West Virginia (WTRF)

If you are starting up a new business, chances are you’re working long or irregular hours.

So it’s not easy to contact a state agency during regular business hours.

Now the State of West Virginia has a solution.

It’s a chat bot that’s up and running 24-7, through which you can contact the secretary of state’s office, state your questions and get the answers.

The bot is called SOLO, which stands for Single Online Location.

“So you can click on that website and it brings up an interactive bot that allows you to talk with basically the internet connectivity of everything within our office,” said Secretary of State Mac Warner. “So you could ask how do I start a business, how do I register or re-register my business, when is the deadline, all those sorts of things.”

It takes your questions, then searches three databases and gives you an interactive answer.

And you can continue to ask more questions.

It’s using artificial intelligence to make it easier than ever to start a business in the mountain state.

Warner says West Virginia is the first state in the nation to offer this service.