Hi, I’m Matt, Chief Architect at DVLA and responsible for setting the agency’s technical direction. Last year I was thrilled when we released our first Alexa skill on the Amazon store which lets you check when your vehicle tax and MOT is due, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Moving into voice computing has allowed us to trial this innovative DVLA Alexa skill on Amazon, and given our customers more choice in how they get information about their vehicles.
How it works
Our skill allows you to tell Alexa a registration number and hear back when the tax and MOT is due for a vehicle. These details are also returned as a card in the Alexa app.
Since the launch:
- it’s been used by more than 10,000 customers
- 60,000 plus vehicle enquiries have been made
- more than 850 users have been told their vehicle wasn’t taxed
- more than 700 users have been advised a vehicle didn’t have a valid MOT certificate
Alexa has also helped raise awareness of a vehicle’s status so it gets taxed and on the road as simply, safely and efficiently as possible.
We’ve had some great feedback and our analytics show the majority of registration numbers are understood first time.
We recognise that some of our customers struggle with getting Alexa to correctly recognise the registration number - and left feedback to tell us their issues. These issues are not within the skill itself, but the Automatic Speech Recognition engine in Amazon that converts the speech to text. The accuracy depends on a number of factors, such as accents and background noise. It becomes more of an issue when saying a registration number, which is not of a fixed length, or in a pre-defined format. This is why we’ve completely revised our skill, taking advantage of new features now available in Alexa, to provide a better user experience
- Enable the skill in the Alexa companion app, this will bring up a new screen.
- Type in up to 3 registration numbers, saved as part of the skill.
- Ask Alexa when your tax is due.
You no longer need to read out your registration number each time. If you want to check a number that isn’t saved just ask Alexa to check a new registration number.
We need your feedback
I really look forward to receiving the feedback from the update to the skill. I’ve already learnt that there is an appetite for using voice services to interact with DVLA and I’m really excited to know what you think of the service.
Looking back
I built the skill at home, showed people the working skill as a demo, and gained the full support of DVLA’s Executive Board to publish it. It’s fantastic to work for an organisation that embraces innovation, and is prepared to support new ideas like this. I’ve received nothing but encouragement along the way.
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20 comments
Comment by WAYNE TRAVERS posted on
Very good works fine Great idea.
Comment by Dave Rydings posted on
Using methods such as this are just another way to ensure vehicles are taxed and insured. Every method possible should be used to ensure this an I’m glad the DVLA is embracing modern technology. It also reduces costs. Good on yer!
Comment by Anthony posted on
Is this available on google assistant please?
Comment by Matt posted on
Hi Anthony
we are looking at extending this to Google Assistant in the near future. We'll update you on this blog so watch this space.
Matt
Comment by Anthony posted on
available on google assistant please?
Comment by Peter North posted on
Great Application, but is there a possibility this can be extended to Siri on i Phone and i Pad
Comment by Matt posted on
Hi Peter
Our move into Voice Computing has been carried out as a trial, and we’ve been delighted with the results to date. We chose Alexa as the market leader, but we are looking at extending this to Google Assistant in the near future. We are not actively looking at Siri at this time. The Alexa app for Android devices allows you to use Alexa on an Android device, with an iOS version due soon. The Google Assistant app is already available on iPhone and iPad. This is a rapidly evolving area, and we’re excited to see what new opportunities open up.
Matt
Comment by Mohammed Maroof dvsa.adi cars. posted on
Good on you sir well done.
Comment by Keith Biston posted on
When is this going to be on google home as well
Comment by Matt posted on
Hi Keith
We are looking at extending this to Google Assistant in the near future. We're excited to see what new opportunities open up. I'll be providing further updates on this blog.
Matt
Comment by C Eastwood posted on
Good idea if you are on android
Not so good for IOS.
Are there any plans ???
Thanks
Comment by Matt posted on
Hi Colin
We're not actively looking at Siri at this time. The Alexa app for Android devices allows you to use Alexa on an Android device, with an iOS version due soon. The Google Assistant app is already available on iPhone and iPad. This is a rapidly evolving area, and we’re excited to see what new opportunities open up. I'll be providing updates on this blog.
Matt
Comment by Michael Hinton posted on
Really exiting stuff Matt!
Comment by Mick posted on
When can we use for more than 3 vehicles
Comment by Matt posted on
Hi Mick
This is down to customer feedback. The assumption was storing up to 3 registration numbers would support the vast majority of users of the skill. If there is a demand to increase this, we will definitely look to do so.
Matt
Comment by Geoff posted on
Can Alexa give you reminders about tax and not? One month before a week before , on the day and pester thereafter?
Comment by Matt posted on
Great question. No, the skill doesn’t provide any notifications. However, this capability is now available in preview in Alexa, and we have just gained access to it. We’ve been looking this week at how we might build this for a simple use case, and what frequency of updates would be appropriate
Comment by George posted on
My vehicle is tax exempt and yet every year, I have to fill out an online form with yourselves to 'tax' my vehicle at a cost of £0.00 or face a £1000.00 fine for driving without road tax...can you please solve that one next. As much as I'd like to be able to ask Google/Alexa if it's covered, I'd much prefer to do NOTHING! Kind regards, George
Comment by Paul Webster posted on
Is the API to perform the lookup readily and freely available to other developers?
Comment by Matt posted on
Not at this moment in time, but it is on the backlog. A key tenet of our published IT Strategy is to be ‘API First’, and this is definitely the direction we are heading