• SGT STAR Delivers
• SGT STAR has answered over 8 million questions to date with only 3% 
  resulting in a live chat session.
• User's sessions last an average of 10.4 minutes compared to 4 minutes 
  prior to SGT STAR.
• SGT STAR has an over 94% accuracy rate of answering all questions asked.
• SGT STAR session quality is 280% better than normal website visitors 
  (70% versus 25%).
• SGT STAR becomes the first Virtual Employee with a Facebook app

Customer Profile

The U.S. Army, a key component of the U.S. Armed Forces, is made up of the best-trained, most dedicated, most respected soldiers in the world - protecting America's freedoms at home and abroad, securing our homeland, and defending democracy worldwide.

Customer Challenge

The technological savvy of today's Army recruit is astounding, representing a unique challenge for the U.S. Army to find new ways to connect with this generation. In response, the U.S. Army's website is challenged to become a crucial element in the Army's recruiting and communications strategy. The U.S. Army's leadership sought a self-service web solution that provided users with a personalized, engaging online experience that quickly and accurately connected users with the most relevant information.

The ActiveAgent Solution

In 2006, the U.S. Army partnered with Next IT to launch a 6'1", no nonsense, straight-talking Virtual Guide named 'SGT STAR' at goarmy.com.

The impact on goarmy.com was immediate, proving ActiveAgent's ability to improve engagement, adoption and effectiveness of the self-service web. SGT STAR is able to engage users in a way that is both personal and accurate. SGT STAR has become the 'face' of Army recruiting, with a viral popularity that is reaching recruits outside of the U.S.

To engage even more visitors, SGT STAR's home-page presence was enlarged, resulting in a chat increase of 30%. Access to SGT STAR was then added to every page of goarmy.com, increasing interaction with him another 30%.

The U.S. Army and Next IT continue to explore deeper ways to utilize SGT STAR across more of the U.S. Army's recruiting and communications strategy, including the recent animation of SGT STAR in January 2009 and an industry-first application that allows users to ask questions and receive and post responses on Facebook, added in 2010.

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