In a groundbreaking first for Local Government in Victoria, a state of the art, custom designed and built interactive self service kiosk has been installed in the foyer of Brimbank Council’s main municipal office. Installing the $18,000 kiosk was the culmination of an innovative 12 month joint partnership between Council and Melbourne based Neo Products Pty Ltd.
It combines the functions of a help phone linked to Council’s call centre and ‘what’s on’ board for easy reference to functions and important meetings being held in the building.
The interactive kiosk also contains key parts of Council’s web site giving visitors the ability to print forms through a touch screen. The screen can also be adapted to accept credit card payments should this future need arise.
Through a sensor, the kiosk directs visitors to the foyer to lift the phone for customer service or the touch the screen for further information. This recording can be easily changed to announce special events and information in languages other than English.
Mayor, Sam David, said although no customer service is provided at Sunshine office as it is the administrative headquarters of the Council, the interactive kiosk was seen an effective way to provide information without the cost of face to face staff.
“This kiosk is the first of its type and has been designed from the ground up to take into account the varied requirements of Local Government,” the Mayor said. “Previously visitors to the Sunshine office were greeted by a sign and a telephone handset, so this kiosk is a vast improvement in service. I’m sure other Councils will be watching with interest as we pave the way with this cutting edge technology.”
Use of the kiosk, which can be monitored by the number of calls made, web pages visited and various forms printed, will be assessed after 12 months.
