Decide What a Guide Robot Will Say Before You Bring One In
A guide robot goes quiet not because of its performance but because its content goes stale. Here are the three things to settle before adoption, the condition that decides what happens a year later, and how to budget the cost.
Placing a robot does not make it a guide. What it will say, and who will update it, come first.
In many institutions, a guide robot standing in the lobby goes quiet a few months later. It is not because its performance dropped. It is because the content went stale and nobody was assigned to update it. The floor layout changed and an event ended, but the robot keeps repeating last month's guidance.
Below are the things we ask first when we place a guide robot in an institution.
1. What three things should you settle before adoption?
A list of questions, the information to guide, and someone to update it.
| What to settle | How to settle it |
|---|---|
| Frequent questions | Write down the ten questions your information desk actually gets most often |
| Information to guide | List the information that changes: floor and department locations, opening hours, event schedules |
| Who updates it | Choose one person who will edit the content on screen when it changes |
The third is the one most often missing. Without an owner, the guidance stops on the day of adoption.
2. Why does "easy to change" decide what happens a year later?
Because if you have to call a vendor every time the content changes, in the end you stop changing it.
When you evaluate a guide robot, check the following:
- Wording and buttons: whether your owner can edit the sentences the robot says and the buttons on its screen
- Images and links: whether you can change guide images and the addresses they link to
- When changes apply: how soon an edit reaches the robot
Our AnsimRobo for SoftBank Pepper lets you change the robot name, buttons, links and guide images from an admin site, without coding. A setting you change reaches the robot immediately (app v2.1 or later).
3. Does it replace a human guide?
No. It takes over the repeated questions.
It suits places where questions like "Where is the restroom?" or "Which floor is the service counter?" come up dozens of times a day. Consultations that need judgment case by case should stay with people.
So before adoption, you need to sort out which questions to hand to the robot. The ten questions you wrote down in step 1 are the starting point.
4. How do you budget the cost?
If you look only at the price of the robot, the running cost goes missing.
A guide robot does not end with buying the hardware. A subscription cost for AI conversation and the admin site comes with it. Our AnsimRobo AI Service SaaS costs USD 150 per month (monthly subscription, excluding taxes). Installation is done remotely; if you want on-site installation instead, travel costs are charged separately.
Support is remote, weekdays 09:00 to 18:00, and requested changes are applied within one business day.
5. How is it different if you already own a Pepper?
The starting point is different from evaluating a new purchase. If you already have a Pepper, we first look at keeping the hardware as it is and adding only software. What to check is set out in A Pepper sitting in storage: can a school or institution use it again?
Frequently asked questions
How many questions should we prepare?
Ten is enough to start. Adding the questions that actually come in as you operate is faster than building a complete list from the beginning.
Do we need to know development to change the content?
No. You edit wording, buttons, images and links on the admin site. One person can take care of it.
Does it work without internet?
Features that need to be online, such as AI conversation, need an internet connection. Only a connection going out from the robot is required, and you do not need to open any port for traffic coming in from outside to the robot.
Does it support other languages?
It supports six languages. With Korean as the default, it listens and speaks in English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and German, and you switch by choosing the language in the settings on Pepper's tablet.
Next step
Send us the ten questions your information desk gets most often and we will look together at whether the robot can answer them. If you already have a guidance sheet, you can send it as it is.
Sources (checked 2026-10-15): SV Robotics AnsimRobo for SoftBank Pepper product page (features, admin screens, adoption flow, price, supported languages, how soon settings apply) and the SV Robotics service guide (support scope). Institution names are not given.