SIMmersion Will Provide Customer Service Training for its Second System for the U.S. Navy, in Association with Intelligent Design Systems, Inc.

(COLUMBIA, MD) Customer service providers deal with the daily stress in finding the best solution for anxious customers in a timely fashion. In the Navy, Personnel Specialists (PSs) have the responsibility of providing a wide array of human resource services for their peers and superiors from issuing ID cards to helping with career advancement and dependent benefits to assisting retired sailors. There is added pressure to courteously, ably, and quickly complete service tasks in a setting where military discipline may break down.

SIMmersion LLC is developing a training system for PSs to practice and hone communication skills in an effort to enhance customer service. The U.S. Navy Center for Service Support Personnel Specialist Customer Service Training Role-Play Simulation will contain two interactive role-play scenarios, one “afloat” on a naval ship and one “ashore” at an installation. For each scenario, the PS will deal with a line of four sailors or their family members, and each scenario will have levels of difficulty. PSs will train by talking to the simulation characters who will range in personality type: they may be easy-going or have a short fuse, easily understanding of the information or quickly confused. The simulation characters are played by actors, creating an immersive experience for PSs who will become engaged in a realistic, generalizable setting.

The ashore scenario will include SIMmersion’s first-ever simulated conversation involving two simulation characters on screen at the same time. Each simulation scenario will contain instant feedback with an on-screen coach, a post assessment, and an after-action review, giving PSs several opportunities for self-driven learning with every conversational choice. The training system will be web-based and SCORM compliant.

Intelligent Decision Systems Inc. (IDSI) will provide a two-hour Interactive Multimedia Instruction module. The SIMmersion simulations and the IDSI instruction module will augment the current Navy training objectives outlined in the Navy Customer Service Manual.

“Our partnership with IDSI for this project shows how we are a differentiator for companies looking to win training contracts,” noted Dr. Dale Olsen, CEO and founder of SIMmersion. “It also shows our flexibility: we can create complete training systems with instructional modules, or we can partner with excellent companies like IDSI and easily mesh our respective training approaches.”

SIMmersion has also provided recruitment training for the Navy, where recruiters speak to Juan Gonzalez, who may or may not be qualified or to join and may be more or less enthusiastic about joining. Recruiters build and practice the skills of assessing whether a potential recruit is qualified to serve, finding out about the recruit’s interests, and selling qualified recruits on enlisting. SIMmersion has delivered training to all branches of the U.S. Armed Services, among its many clients.

SIMmersion provides advanced training for difficult conversations through interactive systems featuring simulations. These face-to-face conversation simulations allow users to acquire information, practice, and build communication skills. Professional actors are used to create life-like, challenging situations. Each simulated character has memory and an advanced emotional model that allows the character to respond to the user’s statements as a real person would. The result is a nearly free-form conversation that is different each time the simulation is used. Users receive feedback through the non-verbal cues of an on-screen coach, quantitative scoring at the end of each interaction, and instant replay features.

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