A chatbot is an artificial intelligence (AI) application placed on a website to respond to customer inquiries. It usually resembles a pop-up box into which customers can type their questions and receive fast responses from the AI.

Chatbots are used by brands across all industries. They are an ideal system for responding to common, simple queries that would otherwise “clog up” a call center or other digital channels. A chatbot can easily be programmed to respond to the following types of issues:

• Business locations
• Current business hours and safety protocols
• Product availability
• Problems with a product that needs troubleshooting
• Checking on order status

You can integrate a chatbot with your other communication channels, including a call center or digital messaging system. If the chatbot is unable to respond to a request, it can provide the customer with a link or a phone number to another source of information. You can also equip the chatbot with an autofill or autosuggest function that predicts the customers’ wants early in the interaction, making less work for them.

Chatbots provide numerous benefits to both businesses and customers:

• Instantly available all day, every day, even on weekends and holidays or in the middle of the night
• Ease of use
• Cost advantage over a traditional call center and the ability to handle many more simultaneous requests than call center agents can

OutPLEX and our best-in-class tech partners offer a wide range of software options capable of running a chatbot. Choosing the right software is important in providing the functionality you need that is compatible with systems you already use.

Once you have chosen the software that is right for you, you still need to program it to work appropriately and regularly monitor its functioning. This includes:

• Designing friendly, helpful conversations in keeping with your business’s goals and values
• Installing the software and testing it to make sure it works as anticipated
• Integrating the chatbot with your website design, making it easy to find yet unobtrusive
• Basing the bot’s initial programming on past customer interactions
• Enabling the bot to continue to improve itself with each interaction
• Providing round-the-clock troubleshooting services

Our team can help you across all aspects of choosing, installing, and using chatboxes.

For more about OutPLEX’s chatbot services and other offerings, call 1.866.531.5773 or visit us online.