New enhancements to “Agent Kay,” a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence, have secured bragging rights for the state of Kansas. On June 28, Kansas Information Consortium, LLC (KIC), the company responsible for the development of this program, announced the integration of Agent Kay into the official Facebook page for the state of Kansas. This integration marks the first instance of a state government chatbot with the Facebook Messenger platform.
Launched on June 21, 2018, Agent Kay is the official chatbot of the State of Kansas. Chatbots are computer programs that mimic human conversation by using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Incorporating chatbots into government technology provides exciting new avenues for modernizing the delivery of digital services to the citizens of Kansas.

Agent Kay guides citizens through a series of questions, aimed at quickly and easily providing the information they need. Users of both the Facebook Messenger app and Facebook users who like and follow Kansas.gov – Kansas Government Online [@ksgovernment], can message Agent Kay with conversational questions or can click on one of the many topics that auto-populate when Agent Kay is accessed. These topics include information on taxes, hunting and fishing, unemployment, or state trivia.

KIC General Manager, Nolan Jones states: “As the most popular social media platform in the world, integrating with Facebook and Facebook Messenger dramatically broadens our ability to assist the citizens of Kansas. Agent Kay demonstrates how Kansas is taking the lead by using cutting-edge technologies to assist citizens, businesses, and agencies throughout Kansas.”

Agent Kay is currently programmed to answer over 200 questions, with new responses being added almost daily. The underlying technology features an analytics component that constantly evolves and improves Agent Kay’s ability to respond to user questions. In the event that a user’s inquiry is beyond the scope of Agent Kay’s programming, a live agent will step in to finish the interaction.

The development and maintenance of Agent Kay is performed by KIC as a service of the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK). Under INK’s and KIC’s public-private partnership, eGovernment services are delivered through a self-funded model, which does not utilize taxpayer funds.

Have questions about filing your state income taxes? Looking for information on Kansas government officials? Want to do a search for unclaimed property? Let Agent Kay lead the way!
Launched in June 2018, Agent Kay is the official chatbot of the State of Kansas. Chatbots are computer programs that mimic human conversation by using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Incorporating chatbots into government technology provides exciting new avenues for modernizing the delivery of digital services to the citizens of Kansas.

Agent Kay guides visitors of the Kansas.gov Help Center through a series of questions, aimed at quickly and easily providing the information they need. Citizens who interact with Agent Kay can either ask conversational questions or can click on one of the many topics that auto-populate when Agent Kay is accessed. These topics include information on taxes, hunting and fishing, unemployment, or state trivia.

Kansas Information Consortium, LLC (KIC), the company responsible for the development of this program, created Agent Kay to meet the needs of increasingly tech savvy consumers. KIC General Manager, Nolan Jones, states: “KIC is pleased to provide this innovative technology to enhance our customer service. Agent Kay is an important step in leveraging new, private-sector technologies that can enhance the services we provide to citizens, businesses, and agencies throughout Kansas.”

Agent Kay is currently programmed to answer over 150 questions, with new responses being added almost daily. The underlying technology features an analytics component that constantly evolves and improves Agent Kay’s ability to respond to user questions. In the event that a user’s inquiry is beyond the scope of Agent Kay’s programming, the user is transferred to one of Kansas.gov’s knowledgeable Help Center Technicians.

The development and maintenance of Agent Kay is performed by KIC as a service of the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK). Under INK’s and KIC’s public-private partnership, eGovernment services are delivered through a self-funded model, which does not utilize taxpayer funds.

The city of Victoria, Kansas, is pleased to announce the launch of KanPay Counter, a solution provided by Kansas.gov that conveniently processes credit card and eCheck payments over-the-counter and online.

The city of Victoria, in collaboration with Kansas.gov, is now providing KanPay Counter payment processing for various constituent payments including utilities and court fines. Visit the city website at http://victoriaks.com to pay online today.

KanPay Counter is designed specifically for state and municipal governments to process credit card and electronic check payments. The partnership between Kansas.gov and the state operates under a self-funded model where no tax dollars were used to develop and maintain the payment service.