EasyDialog has deployed easyPhone, a generative AI phone-answering system, for Ichinoseki City in Iwate Prefecture. Operating as the city’s reception system (AI phone), the service went live on March 16, 2026. This is the first case in Japan of a municipality introducing a full-stack generative AI phone service for residents, and the first municipal phone service in Japan built around RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) rather than conventional FAQ registration.
Residents can dial the dedicated number and ask questions in natural conversation; the AI understands the intent and responds directly. When an inquiry cannot be handled by the AI, the system takes the caller’s contact details and the appropriate staff member calls back.
Background
Municipal front desks often need to handle in-person visitors and phone inquiries in parallel. When counters are busy, phone response can become difficult and staff are forced to interrupt their work, creating operational strain. Ichinoseki City introduced easyPhone to address these challenges, improving convenience for residents while streamlining government operations.
Service Overview
- Service name: easyPhone
- Launch date: March 16, 2026
- Phone number: 050-1792-9217
- Availability: 24 hours a day
Topics covered at launch
- Inquiries about the My Number Card
- Procedures for moving in, moving out, and other resident registration changes
- Issuance of residence certificates, family register certificates, and related documents
- Seal (
inkan) registration - Inquiries related to the family register
Key Features of easyPhone
1. Natural, conversational answers powered by generative AI
easyPhone uses a generative AI based on RAG to understand the intent behind each resident’s question and respond in natural conversation. Unlike conventional IVR or FAQ-based systems, it supports flexible dialogue. FAQs are managed through a dedicated interface and integrated into the conversation where appropriate, combining natural dialogue with accurate administrative information and clearly differentiating easyPhone from traditional FAQ-based, context-free phone systems.
2. Purpose-built for real municipal operations
Combining EasyDialog’s conversational AI expertise with close cooperation from Ichinoseki City, easyPhone offers a dialog design that is genuinely optimized for day-to-day municipal work. The system was developed through continuous, iterative collaboration with the Ichinoseki City Resident Affairs Division. An agile development approach that directly reflects field feedback produced a solution that fits real operational workflows.
3. AI architecture built on patented technology
easyPhone runs on a proprietary architecture grounded in several patents held by EasyDialog, delivering both high response accuracy and reliable, long-term operation.
4. Management dashboard
A management dashboard supports analysis of inquiry content and continuous improvement of responses, enabling ongoing service quality improvement.
Generative AI at Ichinoseki City
Ichinoseki City has been advancing its use of generative AI for several years:
- FY2023: AI chatbot
- FY2024: Voice guide system
- FY2025: Generative AI phone response (
easyPhone)
The launch of easyPhone builds on this track record and represents a leading example of municipal adoption of generative AI for phone services.
Roadmap
For an initial period, the service will run via a dedicated phone number in a verification phase. After iterative improvement, EasyDialog and Ichinoseki City plan to expand the service beyond the Resident Affairs Division and explore applications for in-person counter support. EasyDialog aims to use this project as a model case and to extend the offering to municipalities across Japan.