Kennett Township AI front desk plan: Cost and staff access

Kennett Township residents following the Front Desk plan can compare its proposed fees, rules for reaching staff and place in the technology budget. The published records describe the intended service, but do not establish a launch date or measured results.

Just Appraised, the supplier, markets Front Desk as an AI assisted communications platform. Its product description lists shared inboxes, case assignments and AI drafted responses. Those are vendor descriptions, rather than independently verified results in Kennett Township.

How a caller would reach staff

Township Manager Alison Dobbins’ September 17 briefing, prepared for the September 23 meeting, describes combining calls, email and web chat in one workspace. It says answers would use township supplied information instead of the broader internet.

Under that plan, callers asking for a person would be transferred to staff. Questions outside the township information or website would also go to staff. These are the township’s stated operating rules, not evidence that every automated answer will be accurate.

The briefing says Planning and Zoning would continue handling much of the office’s walk in traffic.

What the fee figures cover

Page 2 of the briefing lists a $5,000 implementation charge and $5,321 annual fee. It gives a prorated 2026 fee of $1,330.25, with the full annual amount planned for 2027 and 2028. Adding implementation and the stated 2026 fee produces $6,330.25.

The October 7 draft operating budget, PDF page 54, places Front Desk at about $5,300 within a larger IT services account. The full general IT cost center totals $133,353 for 2027, compared with $111,580 budgeted for 2026. That larger figure also covers other software, equipment and services. It is not the price of the AI platform alone.

Authorization and implementation are different records

The posted September 23 draft minutes, page 2, record a vote of two to zero authorizing the manager to sign the agreement and order form. The October 7 draft minutes, page 1, in turn record approval of the September 23 minutes.

Both posted files are labeled draft. Neither establishes when residents began using the system or whether the described staff transfers have been tested successfully.

The two page briefing also leaves practical questions unanswered, including how long communications would be retained and which calls would be recorded. Those questions would require the applicable agreement, configuration details or further township information.

Where residents can follow the plan

The October 21 agenda schedules a capital and operating budget presentation at 7 p.m., at 801 Burrows Run Road and through Zoom. Its remote participation instructions require registration by 6:45 p.m. and warn that remote access is not guaranteed. Recheck the township meeting documents before attending.

For a separate local use of AI in public services, our Chester County court kiosk guide explains information searches and access limits. More reporting is available in our Chester County coverage.

Photo: Illustrative office photograph by Ron Lach on Pexels, used under the Pexels License. The person and equipment are not identified as Kennett Township staff or its Front Desk system.