One agent per department.
One shared memory.
Government isn’t one department, so its AI shouldn’t be one bot. EffiGov runs a federated system: every department gets its own AI phone agent, and the agents share context with each other and with your staff.
Federated agents for a federated government
Definition
What are federated agents?
Federated agents are department-specific AI phone agents that share context with each other and with staff. Each department gets its own agent, trained on its own services, hours, and escalation rules; the agents hand calls to each other, or to a person, with the full conversation carried forward, so residents never have to repeat themselves.
The alternative, one receptionist bot for the whole government, has to stretch a single knowledge base across permits, utilities, courts, and parks, and it stretches thin. A federated system matches how government actually works: departments stay autonomous and deep, and the shared context layer makes them behave like one organization on the phone.
Context survives both handoffs
A call can move twice: between agents, and from an agent to a person. In both directions, the conversation goes with it.
Agent-to-agent transfer
Utilities agent: “Your balance is $42, due Friday. You mentioned a pothole on Maple. Let me bring in Public Works.”
Public Works agent: “I have the pothole on Maple Street near your address. Filing it now. You’ll get a text with the ticket number.”
The resident hears one continuous conversation, not a second phone call. No re-explaining, no re-verifying, no starting over.
Warm transfer with a verbal briefing
Agent to staff: “I have Maria Torres on the line about a zoning variance at 6131 Taylorsville. I’ve verified the parcel and confirmed the hearing date. She has a question only your office can answer.”
Before the resident is connected, the AI briefs the staff member out loud: who’s calling, what they need, what’s already handled. The human starts mid-context instead of from hello.
One call. Zero silos.
Tap a department to hear how its agent handles a real call, and how the call moves when it needs to.
tap a department to play its call
One platform, many agents
A federated agent for every department
Each agent is built for its department: it answers that department’s questions and plugs into that department’s systems of record. After-hours answering and on-call crew dispatch aren’t separate products. They’re what these agents do when your office closes.
The Building Services agent
Permit status, inspection scheduling, code-case questions, and contractor licensing — answered from your permitting system, not a script.
- Permit and application status lookups
- Inspection scheduling and rescheduling
- Code-enforcement case questions
- Contractor licensing requirements
“What’s holding up my permit at 412 Maple?”
Plugs into your building services stack
Tap a platform to see what the connection does. See all integrations. Don’t see yours? We’ll build it.
The Utilities agent
Billing balances, start/stop service, payment arrangements, and outage reports — answered against your billing system of record.
- Balance and due-date lookups
- Start, stop, and transfer service
- Payments and payment arrangements
- Outage and leak reports, any hour
“Why is my water bill double this month?”
After-hours answering
The same agent keeps answering after 5 PM — billing questions resolve at 9 PM too.
Plugs into your utilities stack
Tap a platform to see what the connection does. See all integrations. Don’t see yours? We’ll build it.
The Public Works agent
Potholes, downed trees, missed pickup, road hazards — geoverified, filed as work orders, and dispatched to on-call crews when it can’t wait.
- Service requests filed as work orders
- Address geoverification against your GIS
- Status updates on open requests
- Emergency triage and crew callout
“There’s water coming up through the street on Elm.”
On-call crew dispatch
At 2 AM this agent doesn’t just take the report — it dials your on-call chain until a person answers, briefed.
Plugs into your public works stack
Tap a platform to see what the connection does. See all integrations. Don’t see yours? We’ll build it.
The Parks & Recreation agent
Program registration, facility reservations, hours, closures, and field conditions — straight from your recreation system.
- Program and class availability
- Facility and pavilion reservations
- Hours, closures, and event details
- Field condition and rainout lines
“Is the splash pad open this weekend?”
Live in Huber Heights
Parks & Rec was the first agent live in Huber Heights, Ohio — answering since November 2025.
Plugs into your parks & recreation stack
Tap a platform to see what the connection does. See all integrations. Don’t see yours? We’ll build it.
Different in kind
IVR tree vs. one bot vs. federated agents
| IVR phone tree | Single AI receptionist | Federated agents (EffiGov) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge depth | None, just a menu tree | Everything, shallowly | One department per agent, deeply |
| Cross-department calls | Caller re-dials or is blind-transferred | One bot guesses across domains | AI → AI handoff, context carried forward |
| Resident repeats themselves? | Every transfer | Often | Never, context is preserved |
| Transfer to staff | Cold transfer, no context | Transcript at best | Warm transfer with verbal briefing |
| Department control | Central IT owns the tree | One shared configuration | Each department owns its agent |
In production
Live across cities, counties, and special districts
Frequently asked questions
What are federated agents?
Federated agents are department-specific AI phone agents that share context with each other and with staff. Each department gets its own agent, trained on its own services, hours, and escalation rules; the agents hand calls to each other, or to a person, with the full conversation carried forward, so residents never have to repeat themselves.
How is this different from a single AI receptionist or chatbot?
A single receptionist bot knows everything shallowly. Federated agents invert that: each agent is deep in one department, and calls route to the agent that actually knows the answer. When a question crosses departments, the call moves between agents instead of stalling.
What happens when a call moves between departments?
The receiving agent inherits the full conversation: who is calling, what they said, what remains. The resident hears one continuous call, with no re-explaining and no starting over.
What does a staff member get when the AI transfers a call to them?
A warm transfer with a verbal briefing. Before the resident is connected, the AI summarizes the situation to the staff member (the caller, the issue, the address, what the AI already handled) so the human picks up mid-context instead of starting from hello.
Does each department control its own agent?
Yes. Each department sets its own knowledge base, business hours, transfer targets, escalation rules, and on-call schedules. Departments stay autonomous; the shared context layer is what unifies them into one system.
Where is this live today?
EffiGov's federated agents are in production at the City of Huber Heights, Ohio (six departments, ~1,800 calls per month, 73% handled without staff), Sumter County, Florida (six departments, 12,000+ calls per month, 72% handled without staff), and San Joaquin County Mosquito & Vector Control District in California.
Not an AI receptionist
A receptionist bot answers one number. This runs every department’s line.
Running an entire government’s phones takes more than an AI receptionist. It takes five systems working together, and accountability.
The architecture
Federated Agents
One AI phone agent per department, context carried through every handoff, AI to AI or AI to staff.
So a resident explains their issue once, gets a real answer in any language at any hour, and the city never has to grow the front desk.
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