Story Of The Chatbot With A Stethoscope And A Lab Coat!
How many times have you come across the suspicion that the person trying to solve your problem is after all not a ‘human’?
How many times have you found yourself shouting on the chatbots trying to get them to understand what you mean?
My most recent experience with a chatbot was a week ago, when I was trying to cancel my return flight to New York. (’Cause let’s face it none of us are going anywhere anytime soon) Anyway, as a marketer, I was really impressed with the technology as they were well equipped with questions and the steps to follow in every contingency order. However, to less of my surprise, as a customer I was frustrated as the chatbot understood me after me screaming the answer for the millionth time!.
But let’s face it chatbots have become smarter over the years and are learning new things every second you spent reading this blog.
So, what are chatbots?
Chatbots are software applications designed to simulate conversations with the customers, especially over the internet, in lieu of providing customers with a human touch.
Let’s take a moment for that to sink in!
Chatbots were created to primarily improve customer service operations and thereby improve customer experiences at reduced costs. But are they doing so in reality, let’s find out?
Pro- Reduced waiting time
Con- Historically dissatisfactory experiences due to limited responses
Pro- Reduced labour costs
Con- Complex chatbots are expensive
Pro- Quick customer service
Con- Language and accent barriers
Pro- Gather customer insights and data
Con- Can’t be used by all businesses
Pro- 24/7 Availability
Con- Needs constant upgradation and maintenance
Pro- Machines are not biased against anyone
Con- But they lack emotions
How chatbots can help with lead generation and sales?
With a structured flow of communication between the chatbots and the customer, the chatbot, more often than not, leads the customer to either a complimentary product, a certain discount, or an added service. Not only does the structure give the company more time to explain themselves, without having to address the emotions of an upset customer, the chatbot’s structure allows for complete justification and reason, making it seem more credible, rather than a sneaky customer service agent, trying to push you to make their sale.
How chatbots are fighting coronavirus?
The two main authoritative voices for Covid-19, CDC and WHO, are using chatbots to deploy up-to-date information during this pandemic. Many governments are also using this technology to provide validated information and also collect information on suspicious cases or if anyone is not abiding to the stipulated health regulations. This has therefore reduced the burden on government helpline call centres, police stations and hospitals.
In an article, Microsoft mentioned that since March, health organisations have created more than 1200 self assessment bots on the basis of Microsoft’s healthcare bot service. These bots have had massive reach to roughly 18 million individuals by serving more than 160 million messages.
I personally experienced this when it came to ‘The Aarogya Setu’ mobile application launched by the Indian Government. The app is in itself, a chatbot, conversing with you to assess your current health condition and determining whether you’re at risk or not. After considering your vitals, and your other personal information, the chatbot shows you how many active, potential, and recovered cases you have around you. It also gives you recommendations on how to isolate yourself and keep yourself healthy!
How chatbots might be affected in a post-COVID-19 world?
“Chatbots are the beginning of a new form of digital access, which centres on messaging” — Christie Pitts, Manager — Ventures Development of Verizon Ventures
In a circumstance where social distancing became a norm, chatbots seemed to be the only way to reach out effectively. And, they delivered! Chatbots have shown great success in reaching out to millions of people in record time, collecting data effectively with limited bias, solving and processing queries worth thousands of call center employees, in a jiffy, and recording and assessing data timely. That’s basically your job description for a call center rep isn’t it? Only this one, is set to replace thousands! So, be prepared as this trend is here to stay.
I want to leave you all with a note:
With chat bots, the possibilities are endless. You can create anything imaginable and make them do whatever you want, even make the bots understand human emotions. So, I encourage you to do just that, as the future for bots looks very bright.
Until next week :)
