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| tabletop assistant by Matthew Hurst, Licensed under (CC BY-SA 2.0) |
There's no doubt. The chatbots are here! While there's no stopping more companies from deploying chatbots to manage the influx of inquiries and customer contact, we can't help but wonder how much they have been helping the business industry and how they fare as far as consumers user experience metrics are concerned.
There are two types of chatbots:
AI-based chatbots can learn and become smarter as they gain more experience. Based on the knowledge they've accumulated, they can respond depending on the situation or context. They can evaluate and interact with complex human behaviours. The intelligence of these chatbots allows for positive user experience, and at times, amusing.
A pretty good example is Sephora’s Sephora bot that matches lip colour by estimating the shade in any photo or H & M’s chatbot that is designed to provide clothing recommendations and outfit inspirations using quizzes and customer’s style preferences.
The other type is called Fixed Chatbots. They are programmed for specific functions and therefore, aren't capable of providing help in complicated situations. They may be useful where there is a limitation in customers' access and where a specific number of tasks are required to be performed.
WHAT CHATBOTS OFFER
Chatbots were designed to ease the volume of customers that need to be attended within minimal waiting time in the most effective manner and the least cost possible. This was probably how chatbots were envisioned when they were created.
1. Cost Reduction - Chatbots can interact with customers, answer queries and perform specific requests without the need for manpower. This leads to reduced operational costs and offers tremendous potential for cost savings in the long term.
2. 24-7 Availability - Chatbots can attend to queries anytime. Automated assistance becomes available to customers even outside of business hours. During the day, businesses can reach out to these customers to provide a seamless experience as the case requires, and increase their chance of converting those leads which could have otherwise contacted the competitor.
3. Automated Learning and Updating - Chatbots are designed to learn and update themselves based on their interactions, eliminating the need for education and training which is the case with human assistants.
4. Multitasking - Chatbots are able to perform multiple tasks and answer simultaneous queries without affecting their effectiveness and accuracy. This could otherwise be a limitation with a human support in place. It only means that no customer will have to wait up to be attended even when there is a surge in customers contacting the helpline.
THE LIMITATIONS OF CHATBOTS
In real life situations, there are many limitations that have been observed with chatbots.
- Complex Functions - Chatbots were somehow designed to be an all-in-one assistant with many functions. In the same manner, a computer may lag with tasks and show slow performance when there are too many programs installed, being read and analysed.
- bots have difficulty to understand and cope with users’ requirements.
- they tend to forget the conversation a few minutes ago
- unable to filter results due to poor processing
- all these give the impression of being unnatural and ineffective
2. Inability to Understand - Chatbots are programmed with specific data so that they analyse, interact and provide information. When there is a knowledge gap, chatbots may be unable to satisfy a query or multiple queries.
3. Time-Consuming - When bots are unable to give a precise answer, the customer tends to ask more and therefore, leads to a long thread of exchanges where no real answer or solution is provided. This can be frustrating for customers.
4. Installation Costs - Chatbots are meant to save businesses the cost of manpower with its ability to handle volumes of queries from customers and perform myriad of tasks. However, to be able to cope with the fast-changing demands of the business, it may require regular installation of updates for it to align with the company’s initiatives and goals.
5. No Decision Making Skills - Lack of decision-making skills due to flaws or limitations in chatbots’ programs can earn them a bad reputation from customers and worse, hurt your brand instead of helping it build a good image.
We cannot deny that chatbots have added value in many business areas, but the fact remains that there is a vast opportunity for improving their potentials based on what they have been envisioned to be (cost-effective, intelligent in wide areas of businesses, ability to understand natural language and communicate within context). In reality, constant updating and improvement are required if bots are to keep up with the ever-evolving demands of various applications.
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