced per company, never per seat, so a small office pays for one subscription.
How does an AI answering service work for a city?
You forward the main line from your existing phone system, with no porting, and the AI picks up on the first ring. It understands the resident's own words, searches the knowledge you approved by meaning, not by keyword, then answers, books or takes the message, and uses your call routing rules to route calls to the right desk. Every call is saved with its transcript and summary on the resident's record.
Does it replace our permitting, billing or work-order systems?
No. Zanus AI is a municipal AI assistant at the front door, not the system of record for permits, utility accounts or crews. It keeps every conversation, request and booking on its own record, and your departments go on working in the permitting, billing and work-order systems they already run.
Who on our staff can see residents' requests?
Each person sees what their role allows. Tickets can be limited to a person's own departments, each e-mail desk has a mail scope per person, exports of contact data are for managers only and logged, and every drawer of the file cabinet carries its own rights, from no access to manage.
How much does an AI receptionist for a city cost?
Zanus AI is priced per company, never per seat, so every clerk, inspector and 311 agent works from one subscription. The plans are on the pricing page, and a 7-day free trial of the Front Office runs on your own municipal line with no credit card.
How long does set-up take for a city or county?
It starts in 2 minutes. Forward one line, let Lisa read your website, then tell her your departments, your hours, your holiday closures and your emergency rule. Call your own number and hear the AI answer before you bring the other departments in.
Can a resident always reach a person?
Yes. With the AI receptionist for city hall, a resident who asks for someone is transferred to the department during business hours, or leaves a message the AI reads back and files for the right person after hours. In the chat, a request for a person becomes mail for your team or a ticket with the conversation attached.
Award-winning AI
Winner at CES 2026, ISE 2026 and TMCnet Enterprise AI Product of the Year.
REAL AI - the whole Front Office is AI, not old software with an AI button.
Awards & trade shows ›
Give Lisa your website.
She sets up your business in 2 minutes.
Other software makes you learn it. Zanus AI learns your business.
Try it free on your own business — no credit card, per company, never per seat.
Ready to buy? See plans & pricing ›
Or call +1 (954) 736-3939 — the AI answers.