SALT LAKE CITY — The Department of Public Safety and the Department of Technology Services recently announced the introduction of a new Amazon Echo driver’s license practice exam. The added convenience of the voice-activated practice exam allows new drivers to review the rules of the road in the comfort of their homes through Amazon’s voice-controlled speaker and digital assistant, Alexa.

“We’re excited to provide new drivers with added functionality and convenience through Amazon Echo,” said Marissa Villaseñor, Utah Department of Public Safety director of public relations. “The Echo is an amazing new tool, and we are looking forward to expanding the services we integrate with Echo.”

Alexa, the digital assistant behind Amazon Echo, will help new drivers study for the practice exam by reviewing questions. For example, Alexa might ask, “When approached by an emergency vehicle, the driver must immediately…” and the correct response would be, “Pull to the right and stop.”

Test takers respond by voice directly to Alexa. Scores are not saved or recorded for practice tests.

“Digital assistants present an incredible opportunity for simplifying business with state government,” said Mike Hussey, Utah State Chief Information Officer. “We are always looking for new ways to integrate innovative digital solutions and move beyond how we currently help Utahns interact with government.”

In addition, Utah.gov also added a “Utah State Facts” skill for the Echo. Alexa will share interesting facts about the beehive state.

Utahns can load the skill to the Alexa app on a mobile device.

About Utah.Gov

Utah.gov is the entry point to over 1,000 online services and benefits over 2.7 million residents in the State of Utah. Utah.gov provides citizens and businesses with more convenient options for interacting with government. Through Utah.gov, citizens can find public meetings, renew their vehicle registration, buy a hunting and fishing license, register a business, find a transparent state budget and much more.

In 2015, Utah.gov received 21 awards, making it the nation’s most honored state website. Utah.gov is managed and operated through a public-private partnership between the state and Utah Interactive, the Salt Lake City-based official digital government partner for the state of Utah. Utah Interactive is part of firm NIC’s family of companies.

To learn more, visit Utah.gov | Facebook | Twitter | RSS feeds | Utah blogs.

About NIC

Founded in 1992, NIC — NASDAQ: EGOV — is the nation’s leading provider of innovative digital government solutions and secure payment processing, which helps make government more accessible to everyone through technology. The family of NIC companies provides digital government solutions for more than 4,500 federal, state and local agencies in the United States. Forbes has named NIC as one of the “100 Best Small Companies in America” six times and the company has been included four times on the Barron’s 400 Index. Additional information is available at the NIC website.

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