A chatbot is a computer program that behaves like a human chatbot (self-programmed) which engages users in a chat-based activity. As such, it can be considered as the next generation of chatbot technology (self-programmed artificial intelligent computer programs). A chatbot is basically an artificially intelligent computer program (self-programmed) that interacts with users in chat based activity through various messaging applications, chat sites, online chat platforms or by using the phone. But from a technical point of view, such a chatbot only represent the emerging of a Question Answering platform using artificial intelligence. The chatbot may also interpret the user’s questions and suggest appropriate solutions to those questions. The chatbot basically acts as a personal assistant or a personal digital assistant (PDA) on steroids.
In other words, the chatbot becomes an instant and real life personal assistant ready to take up the responsibility of conducting business with the customer. There are various advantages of using chat Bots as compared to manual chat assistants or web chat application developers: The chat bots are easy to customize according to the requirements of the customer; for instance, some popular chat Bots are user friendly enough to allow the customer to choose between several predefined layout styles and window configurations. Some chat Bots allow the user to specify custom backgrounds, logos, icon sets and even color schemes. This ensures that the chatbot gives a consistent and intuitive experience across the different web browsers and chat platforms.
On the other hand, the chatbot marketing platform is very easy to use and install and has no complex backend or GUI. All you need to do is install the chatbot marketing software and get started with your marketing campaign. Apart from its ease of usage, another advantage of using chat bots is the cost effectiveness. Chat Bots are generally less expensive than the in-house web marketing platforms. The biggest disadvantage of chat bots however, is that they do not provide the personalized service that web based marketing platforms offer.
When using chat bots, you have to constantly monitor the conversations going on between your customer and your chat bot. In addition to this, the chatbot platform provides no support whatsoever to your customers. So even if a problem arises with the chatbot platform, the customer is left high and dry without any help. Another disadvantage of chat bots is that it does not offer any customer support whatsoever and hence most customers tend to opt for web based chat platform over chatbot ones.
However, there are chatbots that work well with both web and mobile devices. These chat bots allow the customer to chat with the bot in their mobile browser while they chat with the bot in their desktop browser. The chatbot platform also enables the customer to chat back and forth between their mobile and desktop computers. This feature makes it easier for the customer to get in touch with you even when they are traveling abroad.
These chat bots also allow the user to make comments on the products and services that they are provided with. If your business offers advice on the usage of a particular product, then you can let your customers chat with the chat bots as they use the voice chat feature to offer their feedback. The feedback offered by the chat bots will be unbiased and genuine and will help you improve your product or service in accordance to the requirements of your customers. There are chatbots that offer live chat support to answer any questions that your customers might ask.
Siri – Another artificial intelligent chatbot that is becoming hugely popular amongst chat users is called Siri. It is a chatbot developed by Apple for their iPhone 4. When your iPhone connects to the Wi-Fi of your laptop, it starts searching for information on the Internet and any search that it finds will appear on the home screen. This feature helps in providing search results that are not based on any geographical location, but based on personal preference.
All these chat bots help you in providing the best service to your online customers. You can start using chat Bots for your marketing needs at any time through an online website or application. These chat bots can be bought from any of the leading software stores and are easy to install and integrate into your marketing system for a hassle-free operation.