JACKSON, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The state of Mississippi’s award-winning website, ms.gov, has a new look and progressive new features that transform the user’s online government experience. The most recent update to ms.gov, completed in June 2017, delivers connected technologies like virtual reality, a chatbot, and digital voice assistance directly to citizens, aiding in their growing online relationship with the state of Mississippi.
“Citizens’ expectations of digital platforms continue to evolve,” said Dr. Craig Orgeron, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services. “Mississippi has responded to those growing needs by thinking outside the browser and bringing successful private sector technologies to government. Technologies like machine learning and virtual reality.”
Ms.gov features Mississippi’s first artificial conversational chatbot, Missi. Designed to deliver real-time information 24/7 to citizens, she supports over 100 iterations including “How do I renew my hunting license?” “Where can I purchase a driver’s license?” and “I need help with my taxes.” Expanding into the virtual world, ms.gov users can now take a virtual tour of the state capitol. By using a VR headset, mobile device, or computer, visitors are virtually transported inside the capitol, with pop-up menus giving further insight into six areas within this historical site. The new immersive virtual tour of the Mississippi State Capitol is sure to aid in education and tourism of Mississippi.
The design of ms.gov wasn’t the only thing that changed. Core ms.gov features visitors have come to rely on have been enhanced as well.
- Ask Mississippi – Mississippi’s first Amazon Alexa Digital Voice assistant, launched in 2016, now includes traffic alerts and top Mississippi news. For example, myMS users can ask, “Alexa, ask Mississippi if there are any traffic alerts in my area,” and “Alexa, ask Mississippi for my local news.”
- myTacks – To insure relevant content remains accessible in a click, myTacks allows visitors to drag links important to them to a vault to save for quick future reference. A new on/off toggle switch for myTacks has been added to the home page to quickly activate the service.
- myAlerts – Users can quickly set alerts for weather events, amber and silver alerts, as well as other high-profile statewide alerts by accessing their myMS profile and choosing their targeted alerts.
- myReminders – Visitors to ms.gov can subscribe to top government agency reminders, or customize their own using the myMS widget. Top user services including hunting and fishing licenses, driver’s licenses, and professional license renewals are now available for myMS to offer reminders of when it is time to renew or purchase.
To see ms.gov’s new technologies in action, visit http://www.ms.gov/Technology.
Twitter: @msdotgov
Facebook:
facebook.com/msdotgov
Ask
Mississippi Voice Skill: amazon.com/NIC-Inc-ms-gov/dp/B01E62XCZC/
Virtual
Capitol Tour and MISSI Chatbot: www.ms.gov/Technology
About Mississippi Interactive
Mississippi Interactive is the official government solutions provider for the state of Mississippi. The company builds and manages interactive government services, including Mississippi’s official website, ms.gov, on behalf of the state. Mississippi Interactive is a wholly owned subsidiary of digital government firm NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV).
The state’s official website was redesigned at no cost to the state or citizens utilizing a self-funded model with Mississippi’s digital government partner, Mississippi Interactive (MSI), a subsidiary of NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV), and the state of Mississippi. Under the self-funded model, the ms.gov designs and enhancements are developed at no cost to the state or the citizens. For a full listing of all awards won by ms.gov, click here.
About NIC
Founded in 1992, NIC Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV) is celebrating 25 years as the nation’s premier provider of innovative digital government solutions and secure payment processing, which help make government interactions more accessible for everyone through technology. The family of NIC companies has developed a library of more than 12,000 digital government services for more than 4,500 federal, state, and local government agencies. Among these solutions is the ground-breaking digital government personal assistant, Gov2Go, delivering citizens personalized reminders and a single access point for government interactions. More information is available at www.egov.com.
