RuAviation

Airports of Regions Management Company in partnership with ATS Group has expanded the capabilities of the Virtual Operator used in airport help desks. With the updated functionality, the robot is able to answer more than 350 questions, covering 22 groups of topics, significantly increasing the level of information service for passengers, the company’s press service reported.

The virtual operator is available at all airports of Airports of Regions Management Company, processing more than half a million requests annually. The service is notable for its efficiency: a voice robot answers an incoming call within three seconds, providing accurate and up-to-date data almost instantly. Passengers can get information about flight schedules and status, opening hours and location of ticket offices, contacts of airline representatives, and rules of carriage.

The improved version of the Virtual Operator will provide passengers with an expanded range of information. Now it is possible to find out about luggage transportation, location of ATMs, ways to get to and from the airport, including public transport, taxis and car parks. Also introduced are sections on mother and baby rooms, cafes and restaurants, and shops located at airports. Sections on visas and contacts of government control authorities have been added, with special attention to requests from passengers with low mobility.

The virtual operator was first introduced in the airport information services of Airports of Regions Management Company in 2013. In ten years, it has undergone significant changes, turning into an advanced automated help desk based on artificial intelligence and a platform solution from ATS Group. This innovation has significantly reduced the waiting time for answers to passengers’ questions. The expansion of the Virtual Operator’s capabilities is another step in the development of high-tech services aimed at improving the quality of passenger service at airports.

Airports of Regions manages air hubs in ten regional centres of Russia: Yekaterinburg, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Rostov-on-Don, Novy Urengoy, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Blagoveshchensk, Orenburg and Tobolsk. In three of them, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Blagoveshchensk and Orenburg, the company is implementing projects to comprehensively modernise the airport infrastructure.