SHIFT Commissioned to Operate Sagamihara City's Call Center

SHIFT Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Masaru Tange; TSE Prime: 3697; hereinafter 'SHIFT'), which supports the creation of software services and products that sell, is pleased to announce that it has been commissioned to operate a call center for Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture (hereinafter 'Sagamihara City') and that the project commenced on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.

This project aims to improve citizen services and the productivity of city officials by building and operating a next-generation call center utilizing AI. By promoting the automation and standardization of inquiry responses via AI, SHIFT seeks to improve convenience for citizens by reducing wait times and ensuring uniform response quality. Simultaneously, by alleviating the burden of routine tasks on officials and creating an environment where they can focus on specialized duties, the project aims to not only increase the productivity of each official but also standardizing and upgrading overall call center operations.

Against the backdrop of labor shortages due to the shrinking working-age population and the increasing complexity of inquiries driven by diversifying citizen needs, the state of inquiry response operations in local governments has become a common challenge nationwide. Given this context, AI-driven next-generation call centers are expected to serve as a new foundation supporting sustainable public administration. Sagamihara City and SHIFT position this project as a pioneering initiative embodying the transformation of administrative operations in a population-declining society, aiming to establish a next-generation municipal call center model leveraging AI and data.

Background of the Project Launch

Sagamihara City has been working to improve the quality of citizen services through the operation of its call center, accepting inquiries from citizens through multiple channels such as telephone, email, and fax.

In recent years, the city's call center has seen a pronounced trend of inquiries concentrating during specific timeframes, periods, and subject areas. Call volumes reach 100,000 annually, and with the aging of citizens, diversification of needs, and expansion of channels due to DX (Digital Transformation) progression, the content of individual consultations is becoming more complex and sophisticated. As the working-age population continues to decline, transitioning to a new operational model that simultaneously pursues further response quality and improved productivity was required to maintain stable citizen services into the future.

In light of this situation, Sagamihara City decided to embark on this project to evolve the call center into a next-generation mechanism centered on AI and data utilization, aiming to balance the improvement of response quality with sustainable administrative operations.

The advancement of this project required not only AI implementation capabilities based on a deep understanding of business processes unique to local governments but also the ability to stably build and operate large-scale contact centers, as well as the project driving force to continuously make improvements even after operations begin.

SHIFT possesses a track record of implementing AI in local governments nationwide, including Amagasaki City in Hyogo Prefecture and Shinagawa Ward in Tokyo, as well as a history of building and operating large-scale contact centers utilizing AI for central government ministries. In addition to the project driving force backed by these achievements, SHIFT was evaluated for its operational optimization and business improvement know-how cultivated in the Customer Success (CS) domain, and its expertise in AI utilization and accuracy improvement, leading to its selection as the commissioned contractor for this project.

Project Overview

Call Center Configuration Diagram

In this project, SHIFT will be responsible for the construction and operation of a next-generation call center system utilizing AI, which will serve as the core function of citizen response, targeting inquiry handling operations from various channels such as telephone, email, and fax in Sagamihara City. The project period spans approximately five years, from April 2026 to September 2031, with full-scale operation of the next-generation call center scheduled to begin in October 2026 following a preparation period.

The next-generation call center will primarily handle inquiries from citizens regarding administrative services, but will also take on guidance and mediation, initial reception of complaints and requests, application and registration acceptance operations, and even information dissemination utilizing SNS. Concurrently, it will coordinate and escalate matters to the relevant departments, supporting smooth operational cooperation across the entire city hall.

Furthermore, by organizing and analyzing interaction data and the voices of citizens, and linking this to the enrichment of FAQs and the improvement of provided information content, the project aims to enhance the quality of administrative services as a whole. In addition to normal times, a system will be built that can flexibly respond to special operations during disasters and peak periods.

For the construction of the call center, SHIFT will utilize the AI contact center platform 'AICO' developed and provided by SHIFT PLUS Inc. (Headquarters: Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture; Representative Director: Kengo Watanuki; hereinafter 'SHIFT PLUS'), a SHIFT group company with numerous achievements in the CS domain. The processing, accumulation, and analysis of inquiry content via AI...