Commentary

How to decide how AI-powered kiosks can help visitors and staff

AI-powered kiosks do a great job of providing information to visitors in an easily digestible way.

Image: Advanced Robot Solutions

April 8, 2024 by Paul McManus — CEO, Advanced Robot Solutions

It can be a challenge for employers all of sorts to overcome many of the challenges associated with a labor shortage. Interactive kiosks can definitely help. But what tasks can those interactive kiosks most efficiently support?

The answer varies from one organization to another, from county courts to hospitals. Our team of professionals, though, have consistently noticed certain tasks that are most commonly covered by kiosks, relieving a burden from team members.

1. Building directions (wayfinding)

When visitors come to your organization or department, they often look for where to go, whether it's a particular courtroom or city office, or for specific products that you might be selling. Known as wayfinding, AI-powered kiosks do a great job of providing this information in an easily digestible way.

2. Key department contacts

Other visitors may have questions specific to departments or experts on your team. Getting information not only on where these offices are, but their contact information can be useful. Providing an email allows you to streamline communications without requiring immediate feedback.

3 Common FAQs

If kiosks are an option, your department should create a list of frequently asked questions that are often asked of your team members. Many, if not most of these, can often be answered through your AI-powered kiosk. Examples include hours of operation, access to and location of helpful forms, resource allocation information and more. Map out a list of these FAQs and work with your vendor contact to set these up with your kiosk.

4. Employment applications

Some visitors are likely to be looking for information on applying for open positions. While this information is shared on your website, providing this information with your interactive kiosk can help as well. It might not be productive to allow guests to fill out an application on the kiosk since other visitors may need to use it, but linking to resources or providing directions on where to drop off hard copy applications is advisable.

The key thing to remember is just about anything you want your kiosk to communicate with visitors can be programmed by a solutions provider. Best of all, the more these AI-powered kiosks interact with your stakeholders, the "smarter" it gets. Simply put, the tool can expand on answers to frequently asked questions over time.

Numerous options are available. Keep in mind the above list is not a complete one of common tasks that can be taken off the plate of your staff. The information shared by these kiosks is customized to address your staff's greatest needs.

Self-Service Hardware

About Paul McManus

CEO of Advanced Robot Solutions an A.I. software company that deploys its solutions on interactive self-service kiosks, digital devices and the web. Been in tech from punch cards in 1981, to A.I. today; seen, met and done much. Creator of the world's first commercialized photo screen saver and marketed the first software package for digital cameras. Enjoy talking, visualizing and creating the future of A.I. tech with like minded techies. Passion for A.I., NLP, and LLM, and applying their various uses in the self-service kiosk and digital signage industries.

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