Customer Communication with Chatbots: What Exactly Is Conversational AI?
How to Automate Your Customer Communication with Chatbots!
Artificial intelligence has reached a stage where people can effortlessly interact with automated systems or conversational interfaces, such as chatbots or voice assistants.
ResearchAndMarket estimates that the global conversational AI market will grow from USD 4.8 billion in 2020 to USD 13.9 billion in 2025.
This highlights the immense importance that conversational AI already holds and will continue to hold in the future. In this guest post, you will learn about the benefits chatbots offer, key tips to keep in mind, and how Onlim can support you in implementing conversational AI.
What Does “Conversational AI” Actually Mean and How Does It Work?
Conversational AI refers to applications of AI technologies that enable automated, natural-language dialogues via systems such as chatbots or voice assistants. A German translation of the term might be “Konversations-KI” or “KI-gestützte, automatisierte Dialogsysteme.” As with most innovative technological concepts, however, the English term has become standard in German-speaking regions.
Conversational AI is operating successfully when a user can ask a question—whether via text or voice—and receive a natural-language response in real time that delivers precisely the requested information.
How Do Companies Benefit from Chatbots?
Leveraging the advantages of an intelligent, automated, and 24/7-available communication channel, more and more companies are deploying chatbots to engage in dialogue with customers and prospects alongside phone and email.
Particularly this year and last year, chatbots have proven their value, demonstrating the significant contribution they make, for instance in times of crisis, and how effectively they can manage massive surges in communication and information demand. Additionally, businesses benefit not only from automated 24/7 customer service, but also from higher engagement rates on their websites, automated lead generation, and efficient resource allocation.
Specifically, deploying chatbots allows companies to accommodate their customers’ communication habits, provide relevant information at the right touchpoints, and thereby deliver a personalized and intuitive customer experience. Furthermore, chatbots offer a wide range of use cases spanning customer service, marketing, sales, and HR, and are not limited to any single industry.
From the user’s perspective, data also indicates that interest in using chatbots as well as overall customer satisfaction are increasing through the use of AI and automation.
Which Tips Should You Consider?
1. Discover the Potential of Chatbots for Your Business
First, evaluate whether a chatbot truly makes sense for your organization. If it does, choose a suitable and viable use case based on what your business aims to achieve and what users would appreciate as a solution. We will be glad to support you throughout this process.
2. Start Small, but Keep the Full Potential in Sight
Start small with your chatbot deployment, experiment, and learn so that you can scale the project later. However, do not assume that a basic FAQ-based chatbot will suffice indefinitely. Over time, your chatbot will certainly require more advanced capabilities.
3. Rely on Modern Knowledge Management and Build Better Chatbots with Knowledge Graphs
Data plays a more critical role in the business world than ever before. Every organization possesses vast amounts of data and information scattered across manuals, databases, and guidelines.
Knowledge graphs can help bring structure to this information chaos and extract relevant insights from this continuously growing stream of data. They establish the foundation for a comprehensive transformation process that will fundamentally reshape the way we retrieve information and manage knowledge.
4. Build Trust Within the Team
Implementing chatbots in the workplace is a major change and rarely occurs without opposition. There are those who doubt the technology’s ability to handle the tasks, and those who fear it will eliminate their roles. Change management and governance are crucial, yet often overlooked, areas when deploying conversational AI.
Friction sometimes arises when a chatbot solution is perceived as being managed by another part of the company, such as IT rather than customer service. Leaders must therefore communicate clearly how chatbots will assist existing staff in performing their jobs more effectively by freeing up time to focus on more complex tasks.
5. Act Now!
Organizations that start early may make a few more mistakes, but they can secure a significant competitive edge. Mastering this technology requires an organizational learning process that every business must embed over time. Late adopters might enter the market on a more mature platform, but there are no shortcuts to organizational learning. Consequently, those who wait will find themselves trailing far behind the pioneers.
How Can Onlim Support You in Implementing Conversational AI?
Conversational AI—and particularly chatbots and voice assistants—is more than just a new tool. It represents a comprehensive transformation process that permanently changes the way we retrieve information and manage knowledge.
With Onlim, customers benefit from an integrated platform for conversational AI, knowledge graphs, analytics, and multichannel connectivity to voice assistants, phone bots, and chatbots. Additionally, a wide array of pre-integrated data and services is available as knowledge sources.
Founded in 2015, Onlim is now recognized as one of the leading conversational AI providers in the DACH region. Its broad and prominent customer base across various sectors establishes Onlim not only as a technology specialist, but also as domain experts for diverse applications. As a spin-off of the University of Innsbruck, Onlim’s technology is built on state-of-the-art research and technical excellence.
Would you also like to automate your customer communication, or do you have questions about a potential chatbot implementation?
Behind Onlim, the latest IACBOX technology partner, are semantic web pioneers and conversational AI experts.
Author: As Chief Revenue Officer at Onlim, Marc Isop, Mag., is responsible for all marketing and sales activities. He has worked as a consultant and in executive positions in the software and internet industries for 20 years, bringing to Onlim the experience of delivering more than 100 enterprise chatbot solutions for major clients across various sectors.