Frustrated by the Philly school district’s customer service wait time? Officials have launched a new AI-powered system.
Philadelphia School District schools and offices have rolled out a new, AI-powered customer service system that officials say gets faster responses to parents and community members.
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. heard it time and again when he came to Philadelphia, he said: Families and community members felt like they couldn’t get timely answers from the school system.
To that end, each of the Philadelphia School District’s 216 schools and all of its offices have now rolled out a new, AI-powered customer-service system that officials say gets faster responses to parents.
“Let’s Talk,” the new system, “serves as the essential platform for providing families timely, accurate, and accessible information,” Watlington said in a statement. “More engaged parents, guardians and community members can promote student achievement, so we are pleased about the work we are doing with Let’s Talk to improve communication and customer service.”
The school board in 2023 authorized spending up to $881,549 through the 2025-26 school year on the service. More than 600 district employees have been trained to use it.
Watlington’s office and the school board piloted the software first, beginning in September 2023. It was rolled out to all central offices by the end of the 2023-24 year, and last month, all district schools were using it.
Families and community members with questions for central office or school staff are directed to use an online platform that has users type in their specific questions, concerns, or suggestions to whichever office or school is appropriate.
“Once you click on a topic below and make a submission through Let’s Talk, the SDP employee who can best address your comment will be notified,” the platform says. “If you request a response, you will hear back from us in a timely manner.”
So far this school year, the district has received 35,000 messages, it said; its average customer service score is 7.9 out of 10, and its typical response time is 3.2 business days. Its goal is responding within four business days.
The service is available in Arabic, Albanian, English, Khmer, French, Hindi, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese.