Aida

AIDA: SEND Front Door

Helping families navigate the SEND journey with confidence.

24/7 SUPPORT WHENEVER PARENTS NEED IT

Parents can access trusted advice at any time through a dedicated website and an AI-powered digital assistant on WhatsApp, without needing to wait for office hours or referrals.

EVERYTHING STORED IN ONE PLACE

Aida SEND Front Door brings together local services, financial support, wellbeing advice, benefits information, community groups and practical guidance into a single, easy-to-use platform, reducing the need to search across multiple websites.

CO-DESIGNED WITH COUNCILS, FOR PARENTS

The service will be developed using a co-design approach, working alongside local authorities, SEND professionals and families to ensure the experience reflects real-life challenges and provides practical, trusted support.

ACCESSIBLE, INCLUSIVE SUPPORT FOR EVERYONE

Available in multiple languages and via familiar channels such as WhatsApp, Aida SEND Front Door makes it easier for more parents to access information and support, helping reach those who may never have engaged with services before.

The Challenge

A complex journey made simpler

For many families, navigating SEND can feel overwhelming. Information is often spread across multiple websites, services and organisations, making it difficult to know where to turn or what to do next.

Parents and carers are often looking for reassurance as much as information. They need clear answers, trusted guidance and confidence that they’re taking the right next step.

Aida: SEND Front Door brings everything together into one personalised conversation, helping families find information quickly and reducing the need to search across multiple sources.

 

The Solution

Powered by trusted local content and available through WhatsApp, Aida provides personalised conversations tailored to each family’s circumstances.

Whether someone is at the very beginning of their journey or already receiving support, Aida helps them understand what happens next and where to go for help. Families can ask questions about:

  • EHCPs and EHC needs assessments
  • Autism and ADHD pathways
  • Local SEND services
  • School support and SEN Support
  • Local Offer information
  • Financial support and benefits
  • Family support services
  • Support groups and charities
  • Preparing for appointments
  • Understanding SEND processes

Key features

Allowing a conversation with your content

Your digital assistant allows users to have a conversation with your knowledge. A conversation in their language at a time that suits them.

Reassurance

Aida SEND Front Door comes with a host of guardrails and security built in to give you the reassurance that the advice offered is from trusted sources and delivered in the right tone.

Making the Complex, Simple

Allowing parents to interact with your content in their words means quicker, easier access to the right information.

A Member of your Team

Your digital assistant is an extended member of your information and advice team. Available 24/7, in any language and with no limits. It can also link conversations to any follow up interaction so a user has a joined up journey with your services.

Trackable Results

All conversations with your assistant are tracked allowing you to monitor and report on use. This can help inform decisions around missing knowledge as well as deliver insight on use – e.g. common needs, languages used, repeated usage.

Feedback Loops

Using channels such as WhatsApp, we can set up feedback loops to check in on users after their conversations. This can help you understand how well your digital assistant performed.

Client successes

Cora - Norfolk County Council

Named locally as Cora, Norfolk County Council’s version of Aida has been developed to help more unpaid carers access trusted information and support whenever they need it. With an estimated 90,000 unpaid carers across Norfolk—many of whom are not currently known to services, Cora provides an accessible, WhatsApp-based digital assistant that makes it easier for carers to find guidance, understand their entitlements and connect with local support. As Norfolk’s first public-facing AI service, Cora is helping extend the reach of existing carer support and engage people who may never have sought help before.

Annie - Bradford Council

Named locally as Annie, Bradford Council’s version of Aida has been designed to make Adult Social Care information more accessible for everyone. With over 150 languages spoken across the district, Annie helps residents access trusted information in the language they’re most comfortable using, while providing quick, conversational support 24 hours a day. By answering common questions and guiding people to the right services, Annie helps improve the resident experience while reducing unnecessary demand on the Adult Social Care front door.

Rose - West Northamptonshire Council

Named locally as Rose, West Northamptonshire Council’s version of Aida provides residents with quick, trusted access to Adult Social Care information through simple, conversational interactions. Available 24 hours a day, Rose helps people navigate services, understand their options and access the right support, while reducing pressure on frontline teams and improving the overall experience of the Adult Social Care front door.

How it works

Aida: SEND Front Door is designed for seamless deployment and intuitive use, ensuring maximum uptake by both councils and residents. It’s a standalone service with no reliance on existing infrastructure.

01

Knowledge Gathering

We’ll work with you to identify where your key knowledge resides, any directories you use. We run AI over this to summarise and categorise it to create our “locked box” of curated content.

02

Personalising your Assistant

We’ll give your digital assistant a name, personality, train it on any internal workflows or procedures it should know about. We’ll highlight any key contacts (e.g. safeguarding).

03

Channel Set Up

We’ll hook your assistant up to your desired channels for end users to interact with. This will likely be WhatsApp, a web widget, Facebook Messenger or SMS. You could offer the service on multiple channels

04

Testing & Refining

We’ll fully test your assistant with a mix of evaluation and red team testing. We’ll be testing for functional use and involving you with this, ensuring a confidence score you are happy with for launch. Alongside this we’ll try and “break” the assistant (red team testing) and offer evidence of this process.

05

Monitoring & Reporting

You’ll have full visibility on all the conversations happening with your digital assistant as well as instant alerts of any conversations triggering safeguarding concerns. Alongside this you’ll have overarching reporting that allows you to see a variety of stats around usage.

Secure data & Privacy

We build our solutions with the public sector’s critical needs for security and compliance at the forefront. Aida is underpinned by a robust, audited platform, ensuring trust and confidence from day one for your IT and Information Governance teams.

Visit our Trust Portal

Ready to see the future of public service?

Get access to a demo to experience our secure AI solutions. You’ll get to see exactly how they work and choose which product you’d like to dive into.