Source: nanorep
On April 12th of this year, Facebook announced that they are launching their Messenger platform which allows developers to build chat bots for their Messenger application. Chatbot platforms are not necessarily a new concept, but Facebook’s announcement may be the siren call that ushers in the era of customer service chat bots.
How do I Chat with a Bot and does a Bot Chat Back?
Virtual chat bots are programs that use instant messaging platforms as an interface to engage with users. These chatterbots, as they’re also known, use artificial intelligence and natural language processing to understand the end user. This means that a user can speak freely when asking a question, as if he or she were speaking to a person, and the chatbot will understand and reply accordingly. Essentially, it’s giving a personalized touch to database querying.
Bots themselves have no human component and are simply computer programs made up entirely of code. However, they can enable human connection if they’re programmed to do so. For example, if a chat bot is designed for tech support and the client requires a live tech support agent, the bot can be set to redirect the client to the appropriate channel. This becomes even more accessible to the user if they are engaging the chat bot using their smartphone, where a click to call feature can be enabled.
Facebook has Made Online Chatbots a New Virtual Playground
While live chat platforms have been around for some time, the real bot revolution began a few years ago. Now that Facebook has entered the arena, the playing field is changing shape. How Facebook makes this different is that the bot can be stored as a contact that you can reach via Facebook messenger. Whether it’s through facebook on your computer or through the application on your smartphone or tablet, the bots will be readily accessible to you. In the world of chatbots, that’s what you call a game changer.
As of December 2015, Facebook has nearly 1.6 Billion active monthly users. This significantly widens the reach that companies will have in accessing customers, or rather, in having customers access them. The application possibilities are endless and you can be sure that it will spur a whole new group of companies, if not its own industry, dedicated to developing new capabilities. Chatbots represent a whole new era of human and machine interaction and they will certainly bring sweeping changes to many customer experience programs, especially those offering social customer service.
nanorep Brings Self-Service to the Chat Bot Experience
In maintaining our position at the forefront of CX technology development, nanorep is now messenger bot ready. The system has been fully integrated to provide a seamless experience for customers using facebook messenger, delivering the power of nanorep’s self-learning knowledge base directly to the messenger interface. Brands are now able to provide customers with personalized, context relevant information in a setting that is exceptionally convenient to them. More importantly, the responses are immediate and the engagements are effortless with digital guidance available at the click of a mouse or a swipe of the finger.
