Press release

Utah Chatbot, Porter, Helps Citizens Find Important COVID-19 Information

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The Utah Department of Technology Services has launched an online chatbot to help Utah.gov visitors find important COVID-19 information they need. The automated text support tool, called Porter, is found on the homepage of Utah.gov. Porter will help with routine COVID-19 support questions and allow customer service agents to focus on helping with complex questions.

“One of the challenges we face is getting quality information to the residents of Utah,” said Mike Hussey, Chief Information Officer. “This type of technology allows us to use state resources efficiently while serving the public.”

Porter uses machine learning to consume frequently asked questions from users and finds answers from agencies across state and local government to learn how to best serve Utahns. Developers continually input additional information and analyze answers provided to help improve responses.

“Porter was designed to provide a personal touch to answer the important COVID-19 questions residents ask,” said Hussey. “We want all visitors to Utah.gov to get the information they are seeking.”

Porter will help connect residents to information about COVID-19 case counts, services for people with disabilities, Medicaid guidance, distance education, unemployment assistance and more.

To learn more, visit Utah.gov.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UtahGov

Facebook: http://www.utah.gov/facebook/

RSS feeds: http://www.utah.gov/connect/feeds.html

Utah blogs: http://www.utah.gov/blogs/

About Utah.Gov

Utah.gov is the entry point to over 1,000 online services and benefits over 3.2 million residents in the state of Utah. Utah.gov provides citizens and businesses with more convenient options for interacting with government. Through Utah.gov, citizens can find public meetings, renew their vehicle registration, buy a hunting and fishing license, register a business, find a transparent state budget, and much more. Utah.gov received 11 awards in 2019. Utah.gov is one of the nation’s most honored state websites. Utah.gov is managed and operated through a public-private partnership between the state and Utah Interactive, the Salt Lake City-based official digital government partner for the state of Utah. Utah Interactive is part of firm NIC’s family of companies.

About NIC

NIC Inc. NIC Inc. (Nasdaq: EGOV) launched the digital government industry in 1992, and continues to lead it, providing a secure payment engine and thousands of digital government solutions across a network of more than 6,000 federal, state, and local government agencies. In addition, NIC is a leading provider of outdoor recreation solutions, with 1 out of 6 hunting and fishing licenses in the United States sold using an NIC service. The company created the nation’s first personal assistant for government and comprehensive mobile platform, Gov2Go®, as well as the innovative, data-driven prescription drug monitoring platform, RxGov®. More information is available at www.egov.com.