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Are kiosks becoming more human?

March 31, 2005

At first, it may have seemed odd, trusting an ATM machine with your money. But you got used to it. Now you rarely step foot inside the bank.

Over time, you even bought presents using gift registries, boarded planes thanks to e-ticketing, and checked out your own groceries. Because of kiosks, you may be able to get through the day without the need to speak with another human being.

Scary? Maybe. Unusual? Not any more. Today people routinely update their benefit information, find directions, and even locate a new place to live simply by using kiosks. Similar to Will Smith being surrounded by robots in the summer movie "I, Robot," we are surrounded by kiosks. While we are getting friendlier with kiosks, are they getting any friendlier with us? I asked industry representatives how they saw kiosks functioning in the customer service arena. Are kiosks becoming more human, and if so, how?

Never a Bad Hair Day

Of course, kiosks are not actually becoming more human in the physical sense (at lease not yet). Rather, they offer human-like traits that are very valuable when it comes to customer service, such as a friendly, consistent tone. Peter Kaszycki, president of Pro-Tech, points out that "a kiosk will be as nice to the 100th person in line as it was to the first person in line." Not so true of most humans. (Have you ever been the last person in line at a fast-food restaurant?) And unlike real people, kiosks don't call in sick, take vacations, or show up for work in a bad mood. And perhaps best of all, kiosks don't have bad hair days.

Kaszycki notes that an attractively designed kiosk draws customers in and keeps them through a combination of smooth voice-overs and changing graphics. Kiosks are programmed to respond to user inputs (either by touchscreen, bar code scanner, or photo-eye devices) via voice overs, print-outs, or screen changes.

Improving the Customer Experience

Sylvia J. Berens, Ph.D., vice president of Apunix Computer Services, acknowledges that kiosks, unlike humans, don't smile or read someone's emotional state. But "they do provide services that can augment and improve the customer's experiences in a variety of ways."

Kiosks are perfect for taking over more routine tasks, such as looking up reward points and redeeming special offers. Berens points out that while both live customer service personnel and kiosks may offer the same end result, such as an order being taken, the kiosk offers a faster, richer experience. Unlike a roaming salesperson, a kiosk stays where it's installed. Customers don't have to hunt for help. Kiosks are the perfect medium for providing after-hours service, in the middle of the night for example, when many workers prefer to be home asleep.

Kiosks offer a superior level of customer service in many cases. "Customers receive the quality of service they are supposed to receive when they use kiosks," according to Heinz Horstmann, CEO of Provisio, developer of SiteKiosk. He observed that kiosks can blend the best aspects of a customer service representative with technology to facilitate online shopping. A user can navigate the touch screens and at some point, if additional help is needed?say regarding sizing?the user initiates an online chat with a customer service representative. The messaging aspect of the kiosk allows for real-time communication via the kiosk terminal.

Not Always a Replacement for People

Today's kiosks are much more intuitive and logical, thanks to software advances, says Paul Baril, marketing manager for MicroTouch monitors for 3M Touch Systems. Because they offer dedicated functionality, Baril predicts that many simple interactions between a customer and a customer service worker will become kiosk-based. The machines solve the problem of high employee turnover in many industries, such as retail and food service. Baril also notes that kiosks offer multi-lingual capabilities, important in our melting pot society. He adds that kiosks can capture data and provide useful feedback on their users. The feedback spotlights highly trafficked areas and pinpoints areas for improvement.

But kiosks don't always replace people. Using an e-ticketing service is fine most of the time, but to upgrade, you need the help of an airline representative. While 80 percent of kiosk users will have no problems, Baril says 20 percent will still need some human assistance.

So, are kiosks becoming more like people? Given our frailties and inconsistencies, perhaps it's a good thing that the answer is no, not really. What we ultimately need is augmentation, not substitution, for the good old-fashioned, flesh-and-blood, moody, forgetful human being. And it looks like that's what we're getting.

Research