Abu Dhabi: The next time you go for national ID card renewal, a robot may do it for you.
The Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID) will deploy a robot named Hamad at its customer service centres across the UAE by the end of this year, the authority announced on Tuesday.
“Dressed in UAE national dress and proficient in three languages at present, Robot Hamad can not only handle queries on the ID Card status and track ID applications but also provides information on service centre locations. He can interact with the customers to renew their ID card as well. Little Hamad can even accept payments and send a confirmation of the receipt. Hamad will be able to assist the customers in updating profile information on ID cards,” the authority said.
Hamad will provide empowered self-service with a human touch, as the process automation has been bundled into an interactive robot. He is a live robot who speaks, understands and interacts with the customers.
“Hamad can sense the presence of a customer and start to greet the customer when approached. He knows the time of the day and greets customers accordingly. Currently he provides three critical services — providing status of the ID card and ID card application, locating and directing the customer to different service centres, provide information on the queue status in a given centre, and process applications for ID card renewal. He accepts payments by credit card and mails a receipt. He is currently being trained for many other services and, as he acquires more skills and knowledge, he will be delivering more,” the authority explained.
Emirates ID services today are available across different channels and with the introduction of the robot automation is now being taken to the next level. Rather than just allowing customers to process their service requests themselves the humanoid robot provides a near-human experience while interacting with the machines. It is the first government entity in the world to deploy such robots in providing front office customer services. It is also the first robot in the world to process a payment for service delivery, the authority said.
Robot Hamad is part of the authority’s initiatives that aim to elevate its customer service centres to the 7-star ranking in what meets the requirements of the Emirates Excellence Programme.
It is also in line with the smart transition in the country, the efforts to build a knowledge economy and society and the Emirates ID’s commitment to realising the UAE Vision 2021 for the UAE to become one of the best countries in the world by its golden jubilee. It also strengthens its efforts to gradually transform its service centres into ‘smart centres’ over the coming five years by eliminating the human role in operations and services that can be automated, thereby optimising its human resources.
