transcosmos assists Miyakonojo city, Miyazaki prefecture in sending municipal information and offering regional relocation assistance to non-citizens via LINE

TOKYO, Nov. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- transcosmos inc. and transcosmos online communications inc. began delivering "KANAMETO," a LINE messaging tool, to Miyakonojo city, Miyazaki prefecture (Mayer: Takahisa Ikeda) on October 31, 2019, in order to assist Miyakonojo city in utilizing LINE.

Miyakonojo city released its "Miyakonojo City LINE Official Account" (account name: Miyakonojo City) on October 31, 2019. Through this account, the city distributes the following information to both its citizens and non-citizens.
① Municipal Information
② Garbage Collection Calendar - regular messaging
③ Garbage Sorting Guide - keyword response messages
④ Certificate Issuance Guide - chatbot service
⑤ Regional Relocation Information? chatbot service
⑥ Regional Relocation Assistance Center? LINE chat service

The distinctive feature of the "Miyakonojo City LINE Official Account" is that it not only distributes helpful information to its citizens but also acts as an assistance center for non-citizens where they can make enquiries and ask for advice on the city's regional relocation program. For a local government to set up a "Regional Relocation Assistance Center" by using their LINE official account is very unique nationwide, and is an innovative initiative.

Miyakonojo city wanted to build a framework that enables the city to deliver municipal information that makes the lives of its over 160 thousand citizens more convenient whilst inviting more people who live outside of the city to relocate to the city. In order to realize both objectives, Miyakonojo city implemented "KANAMETO," a tool which is equipped with all three features that they need, namely, a questionnaire, segmented messaging and LINE chat features, and has an abundant implementation record with other local governments.

On April 23, 2019, LINE Corporation (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; Chief Executive Officer: Takeshi Idezawa) announced that the company will release "Local Government Plan" for its LINE Official Account services and began accepting the applications for the plan on May 21, 2019. Miyakonojo city's LINE Official Account is one of the accounts registered under the plan.

In addition to offering "KANAMETO," transcosmos online communications provided support for Miyakonojo city to apply for the "Local Government Plan," and offered advice on ways to make the most of their LINE official account whilst helping them develop specific plans and configure settings based on its proven record in offering services to other local governments.

■ Here are the comments received from Hironori Sato at General Policy Division, General Policy Department, City of Miyakonojo
We have decided to implement KANAMETO expecting that it will help us spread municipal information to a broader audience as LINE is now a part of our citizens' daily lives. We will use LINE to deliver information that is helpful for our citizens' everyday lives such as a guide on how to separate garbage by using keyword response messages and garbage collection calendars. In addition, we will also use LINE to further drive our policy which is to invite more people to relocate to our city. More specifically, we will receive enquiries about our regional relocation program and offer advice and necessary information via LINE. By developing an environment where people can casually ask for advice, which is one of LINE's strengths, we aim to convey the charm of Miyakonojo city to people who are interested in relocating to our city and enhance communication with them. The city of Miyakonojo will further improve the level of services to our citizens and thereby develop the city to a highly convenient and more appealing place to live through the utilization of LINE features.

■ Here are the comments from Shingo Hasegawa, Infrastructure Innovation Office, Marketing Solution Company at LINE Corporation:

The city of Miyakonojo makes the most of LINE official account's features in their initiatives. In particular, offering chatbot with a purpose to increase enquiries about relocation to the city, and receiving enquiries and offering advice about the city's regional relocation program via LINE chat is an innovative approach among local governments nationwide. With the keyword "mobile government office," we, LINE Corporation, are making a proposal to local governments to utilize LINE official account. We have high hopes for the initiatives taken by the city of Miyakonojo to spread across Japan as a success story."

KANAMETO is a LINE messaging tool developed and offered by transcosmos communications inc., a joint-stock company among transcosmos, LINE Corporation and salesforce.com Co., Ltd. Equipped with a questionnaire feature, KANAMETO enables businesses to deliver segmented messages based on user attributes collected via this feature in addition to having one-on-one chat communication with LINE users. Through the offering of diverse services that range from LINE marketing to customer support, transcosmos and transcosmos communications help local governments and businesses communicate with consumers.

• transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. In Japan and other countries.
• Other company names and product or services names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies.

About transcosmos online communications inc.
transcosmos online communications inc. was founded in May 2016 as a joint-stock company between transcosmos inc. and LINE Corporation. In October 2017, the company received investment from Salesforce Ventures, an investment arm of salesforce.com, Inc. transcosmos online communications aims to deliver diverse solutions and services that build a better and stronger relationship between businesses and users through leveraging LINE's platform user base and transcosmos's sales and development capabilities. The company's ultimate vision is to make their communication platform a new de facto standard for communication between businesses and users. In September, 2017, transcosmos online communications released "KANAMETO," its unique LINE Official Account compatible segmented messaging tool.
Visit us here (Japanese only): https://transcosmos-online.com/

About transcosmos inc.
transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior "people" with up-to-date "technology" to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients' business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost optimization through our 167 bases across 30 countries/regions with a focus on Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce Services to deliver our clients' excellent products and services to consumers in 48 countries/regions around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the "Global Digital Transformation Partner" of our clients, supporting the clients' transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever-changing business environment.
Visit us here https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/

SOURCE transcosmos inc.