Floatchat: Agent Assist Chatbots Transform Customer Service

Introduction

In recent years, chatbots have become an increasingly popular tool for delivering automated customer service. Chatbots are software programs that mimic human conversation using natural language processing. This allows customers to communicate with an artificial agent to get answers to common questions or perform simple tasks like checking an order status. The use of chatbots enables companies to provide 24/7 self-service options and take some of the burden off live customer service agents.

One type of chatbot that has really taken off is the agent assist bot. Agent assist chatbots are designed to augment human agents in customer service environments. They work side-by-side with human agents to improve efficiency and enhance the customer experience. In this article, we’ll take a deeper look at what agent assist bots are, their key capabilities, and the benefits they offer to both customers and businesses.

What are Agent Assist Chatbots?

Agent assist chatbots are artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots that are designed to work in tandem with human agents in customer service settings. They use natural language processing (NLP), machine learning and AI to understand customer questions and requests. The chatbot can then provide automated responses to common inquiries, or pass the conversation to a human agent when additional support is needed.

Unlike basic FAQ chatbots that simply provide stock answers from a knowledge base, agent assist chatbots leverage AI to have more natural, contextual conversations. They understand variations in customer questions and can ask clarifying questions if needed. The most advanced agent assist chatbots today are extremely difficult to distinguish from a human agent based on conversational ability alone.

Key Capabilities of Agent Assist Chatbots

Here are some of the key capabilities that allow agent assist chatbots to smoothly augment human agents:

• Natural language processing - To have natural conversations, the chatbot needs to understand and process human language. NLP allows the bot to analyze sentence structure, meaning and intent.

• Contextual awareness - Agent assist chatbots maintain context about the customer conversation to respond appropriately. This prevents the need to repeat information.

• Integration with business systems - The chatbot can access customer data and order/account status by integrating with backend business systems like CRM, ecommerce and support ticketing.

• Self-learning abilities - Machine learning enables the chatbot to get smarter over time. With more customer interactions, the AI keeps improving its language processing and dialog skills.

• Handover to human agents - When the customer inquiry exceeds the chatbot's abilities, it seamlessly transfers the conversation to a live agent to resolve the issue.

• Collaboration capabilities - Agent assist bots can provide information and recommendations to human agents in real time to help them respond to customers.

Key Benefits of Agent Assist Chatbots

Deploying an agent assist chatbot offers a number of important benefits for both businesses and their customers:

Benefits for Businesses

• Increased efficiency - Common and repetitive customer inquiries are handled automatically by the bot, freeing up agents to focus on more complex issues.

• Lower support costs - Reducing the volume of inquiries handled by human agents drives significant savings in support costs.

• Improved accuracy - Bots consistently provide accurate, approved answers according to knowledge base content. This avoids variability compared to human agents.

• Increased scalability - Chatbots allow you to easily scale your customer service operation by reducing reliance on hiring more agents.

• Enhanced data insights - With all interactions tracked, businesses gain useful customer data to spot trends and identify areas for improvement.

Benefits for Customers

• Immediate support - Customers get quick answers from the chatbot without waiting for an agent to become available.

• 24/7 availability - Bots provide seamless self-service around the clock. No more waiting until business hours.

• Fast resolution - Simple requests like checking an order status or resetting a password are handled efficiently by the bot.

• Consistent experience - Customers get consistent, accurate responses instead of varying answers based on different agents.

• Personalized service - Intelligent chatbots can provide customized recommendations and tailor responses to match customer needs.

Key Features to Look for in Agent Assist Chatbots

Here are some key features to look for if you’re considering implementing an agent assist chatbot:

• Natural language processing capabilities – The chatbot should effectively understand language, grammar and sentiment.

• Self-learning through artificial intelligence – Look for machine learning and neural networks to improve conversations over time.

• Customization options – Choose a platform that allows you to tailor the bot to your specific business needs.

• Analytics and reporting – Track chatbot usage metrics and gather data to optimize the customer experience.

• Omnichannel integration – Make sure the chatbot works seamlessly across your website, mobile apps and messaging platforms.

• Customer handover abilities – The bot should be able to automatically transfer conversations to live agents when needed.

• Security features – Data encryption and user authentication ensure customer information stays protected.

• Cloud-based architecture – Cloud hosting enables easier deployment and maintenance without expensive hardware.

• API integration – APIs allow connecting the chatbot to crucial business systems like inventory, CRM and support ticketing tools.

Leading Agent Assist Chatbot Platforms

Many technology companies now provide sophisticated platforms for building and deploying agent assist chatbots. Here are a few of the top platforms available:

• IBM Watson Assistant –ibm watson leverages AI and NLP to create conversational chatbots for a human-like customer experience.

• Bold360 AI Assistant – This chatbot lives side-by-side with human agents, providing them with the information they need.

• Ada Support – Ada focuses on building AI specifically for customer service with deep integration options.

• Chatfuel Agent Assist – Designed to help support agents respond to inquiries more efficiently with AI capabilities.

• UJET Agent Assist –Allows agents to leverage UJET’s smart contact center platform to augment their abilities.

• LivePerson Agent AI – Uses AI and automation to assist agents and personalize customer experiences.

• Kore.ai Assist – Empowers live agents with an AI-powered virtual assistant for sales conversations.

• Juji Support – Enables creating a personalized bot with advanced dialog management skills.

Implementing a Successful Agent Assist Chatbot

Developing and launching an effective agent assist chatbot takes thoughtful planning and preparation:

• Clearly define goals – What customer service scenarios make sense for automation? Set targets for containment rate and deflection volume.

• Develop clear dialog flows – Map out the likely conversational paths between users and the bot. Program dialogs to handle various scenarios.

• Integrate with business systems – Connect to your knowledge base, CRM, ecommerce platform and other systems to get the data needed.

• Test extensively – Thorough testing is crucial to catch errors and improve the conversational abilities. Continuously test new dialog scripts.

• Start small – Launch the chatbot on a limited basis to gather feedback. Slowly expand to more customer touchpoints after making improvements.

• Optimize over time – Monitor chatbot usage metrics closely and tweak dialogs. Use logged conversations to identify weak points.

• Keep humans in the loop – Even the best bots have limitations. Make it easy for customers to be transferred to agents when needed.

The Future of Agent Assist Chatbots

Agent assist chatbots have already become a vital customer service channel. But there are still major innovations on the horizon that will expand the capabilities of agent assist bots even further.

As artificial intelligence and natural language processing continue to evolve, chatbots will become smarter and more conversational. Multilingual chatbots will allow providing service in languages beyond English. Chatbots integrated with technologies like optical character recognition can understand complex product manuals or documentation to address customer queries.

In the future, agent assist bots could even analyze facial expressions, sentiment and emotions during customer conversations using advanced image recognition. This would enable detecting frustration, confusion or urgency from customers. The bot could then adapt its responses or transfer the customer to ensure satisfaction.

Businesses should keep an eye on the latest chatbot innovations and look to quickly adopt those that improve automated customer service. Companies who leverage agent assist chatbots today will have a competitive advantage as the technology matures in the years ahead.