Rita is one of a suite of applications which the bank is deploying from the eGain software portfolio and which are intended to sharpen up customer service standards within its online business operations.

"We needed a customer service solution that would enable us to manage our rapidly growing online business customer base," explains Milton Santiago, first vice president of electronic banking at ABN Amro Services Company.

In addition to the robotic assistant, the bank is currently deploying a further three eGain applications, including a high volume mail management system, customer information information database and Web collaboration tool. All the applications share common resources to help deliver a consistent view of customer behavious and transaction history.

Through the eGain Assistant software, ABN Amro's first line of online customer service is an interactive robot named Rita (real-time Internet technical agent). Built as a female assistant with various facial expressions, Rita answers frequently asked questions such as "when is the last day I can send in my payment?" and "what time does your bank close?".

Santiago says: "Our research indicates that customers will respond to Rita as if she were a real person, complete with varying emotions to help identify with customers' concerns. In addition to Rita, we plan on adding a male robot within the coming months. Future assistants will help promote our global expansion by resembling local ethnicities and speaking the language of the country in which the assistant is deployed."

He sees the eGain software suite as a competitive differentiator. "Overall, the top 10 banks in the world offer the same products. We're using eGain as a strategic partner to rise above the noise."

EGain manages the solution for ABN Amro through its Hosted Business Solution service.