Self-service unit offers 24-hour convenience
The new self-service cubicle on the first floor of Park Place on Changde Road
A self-service cubicle where individuals and companies can deal with more than 200 administrative processes 24 hours a day made its debut on Monday in an office building in Jing’an District.
It occupies an 8-square-meter area on the first floor of Park Place on Changde Road where 41 companies have offices, 40 of them foreign companies.
Called “Lou Xiaoer,” literally “building attendant,” the unit, equipped with facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, provides services ranging from personal business to company affairs. There’s also a phone link if people have any questions.
It is designed to serve four local office buildings, said Huang Yongqian, deputy director of the Jing’an Investment Development Office.
Chen Yu, chief finance officer of the local branch of French skincare company Clarins, was among the first to use it.
She scanned her ID card to enter, and after the door closed to ensure safety and privacy she tapped a screen to check whether the name of the company’s newly established branch had been used.
“It was so convenient. I just took the elevator downstairs and the whole process only cost me about five minutes,” she said.
He Guangbin, an employee with Qinyi Management Consulting Co on Yan’an Road M., had the company’s business license and other documents scanned to obtain a USB key, which is necessary for the company to do electronic commerce.
“Previously, we had to visit the administrative affairs center to apply for it, and it usually took two to three days to get it. But now, we don’t need to queue, and everything can be processed here in just several minutes,” he said.
Chen Jiaxin, from L’Oreal China, used her morning break to check her housing fund. “It’s as convenient as a self-service bank,” she said.
Huang said an express delivery service will be available in the near future.
“Not everything can be done through the online platform, sometimes duplicates of forms and documents are required to be send to authorities for further approval,” he said. “So, we will allow people to lock the documents in the safety boxes which have been installed and arrange deliverymen to send for them. They will be informed through short messages.”
