Learn about the power of conversational AI to boost efficiency and improve your business outcomes
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation are all hot topics in today’s business world. In fact, most businesses are either considering or already using these technologies in some form.
Conversational AI is a powerful automation technology combining all three, and it has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. You may have heard about it, and you’ve certainly interacted with it, whether it’s via a virtual assistant (think Siri and Alexa), or via a chatbot for an online store.
But is it right for your business?
In this article, we break down what conversational AI is, some key factors you should consider when choosing whether to use it and the main benefits it can have for a range of different industries. Read on to learn more.
What is conversational AI?
In essence, conversational AI is a technology that enables computers to interact with human users in a simple, understandable, and natural way.
A good example of conversational AI in action would be in a virtual assistant, such as the instant messaging interfaces that pop up on some websites to answer your questions. AI powers these virtual agents and allows you to chat with them in a similar way to how you would another human.
In the past, virtual assistants were more like interactive FAQ sections, providing a predefined set of responses to a fixed range of inputs. These types of interactions are useful to some extent, but they can quickly become useless when inputs are too complex or the requests are not recognized. This can end up frustrating users and having a negative impact on business.
Conversational AI acts as a ‘brain’ for virtual assistants, helping them to understand a far wider range of inputs and queries, offer more relevant replies, and provide an overall more natural conversational experience.
Additionally, AI can enhance the capabilities of virtual assistants to integrate with other IT systems and provide more useful functionality for users.
In short, conversational AI can help you automate, simplify, and improve key interactions and processes.
Reasons to consider conversational AI for your business
Conversational AI is highly versatile, so there’s a good chance it could be beneficial to your business, even if you’ve never considered using it. If any of the following apply to you, it could be a good indication that conversational AI technology could provide the solution you’re looking for.
Customer experience problems
Are you concerned that customers struggle to navigate your services and get help as quickly as they should? Well, these kinds of issues can have a serious negative impact on the customer experience, This can, in turn, lead to lower customer satisfaction and lower retention, both of which can impact your bottom line.
Employee dissatisfaction
It’s not just customers you need to worry about, but your employees too. Do your workers often have to deal with repetitive tasks, simple procedures, and short, regular customer interactions? This type of work can be very unsatisfying, leading to a negative employee experience.
Lack of joined-up services
With the plethora of software and digital services used by modern businesses, things can become disconnected and confusing very quickly for both customers and employees. If you feel that your IT systems and services could benefit from being more interlinked, then conversational AI could be the solution.
Overreliance on outdated support models
Traditional support models, such as call center-based support, are useful and, in some cases, indispensable. However, it’s common for businesses to over-rely on these, frankly, outdated setups, leading to inefficiency, high costs, slower resolution of issues, and overworked employees.
A diverse customer base
The more diverse your customer base is, the more challenging it can be to effectively communicate with them, and for them to communicate with you. For example, if you operate across multiple countries with different time zones, languages, and different services/products, then it can be very difficult and expensive to provide effective support. Conversational AI could be the accessible, joined-up solution to these challenges.
What should you look for in a conversational AI solution?
- Go-to-market speed
- Simplicity for the users
- Accuracy of intent recognition
- NLP training
- Deployment options for the solution
- Data reporting capabilities
- Integrations
- Accessibility
When looking for a conversational AI solution, it can be difficult to know what exactly to look for. The market is full of different products, so choosing what’s the best fit for your business is not always a clear process. The following criteria can help you narrow down the options:
- Deployment speed – Can the platform be set up and put into use quickly enough?
- Customizability – Is it possible to tailor the platform to suit the unique demands of your operation?
- Versatility – Can the platform be used in a variety of different business contexts?
- Integrations – Will you be able to integrate the platform into some of your existing IT systems and services?
- Accessibility – Will your full customer base and workforce be able to easily access the platform?
- Usability – Is the platform easy enough to use for customers and employees? Does it require excessive training?
Industry use case examples
Conversational AI virtual assistants can be successfully deployed in almost any industry, provided that the solution is properly customized for each deployment. Some examples of common industries and use cases are:
Insurance
- Automating customer support
- Handling claims processing
- Customer onboarding
- Upselling and cross-selling
- Document retrieval
- Payments
Healthcare
- Offering advice to patients
- Scheduling appointments
- Information/document retrieval
- Automated customer support
Finance
- Making payments and deposits
- Checking account status
- Retrieving bank statements/information
- Customer onboarding
- Upselling services
- Automated customer support
Ecommerce
- Automated customer support
- Handling returns
- Taking payments
- Checking inventories
- Making product suggestions
A conversational AI assistant for your organization and customers
AI virtual assistants, or AI chatbots, quickly and reliably automate key interactions and processes to improve efficiency and business outcomes.
Skil.AI’s virtual assistant—Lisa—is a tailored conversational AI solution that can be deployed into any organization for rapid results. Lisa’s transformative features include:
- Omnichannel access (WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS, Email, and more)
- Automatic multi-language detection and transition
- Voice detection
- Seamless integration with your existing IT systems
With multinational clients spanning banking, insurance, retail, and a wide range of other industries, Skil can fast-track your digital transformation and facilitate greater operational efficiency, higher productivity, improved customer satisfaction, and much more.
Talk to our team today to learn how Lisa could help your business.