Which document, which floor, what time? People ask it every day. Now the answer is on their own phone.
A service building answers the same questions all day: which documents to bring, which floor the office is on, when it opens. A city answers even more of them outdoors: where the nearest public restroom is, when the museum closes, which bus goes to the old town. Today the answers sit on notice boards, on a website few people open on the spot and behind a phone line that is often busy. ToRun's AI assistant brings them to the phone of whoever is standing there, in the language they ask in.
Why public services fit it so well
Required documents, opening hours, which office, which floor. Much of what reaches the counter and the phone line has been asked many times before, and each repeat is time an officer is not spending on a case.
Foreign residents, students, visitors and tourists use the same services. The answer comes back in the language of the question, even when your information is published in only one.
The central office writes the information once, and every service building, district office and park answers with it at its own spots.
Parks, squares, beaches and playgrounds have nobody to ask. A code on a sign there answers questions and takes fault reports where they happen.
From the service hall to the park
The code in the service hall and the code in the park are different codes, so the assistant knows where the person is standing. The answers come from the procedures, office list, opening hours and service information the institution uploads.
Illustrative examples. Answers are generated from the information the venue uploads; when the documents have no answer, the assistant says so and the question goes to the report.
Four sides of public service, four different gains
The same setup gives each side something different: residents get an answer without a queue, the front desk and phone line get time back, field teams hear about a fault from the person who saw it, and management sees what people look for and cannot find.
Outside office hours too, where the question comes up, in their own language, typed or spoken. No account, no form, no ID number.
Opening hours, documents and directions are answered at the spot. Officers keep what only people can do: the application itself, the exception, the difficult case.
“A streetlight in the park is out” or “the ramp at the entrance is blocked” reaches the team responsible for that place, with its spot and time, and by e-mail. If nobody picks it up within the set time, it moves up to the next person in charge.
What was asked, where and in which language, and what people looked for and did not find, collected in lists. Input for signs, opening hours, staffing and information in more languages.
Where the questions start
A print-ready poster comes out of the system for each spot; the codes can also be printed on existing signs and directory boards.
After a month, you know what people were looking for, and where
The report is made of questions: what was asked, at which spot, when, in which language, and whether it was found.
Illustrative report. The real figures come from your own visitors' questions.
The asked-but-not-found list shows where signs and information are missing, down to the spot. It downloads as Excel or CSV.
The spread across hours and spots shows when and where the counters, the phone line and the field teams are needed most.
The languages of the questions show which languages your forms, signs and staff need next.
How it runs through the year
You upload the procedures, office list, opening hours, fee lists and service information you already publish, as Word, PDF, Excel or PowerPoint; no special format. You pick the spots and print a poster for each. The page goes live with the institution's name, logo and color, and the people you choose get panel access.
People scan, ask and read. When a procedure, an opening time or an event changes, the document is updated and the answers follow. Fault reports reach the responsible team's panel and e-mail straight away.
The demand report is in the panel, and the asked-but-not-found list downloads as Excel or CSV: input for signs, opening hours and next year's plans. The spots and codes stay where they are; what changes is the content you upload.
Three principles
No tenant or exhibitor can pay to be put first; the order of an answer cannot be bought.
The assistant is set up to answer only from the documents the venue uploads. When there is no answer, it says so, and the question goes to the asked-but-not-found list.
No account, no form, no name or phone number. The visitor scans the code and asks.
We collect questions, not people
The record is made of the question: what was asked, at which spot, when, in which language, and whether an answer was found. The venue sees what its visitors are looking for without knowing who they are.
Frequently asked
Does anyone have to identify themselves?
No. There is no account, no form and no ID number. Question records contain no identity, and the page asks for neither location nor camera permission.
Can people submit an application through it?
No. It is not connected to e-government or appointment systems. It explains the procedure, the documents and where to go, from the information you publish.
Do we need to translate our documents?
No. You upload your documents in the language you work in; someone who asks in another language gets the answer in theirs.
Where is the data kept?
Hosting is in the European Union (Germany). The institution is the data controller and ToRun is the data processor; our Data Processing Agreement is published.
Can we get a surprise bill?
No. The number of questions is set in the contract and usage is visible in the panel at any time; when the number runs out, no extra charge is made without your approval.
Is the AI trained on our data?
No. The AI is not trained on your data; the documents are read at the moment a question is asked. That is why an update to a document shows up in the answers.
Let's set up the first service points together
The software is ready and live. We want to do the first setup together with a municipality or public institution: a limited number of spots to start with, and at the end we read the report of what people were looking for together. Scope, duration and terms are agreed in a meeting.
Before we meet: we can build a trial page from the service information already on your website, so you can try the assistant on your own phone with your own institution's information.