What Are Chatbots and Why You May Want to Use Them

The estimated reading time for this post is 4 minutes

The Wonder of Tech is pleased to welcome guest author Anush Fernandes who explains what chatbots are and the advantages of using them.

As technology becomes a bigger part of our daily lives, we may find we’re using tech even more than we realize. We know when we’re skipping the line for the teller at a bank and going to the cash machine instead. But we may not realize when our discussions with customer service have been with a chatbot instead of a human being.

Chatbots have become a must-have for the modern marketplace. And it’s easy to see why.

Chatbots help companies interact with customers, handle customer issues and answer questions. Instead of waiting on hold to talk to a live person, your call may be taken immediately by a chatbot who can solve your problem quickly and efficiently.

What Is a Chatbot

So what is a chatbot? If you don’t know what a chatbot is, you’re not alone. But you may be familiar with chatbot’s bigger brothers, Virtual Assistants — the Alexas, Google Homes and Siris of the world.

A chatbot is a piece of software that aims to replicate human speech and conversation, in order to help actual human beings.

For example, a customer may say, “I’d like to return this box of cereal I bought yesterday because the packaging is damaged.”

As a human, a customer service representative automatically breaks down the above statement into its different components.

They know what problem is (damaged packaging), they know that the object is (box of cereal), they know when the product was bought (yesterday) and they know what to replace it with (another box of cereal).

If any additional information was needed, they’d ask the customer a question to get that information.

A chatbot breaks down sentences in a similar way.

Think about the customer service journey as an adventure video game. The hero starts at the beginning, with no items. The goal for the hero is to clear the level, but to do so requires four jewels. Only when he has the four jewels, can he move on to the next level. If he has only three, he has to keep searching till he finds the fourth.

For a chatbot, the jewels are as previously mentioned. To move on to the step of completing a return, the bot needs the problem jewel, the object jewel, the time jewel, and the detail jewel.

If it doesn’t have one of the jewels, it will ask the customer a question to clarify, thereby collecting that jewel.

Once the chatbot has all of the information/jewels, it can begin to solve the problem.

Why Businesses May Need to Use Chatbots

But why would a business use chatbots?

With people shopping more on the Internet, companies across the world are having a big problem.

Customer Support.

Let me explain.

All of us have had issues with something we’ve purchased online, at some point in time.

But unlike something you purchased in a store, you can’t just walk back in to an online store and return what you bought.

You need to talk to someone from the online store, either by online chat, email or telephone.

Now think about all the stuff you may buy over the Internet. Food from UberEats, tickets on StubHub, medicines from CVS, video games from Steam, gift cards from Starbucks, airline tickets on Expedia, and pretty much anything from Amazon,.

Unlike a regular store, where there may only be customers when the store is open, online stores can have millions of visitors at any time of day or night. Thousands of customers could be trying to ask questions at the same time.

Imagine having a thousand employees talking to a thousand people trying to ask questions at the same time. It’d be very expensive and perhaps even a bit chaotic. There may be a long wait on hold for customers.

To tackle these problems, companies have started using chatbots.

Where You Can Use Chatbots

So where can you use chatbots?

Well, lots of places. You can use a chatbot to order a pizza, talk to Disney characters, or even get the news. Insomnobot 3000 can chat with you if you can’t fall asleep. Botlist is a website that lists companies with chatbots available on Facebook Messenger.

Check out Ometrics 2019 List of Fun Chatbots

It is almost entirely possible you’ve talked to a chatbot before, and just not realized it. But now when you are chatting with a chatbot, you know you’re a part of the digital revolution.

Your Thoughts

Have you ever interacted with a chatbot (that you know of)? Do you like the value a chatbot can bring to customer service? Would you prefer to speak to a human being in customer service, even if it meant waiting on hold?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

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*Chatbot icon (edited) courtesy of Farbentek via FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Creative Commons

**We Love Our Customers image courtesy of David Frison IV via Reshot and Creative Commons

Anush Fernandes loves Canines, Chatbots, and Curry. Stephen or otherwise.