Chatbots are smarter and more communicative, and they will drive the evolution of customer service

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By Prashant Choudhari

Effective communication today has become a core necessity in the business-customer interaction space. With engagement as a prime focus area, technology provides multiple means of interacting with customers. One of the most important contemporary means of interaction is the use of chatbots to engage customers in a natural, conversational manner.

What’s most interesting is that users don’t have to install a new app to get their queries answered any more. Chatbots are now being hosted on popular chat outlets that users already have on their phone and spend a lot of time on. This allows businesses to connect with their audience on platforms they prefer the most; ensuring a seamless interaction.

Frontend customer service

The customer service industry presents the best use case scenarios for chatbots to elucidate their abilities. Chatbots are able to effectively utilize the classic 80-20 rule in the industry i.e. the fact that 80 percent of questions asked are similar and can be answered by 20 percent of the prepared responses, to cut down on response times and enable resources to be focused elsewhere. Despite the inherent need for human intervention in cases where the bot is unable to understand the nature of the inquiry, this system enables customer service to remain streamlined and operate smoothly.

Guide to solution/information

Another means by which chatbots can imitate human interaction is in the case of troubleshooting. Traditional search engines adopt a unidirectional approach towards information searches, placing the onus on the users to constantly refine searches through trial and error. Chatbots bypass this by initiating conversations with users, thereby allowing the solution to be found faster and more intuitively. The Singapore govt. Bot is a good example of this.

Replacement for FAQs

In addition to this, they also replace FAQ sections by incorporating them into their information database and thus becoming the singular destination for all doubts. This advantage allows core institutions such as banks to dispense frequently inquired information such as account creation and closure, interest rates and transaction details effectively without wastage of resources.

Go beyond text

Finally, one of the greatest advantages chatbots possess is their blend of voice and visual elements. AI technology has progressed in the contemporary scenario to enable chatbots to not only possess the required information but to also present it in a manner that resembles human interaction closely. By utilizing relatable names, avatars and vocalization software, chatbots are better able to engage with a wide variety of users based on their means of information access and communication preferences.

The future of customer service will primarily revolve around the evolution of AI and will follow where the customers are. Customer service experience will also be much more personalized and proactive, where problems are detected and mitigated before they happen. Another area of innovation will be when AI meets mobile robots (like Asus Zenbo), which will take customer service from the virtual world to the physical world.

Most Bot applications today are specialized, i.e. they do a good job in one or few scenarios, like answering an FAQ or retrieving bank details. These are what is known as Weak AI. In the future, the explosion of data through channels like IoT and cheaper computations will enable building of intelligent systems which can learn a new topic like humans do. This is known as Strong AI (or Artificial General Intelligence). In addition, advances in fields like Speech and Natural Language processing, motion/gesture/emotion detection, etc. will enable machines to interact increasingly like humans.

The author is a principal program manager at Microsoft India (R&D) Pvt Ltd. He contributes to the engineering of Microsoft Bot Framework and other cognitive service offerings.

Publish date: April 10, 2017 10:49 am| Modified date: April 10, 2017 10:49 am

Microsoft opens up Cortana to developers and manufacturers with Skills Kit and Devices SDK

By tech2 News Staff /  14 Dec 2016 , 17:39

Microsoft is extending the capabilities of its artificial intelligence assistant, Cortana to new devices and developers. Microsoft announced a Skills Kit and a Cortana Devices SDK. The Skills Kit is to add capabilities to Cortana across the platforms that it is available on, including Windows, iOS and Android. The devices SDK will allow Cortana integration into a new generation of smart devices. Developers and Device Manufacturers can sign up to get access and updates as Microsoft moves the capabilities out of private preview.

The Cortana Skills Kit allows users to integrate capabilities with Cortana using chatbots created for the Microsoft Bot Framework. The web services offered by companies can be published as a skill on Cortana through the Skills Kit. There is also a facility to re-purpose existing code for Amazon’s Alexa. Early partners have already integrated skills into Cortana. These include Knowmail that uses Cortana to prioritise emails based on habits of individual users, Capital One that facilitates money management through a voice interface, Expedia that allows users to book hotels, and TalkLocal that can connect to local services based on user requests.

The voice based services can potentially be used by the premium smart speaker by Harman Kardon with Cortana Integration, that is expected to be available in 2017.

