Face To Face Customer Service: With A Kiosk

Everyone knows that customer service in the form of human interaction is dying out.

Some say it is a bad thing, others argue it is a simple progression in consumer assistance. These days, in such a tech-savvy world, people are more willing to use Touch screen technology than ever before and in fact would rather use a kiosk than talk to a human.

Is this a dilution in human interaction and social skill development, because people would rather talk to a machine than a man? Maybe so but the point is, a kiosk harbours tons of benefits for your business as opposed to employing a member of staff.

This trend is reflective in Malmesbury, in Wiltshire, England.

Residents in the village are going all hi-tech and 21^st century by talking face to face with Wiltshire Council officials by pressing a button on an interface.

The Kiosks have been deployed around the county to enable the locals to interact with the authority who are located in distant offices that are hard to get to and are far afield.

By using a unit, they can still speak to an official in person but virtually, without having to travel so remote.

And they are also being equipped with scanners, so people can send documents too.

Customer Services Director Jackie White said the council had recognised that not everyone was happy using the phone or internet when it came to sorting out problems; so it set up kiosks for face to face contact via a screen.

Mrs White explained: “It means that people can go along to somewhere very local to them and just talk to someone. People like to see a face.”

The touch screens are costing around £3000 each and 20 will be launched throughout Wiltshire.