The National Lottery of the United Kingdom instituted a virtual representative system from technology firm NativeMinds to provide 24-hour service on its Web site, NativeMinds said yesterday.
The virtual representative is an automated customer service system that appears onscreen and guides users around the Web site, answering frequently asked questions and responding conversationally.
NativeMinds, San Francisco, designed the virtual representative, vRep, in the likeness of Gigi Morley, the British television personality who hosts the National Lottery drawing twice a week.
Such virtual agents reduce call center costs, according to NativeMinds. However, if the system can't answer a user's question, it provides them with information to call the lottery's customer-care center.
Other clients of the NativeMinds vRep system include Coca-Cola, Ford and Pepsi-Cola, NativeMinds said.
Camelot Group is the operator of the United Kingdom's National Lottery. The lottery's Web site is at national-lottery.co.uk.