The Cortana Devices SDK will allow for third party Original Equipment Manufacturers and Original Device Manufacturers to integrate Cortana into their product offerings. The Devices SDK is platform and device independent, designed to make Cortana unbound, and work on any platform or device. Microsoft is already working with many industries across various hardware categories. One exciting tease from Microsoft is that it is working to get Cortana on at least one connected car. Cortana is included in the Core edition of the Windows IoT platform, which allows the assistant to be embedded in IoT devices.

The Cortana Skills Kit and the Cortana Devices SDK are in private preview as of now, and will be available more broadly in 2017.

Telegram adds pinned chats, IFTTT integration and more Android-oriented features

By tech2 News Staff /  08 Dec 2016 , 13:10

Telegram 3.15 update has just landed, and it allows users to keep track of important conversations, as well as IFTTT integration with over 360 services.

The pinned chat feature allows users to select up to five important conversations, and have them appear in a predictable order on top of the chat window. This means that the spammy group with hundreds of members will not hide the one important message from your mom or your boss. One of the reasons Telegram integrated pinned chats is to allow professional teams to keep track of work related conversations. Apart from five regular chats, five secret chats can be pinned to the top as well.

If this then that (IFTTT) allows users to connect one service to another, opening up a wide range of functionalities. There is now an IFTTT bot for Telegram, that can be summoned to integrate conversational commands to over 360 services. Telegram is one of the few services that allows for two way integration, so you can pull in updates, as well as push out commands. The IFTTT bot can be invoked in a group conversation as well.

Twitter, Instagram, Gmail, Spotify, DropBox and Google Drive are some of the applets available for use through Telegram. Home automation capabilities are also included with support for Hue bulbs by Phillips, and devices by LIFX or Nest. Telegram can notify you whenever you are mentioned on Twitter, or an important email lands in your inbox. You can automatically send an image to a group every time you post on Instagram. Tracks from your Spotify playlist can be shared in groups or individual chats. You can set up your Telegram channel to automatically tweet out new posts.

Following allegations by Android users that Telegram favors iOS, Telegram added a slew of Android oriented features and performance optimisations in the 3.14 update. For the 3.15 update, there are more features meant just for Android users. Photos can now be edited to rotate to any number of degrees, allowing users to straighten their images before sharing on the Telegram app.

A picture-in-picture mode for Vimeo and YouTube videos allows users to continue chatting even when watching a video. The control for the picture in picture mode is available in the newer, sleeker integrated video player. While Telegram does not allow users to forward messages from secret chats, it is now possible to forward content and chat from other conversations into secret chats.

At least one more update is expected to land before the end of the year.

Google updates AdWords to let businesses chat with customers through advertisements

By tech2 News Staff /  19 Oct 2016 , 13:33

Messaging is a convenient platform for both businesses and customers to interact.Facebook, Google and Microsoft have all promoted the untapped potential of conversations during developer conferences held over the course of this year.

For businesses, it gives a direct line of communication with the customer. The customer can participate whenever they can afford the time and attention, and continue the conversation later.

Google has announced a new feature for advertisements shown in search results, that allows businesses to chat with their customers. For those businesses that use the feature, there will be a messaging option shown below the calling option attached to the advertisements. On tapping the chat bubble icon, a pre-generated text message selected by the business opens the conversation.

Google consumer surveys conducted in US, Canada, Australia and UK show that sixty five percent of consumers are open to the idea of texting with a business to get information or schedule an appointment.

The new feature is called click-to-message ads. A select few partners are already using the service. Gavin Chan, Digital Marketing Manager of AnyVan says “Click-to-message is a useful tool that allows consumers to engage with our business in a way that’s comfortable and efficient for them. They could be on their commute or in a rush, so they can text us quickly through click-to-message. It’s also a good medium to get questions answered that aren’t addressed on our website, or to reach us during hours when our office is closed.”

Gavin Parker, Paid Search Manager, Auto & General says “The results from click-to-message have been phenomenal and we’ve seen a 80 percent higher conversion rate when compared to other similar channels. We can now tap into an important consumer base that prefers to use SMS to learn more about our insurance products.”

Businesses can integrate chat with their advertising by setting up message extensions. The feature is expected to roll out over the course of the next few weeks. The click-to-message feature will be available to advertisers at no extra cost.

The problem with the feature as of now is that it triggers an SMS interaction. A better implementation is to integrate with the more common instant messaging applications such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Messenger. The feature could potentially tie into existing chatbots by the businesses on these platforms. SMS is an outdated and expensive form of chatting, and is bound to be less engaging as an instant messaging application.