Bayside Village Hall Goes Hi-Tech

Leaves, twigs and bundles of brush are neatly organized along the edge of your yard. Spring means yard cleanup, but what do you do with all that waste? Well, you don't need to call anymore to find out, because Bayside now offers a live chat feature for just those kind of questions.    

Live chat allows residents to connect directly with a village staff member to get answers to questions like what to do with yard waste, when their garbage pickup time is, or when they should have their recyclables out on the street. And the best part - live chat is free for both the village and residents.

“The purpose is to give another option for people to connect with village hall for information, to answer questions, or to help them navigate the website,” said Alex Hendersen, director of community and utility services. “It gives residents an opportunity to chat online with village hall staff.”

As municipalities try to continue to save money, and offer as much to residents as possible, village administrators discovered live chat by looking at other municipalities sites for ways how they could improve their performance.

Once a user clicks the live chat link on the village homepage, a new window appears. After a moment to connect, a staff member will login and the conversations begin.

“We have received some good feedback thus far, and the staff seems to be excited about having the ability to communicate with residents on a new level,” Hendersen said. “The program is fairly new, and we hope it will be a beneficial tool for residents and staff alike.”

Henderson said the goal was to make the site more user-friendly and accessible.

“Residents can get their questions answered quickly, and if their questions are asked multiple times, we can incorporate the answers into the website to help aid future visitors,” he said.