What is a Chatbot?
Share This Post
What makes a chatbot?
You’ve probably interacted with a chatbot plenty of times already, whether you know it or not. For example, you are at your computer browsing through an online store researching a product, when a window pops up on your screen asking if you need help. That right there is a chatbot. It is a piece of software designed to simulate conversations with human users.
At the most basic level, a chatbot is your best friend who is at your disposal to answer a variety of questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In doing so, it is simply a software whose purpose is to solve jobs or activities that occur often such as FAQs, booking a table in a restaurant or even ordering food, which has grown greatly in popularity nowadays.
A chatbot achieves its various purposes by providing the maximum potential and information at its disposal. All of which are entered through various channels such as a CRM, google search, and even the communication with the user, which takes place in real time.
Precisely because of this, getting correct answers to repetitive questions has never been easier. When answering user queries, the bot assigns information that interests them in a way that the user is talking to a real person through one of the usual communication channels, such as instant messaging.
How does a chatbot learn?
Chatbots can be as simple as rudimentary programs that answer simple questions with a single-line response, or as sophisticated as digital assistants that learn and evolve to deliver increasingly complex levels of personalization as they gather and process information.
Responses of a smart chatbot, who acts as digital assistant, are based on machine learning and data-driven reasoning. Because of that, the information it collects through interaction with users is grouped in detail according to the relevance and area for which the question is directed, using that information the bot becomes smarter through frequent communication, which allows chatbot users to get even more personalized answers based on their preferences.
By collecting this data and processing it, the chatbot acquires its uniqueness, because in some moments it is not possible for people to see the difference between some random piece of information and the required answer, and an AI powered digital assistant is able to successfully solve such problematic situations.
Imagine a situation where a tourist comes to an unknown environment and wants to know where he can eat the best local food, and at the same time he does not even know how to use the local language. This is where a chatbot made to assist people in their travel experience can hop in and suggest a restaurant all the while talking to the user in his preferred language.
What makes a chatbot special?
A chatbot is at its best when it simplifies communication and interaction between people and services that are not tangible by hand, improving the user experience as a result. At the same time, it allows companies to improve their processes and the engagement with their customers, which in turn reduces the cost of customer support for products and services.
Situational awareness is a key feature in chatbots. A bot should always respond to the user’s minimum amount of input by leveraging stored information to provide correct answers and entertain the user’s needs with minimal friction. Bots should be able to automate the daily life tasks for us such as reserving a hotel, ordering groceries, etc. It should save our time and reduce human effort to solve a problem.
The chatbot can be integrated with critical systems and manage workflows inside and outside of the CRM. It can handle real-time action as basic as a coffee order, all the way through a complex multi-step workflow spanning multiple applications.
Why use a Chatbot?
What makes the chatbot special is its applicability in areas where human creativity and/or the accuracy of answering and searching for the correct and precise answer would be problematic or time consuming. Even if the answer to the question is already known it is necessary to take a few generic steps in a large number of repetitions thus increasing the possibility of error, such as answering the wrong person or misrepresenting some information.
When interacting with an AI powered chatbot, you feel like you’re talking to a person who can look to the future and predict some outcome that doesn’t seem likely to you at the moment.
Digital assistants leverage artificial intelligence in all segments of its operation, and that allows them to examine the dependence of tens of thousands of parameters that can be interdependent or independent, and each parameter defined in this way is nothing but a value such as price, product quality, some reviews, and even the types of subjects worth studying and its material.
What are the benefits of chatbots?
The advantages that the chatbot has over a human are primarily the speed of response, adaptability to the specific areas it covers, the ability to see the bigger picture, as well as focusing on details, while being available 24/7 to offer up assistance.
Another big factor when using a bot, is the ability to acquire and monitor customer data, while gaining insights on how to improve your business. You can set and track certain KPIs about the performance of your current strategy, as well as learn more about the your customers.
Where is it possible to apply a chatbot?
The field of application is huge and there are no limits, what represents the limit is human imagination and creativity, and it all stems from the detailed situation and the area in which it is applied.
For customers, chatbots mean faster replies, better customer service, easier sales flows, and a more personal connection with the companies they purchase from.
For industries using chatbots, it aids in lowering support costs, increasing conversion rates, boosting customer loyalty, accelerating sales cycles and generating more leads
Today, chatbot solutions are successfully applied in various industries such as banking, e-commerce, hospitality and many more.
Conclusion
Chatbots or digital assistants are dramatically changing the business landscape. Their ability of reaching a large audience and presenting correct information while gathering data that can be used to improve your business is unmatched.
They are not only here to stay, but are a growing part of the future and are able to provide a reliable and highly interactive user experience when paired with artificial intelligence.
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
Get updates and learn from the best
More To Explore
Digital assistants as front desk agents
Everyone knows that having a good relationship with your receptionist is a big plus. But, what if that receptionist is an AI-powered Chatbot? … Read More
How can AI improve guest experience?
Introduction of AI-powered digital assistants to the hospitality industry which prides itself on providing a “personal touch” may seem counter intuitive. However, the evolution of mobile technology has increased customer expectations of services across the board, and hotels are no different. A digital assistant in the form of a chatbot can assist the staff in providing a high quality level of service guests have become accustomed to, without losing the “personal touch”. … Read More
Leave a Reply