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Commission authorizes negotiations with 22nd Century Technologies for a citywide AI‑enabled call center
Summary
The commission unanimously authorized staff May 6 to negotiate with 22nd Century Technologies to provide a 24/7 AI‑enabled multilingual answering and information service; procurement staff reviewed 26 proposals and recommended the top firm, and commissioners required the negotiated contract to return for final approval.
The Hollywood City Commission on May 6 authorized staff to negotiate a contract with 22nd Century Technologies to provide a citywide professional answering and information service intended to replace the city's multi‑branch phone tree with an AI‑enabled first touch and live‑agent escalation.
Joanne Hussey, director of Communications, Marketing and Economic Development, said the city issued an RFP that drew 26 responsive firms and a multi‑disciplinary evaluation committee narrowed the field to five firms for oral presentations. The recommended firm, 22nd Century Technologies, demonstrated a multilingual, AI‑assisted voice and chat system, live‑agent support located in the U.S., and capability to integrate with the city's existing service platforms (payment gateway, CRM, and emergency notification tools).
Caroline Rist and Sandeep Singh of 22nd Century described a platform built on industry standard cloud contact center (AWS Connect) with AI chat/voice first touch, analytics and reporting, surge capacity and disaster recovery facilities. They said the service would be staffed by U.S.‑based agents and can scale to meet service‑level agreements.
DATAMARK, the second‑ranked proposer represented by Ali Kareem, questioned staffing assumptions and argued a heavier live‑agent footprint and local presence could be more effective. Procurement staff and the evaluation committee said references and demonstrations for the recommended firm checked out and confirmed local government experience in Florida.
Commissioners asked several contracting questions: how pricing will be structured, protections if the service does not meet expectations, how staff will validate integrations and security, and whether the contract will return for final commission approval. Staff and procurement said the commission was authorizing negotiation only; a firm fixed‑price contract, technical integrations, termination and SLA terms will be negotiated and brought back for execution approval.
What happens next: Staff will negotiate contract terms and present a recommended contract and associated budget for final commission approval. Commissioners asked for clear termination rights, the ability to require U.S.-based agents, honest SLAs and a phased onboarding with measurable milestones.
Representative quote: "This is customer service right at the start," Joanne Hussey said, adding that the goal is to reduce repetitive calls handled by technical staff so those employees can focus on core duties.
Potential impact: If implemented, the service would provide 24/7 coverage, multilingual support, and an AI first‑touch that aims to resolve common requests without staff escalation; full integration will take further technical work and contract negotiations.
