Chatbot

What is a chatbot?

A customer service chatbot is an artificial intelligence (AI) solution designed to simulate conversations between companies and customers via automated responses through preconfigured chat flows. It can interact through text or voice, providing automated responses to user inquiries, performing tasks, and guiding users through various processes. The benefits of chatbot include: - 

1. Higher efficiency as it handles multiple customer inquiries simultaneously, reducing wait times and improving service efficiency. 
2. Consistent customer service as it provides consistent responses, ensuring uniform customer service quality. 
3. Cost-effective as it reduces the need for extensive human support, lowering operational costs. 
4. Scalability as it can easily scale to handle increased customer inquiries without additional staffing. 

 How do chatbots work?  

Now that you understand what a chatbot is, let’s understand how it works: - 

1. Collect user input 

When the user sends a question or issue, the chatbot first receives it through customer service channels like a website, app or social media platform. In the case of voice-enabled chatbots or voicebots, the input is received through a phone call.  

2. Understand input using natural language processing 

With advanced AI-based algorithms like natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU), the chatbot then processes the user’s query.  

3. Draft a response to the issue 

Once the chatbot understands the message fully, it employs a predefined set of rules to formulate a suitable response. These responses are based on patterns and data the chatbot has been trained on.   

4. Send the response to the user 

The chatbot then sends the response to the user, completing the interaction. The system then waits for the next response or sends a quick customer survey to rate the interaction, collect feedback and continuously improve the quality of conversations.