RFP's & implementations news

Aetna announced the availability of an online assistant to help members who have questions about how to navigate Aetna’s secure member website. “Ann,” Aetna’s personalized, virtual assistant, offers 24-hour support for members who are new to the website or need help logging in. Members receive the same responsive service from Ann that they receive when calling customer service, but without leaving the website. Ann is interactive and easily interprets members’ questions, helping them with the registration process or with recovering forgotten user names or passwords.

VirtuOz  announced the deployment of a virtual agent solution on the PayPal Germany site. VirtuOz agents are now available on four PayPal country sites, including the United States, France, United Kingdom, Germany, with plans to launch an agent in Australia in the near future.

“Because they’re dealing with financial transactions, PayPal wants to ensure its customers receive a superior confidence-building experience,” said Alexandre Lebrun, co-founder and CEO, VirtuOz. “The expanded use of the VirtuOz virtual agent at PayPal Germany reinforces the value our solution provides PayPal.”

The PayPal Germany virtual agent is named Eva, and she assists customers in German, marking the third language PayPal has rolled out with VirtuOz.

Now that the Predator drone has convinced the U.S. military of the power of killer robots, the Pentagon has put up a call for a loving, family-oriented artificial intelligence. The Department of Defense is soliciting proposals from small businesses for a computer program that would replicate troops serving abroad, during phone conversations and video conferences with their families.