An AI chatbot is a computer program than can have a conversation with a human by text or audibly. An effective chatbot can simulate how a person would behave during a conversation. They are best used in simple practical purposes like customer service and information request. One such chatbot is the Zendesk Guide Answer Bot.

The Zendesk Guide Answer Bot is designed to give agents a helping hand to reduce their work and allow them to focus on more complicated work, which requires a human touch. The Answer Bot can, for example, resolve tickets by suggesting relevant articles to customers while they wait for an agent. It can also learn from each customer interaction and train itself to deliver more relevant and customized content. The Answer Bot is also a great tool for engaging users and improving brand image.

Chatbots are the next evolution of customer service technology. They are gaining popularity as companies of all sizes are recognizing their multitude of benefits, which include driving higher conversions, deflecting low-priority tickets and saving costs. Even though traditional support channels, such as phone and email, are still effective, messaging and chat apps are slowly becoming a preferred way of communication. Chatbots are estimated to power 85% of customer interactions by 2020.

Chatbots can be used for specific purposes such as fielding FAQs, pointing visitors to FAQ pages and informing customers with useful information, like shipping and tax policies. Another big benefit of chatbots, is that they get better over time. Companies can see what questions the bot has failed to answer and program necessary information into it.

Many companies fear that automated customer service takes away from customer experience. However, chatbots are becoming advanced enough that they can use data to personalize their customer interactions. This keeps the customer experience at a high level, because customers are receiving customized service, even if it’s from a bot.

In the future, AI in chatbots will continue to develop. They might eventually be able to handle every detail that goes into live chat support such as documenting conversations and escalating difficult requests to the right customer service agent. Chatbots aren’t just about performing tasks quickly, they’re also about making the human agents around them faster and more efficient.

Source: Zendesk