AWS Public Sector Blog
How the City of Atlanta transformed its Department of Customer Service with Amazon Connect
In the City of Atlanta, the Department of Customer Service contact center serves as the frontline for non-emergency service requests for over half a million people.
On any given day, the department fields inquiries about everything from water bills and potholes to shelter referrals and business licensing. With 11 departments funneled through a single 311 number, the city needed a system that could scale, adapt, and deliver real-time support to a growing population with evolving needs.
To address this pressing issue, the City of Atlanta worked with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and AWS Partners to modernize its contact center using Amazon Connect. By moving away from a patchwork on-premises system and toward a unified, cloud-based platform, the city improved its service delivery, increased scalability, and built a more resilient foundation. The new infrastructure proved critical during the COVID-19 pandemic and will serve the city well as it prepares for upcoming global events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Atlanta’s legacy system had reached its limit
Implemented in 2013, Atlanta’s previous contact center relied on an on-premises solution that had become increasingly difficult to manage. Agents had to toggle between multiple screens and systems just to resolve a single inquiry, opening one window to access customer records, another to take notes, and yet another to route service requests.
“The architecture was unwieldy and unscalable,” said Tameka Neely-Dudley, IT Director at Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management. “During high-demand periods, the system would hit a hard limit. After 25 calls, the next person would just get a busy signal.”
Onboarding new agents was another challenge. Staff needed special certifications just to access certain systems, adding friction to an already labor-intensive process. And with major events like the 2019 Super Bowl on the horizon, the limitations of the legacy system had become impossible to ignore.
A strategic shift to Amazon Connect
To meet the city’s evolving needs, the team launched a comprehensive evaluation of potential solutions, including developing a scoring chart to compare solutions against a list of must-have capabilities. Amazon Connect rose to the top. According to Neely-Dudley, the platform offered the ability to instantly create instances and queues, add agents “on the drop of a dime,” and see real-time metrics on call volumes, wait times, and service types—all in a single dashboard.
“Amazon Connect provided all of our wants, needs, and requirements when we did our market research,” said Neely-Dudley.
The platform also gave the city a chance to solve long-standing operational issues that went beyond citizen-facing service. On the legacy platform, the costs of multiple technologies, frequent downtime, and high maintenance fees were stacking up—without delivering the flexibility needed to meet demand. Amazon Connect’s unified, cloud-based model not only streamlined operations, but also gave the city a foundation it could scale for major events and integrate with existing ticketing systems used across departments.
AWS and AWS Partners ensure success
To create the solution, the City of Atlanta worked with AWS and several AWS Partners, including ConnectPath and Calabrio.
ConnectPath helped customize the contact center with unique queues tailored to different departments, ensuring each group’s specialized needs were met. Calabrio, a workforce management and quality assurance tool, added capabilities that weren’t possible before—such as automated quality monitoring and targeted coaching for agents. These tools reduced after-call work by 50 percent, enabling agents to serve citizens more efficiently and consistently.
AWS also provided hands-on technical guidance and training, from platform fundamentals to change management. “They helped us understand the platform inside and out,” said Neely-Dudley. “From technical training to change management, AWS made sure we were ready to support our staff and our residents.”
By combining AWS technology with the expertise of its Partners, the city was able to configure specialized queues, integrate workforce management, and equip staff with the skills needed to operate and maintain the system. This foundation set the stage for a smooth launch—despite the unprecedented shift to remote work during the pandemic.
Amazon Connect helped handle pandemic-driven demands
Although the project began with in-person planning sessions, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the city to pivot quickly to remote implementation.
Despite the disruption, Amazon Connect proved to be the right solution at exactly the right time. As call volumes surged during the early days of the pandemic, Atlanta was able to add new queues and scale operations without disruption. “We had people calling in about court dates, water issues, and potential city closures,” said Neely-Dudley. “Amazon Connect let us respond quickly, even as we transitioned to remote work.”
From updates on office closures to information on public health resources, the platform offered residents access to timely, accurate information when they needed it most.
24/7 responsiveness for the citizens of Atlanta
Today, the City of Atlanta’s contact center handles more than 30,000 transactions per month, a volume that would have been impossible to support on the legacy system. Agents can now access everything they need from a single dashboard, reducing wait times and improving the overall citizen experience.
“With Amazon Connect, we can bring on more agents, build out new queues quickly, and talk to people faster,” said Neely-Dudley. “That’s made a huge difference.”
Additional benefits include:
- Multichannel communication – Residents can connect via the channel of their choice: phone, chat, email, website, or mobile app.
- Real-time messaging – The city can instantly broadcast updates (like street closures or service disruptions) using Amazon Connect’s text-to-speech capabilities.
- Operational insights – Built-in analytics and post-call surveys provide visibility into wait times, satisfaction, and overall performance.
These capabilities have helped the city streamline access to vital services, whether it’s water billing, public works, business licenses, or shelter referrals. And they’ve laid the groundwork for future growth.
AWS Cloud enables future scalability
With major events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the College Football Playoffs on the horizon, the AWS Cloud allows Atlanta to continue to invest in its contact center infrastructure. That includes ongoing customer relationship management (CRM) integration, global resilience features for business continuity, and deeper use of analytics to anticipate resident needs.
“Building with AWS has helped us become more agile,” said Neely-Dudley. “It’s allowed us to be tech-agnostic and ready to incorporate new technologies down the line, like generative AI.”
Tips for other cities looking to modernize
For other municipalities considering Amazon Connect, Neely-Dudley offered this advice:
- Assess your current environment. Identify pain points, limitations, and future needs.
- Think scalability and cost. Choose a solution that can grow with your city and help optimize spending.
- Engage stakeholders early. Bring departments into the conversation from the start.
- Evaluate your in-house expertise. Lean on AWS and AWS Partners for training and support where needed.
“Customer expectations are higher than ever,” said Neely-Dudley. “People expect instant service, and nothing can go down. With AWS, we’ve built a solution that’s resilient, scalable, and truly citizen-first.”
Atlanta’s story shows how cloud-based contact centers can transform public service delivery, from everyday interactions to major events.
Learn more about how Amazon Connect supports local governments to modernize essential services.
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