HONOLULU — The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Customer Services is using artificial intelligence to expand the functionality of the chatbot feature of its current website by adding a voice assistant — named Akamai — that is capable of basic dialogue.
This AI-driven speech recognition tool is available 24/7 to help the department improve service to the public by quickly responding to routine, simple questions regarding driver’s licenses, motor vehicle registrations, and state ID cards.
Since mid-November, Akamai has been answering voice inquires about driver licensing and motor vehicle registration services. The new tool has proven itself to be effective.
All incoming voice questions are now handled by Akamai. If Akamai encounters a question it cannot answer, the caller will be transferred to a live person. CSD team members remain available between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. for questions that take more effort, or get handed off by the voice assistant. While the voice assistant is not a mistake-free process, no major issues have been encountered so far.
“We have been expanding our capabilities to deliver leading-edge technologies and are confident in the potential of this voice assistant to effectively help answer questions about driver’s licenses, state identification cards and motor vehicle registrations,” said Kim Hashiro, director of the City’s Department of Customer Services.
To access the website for the Department of Customer Services, go to honolulu.gov/csd.
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