Hyped as the new apps iteration, the virtual assistant bot is the advanced and enhanced messaging platform in today’s highly connected digital era. People now spend more time on their smart devices, and organizations are offering an in-kind response by providing customer service around the clock. Though the best traits of a virtual assistant bot are dependent on the specific role of the person they’re helping, some popular features of these bots include:
Visual assistants can effectively respond to questions as accurately as you’ve programmed them to. Currently, most of them use artificial intelligence capabilities to learn from conversations and enhance interactions.
Most global business leaders are leveraging custom-made chatbots to understand the buyer’s journey, including corporate giant Levi’s and Bank of America. Small and medium enterprises now use commercially available solutions to improve operations and deliver returns and leads right out of the box.
The science behind virtual assistant bots.
As social media and messaging platforms gain popularity, these chatty communicators are currently at the center of corporate messaging. The virtual technology solution helps you drive actual revenue by motivating customers and prospects to enter the next stage of the buyer’s journey.
The software programs are intended to interact with human audiences via voice engagement or text messaging. The interaction can be a simple weather forecast query or a TV system troubleshooting request. The bots can be considered personal guides or assistants and are hosted on chat platforms like telegram, Slack, and Facebook.
A chatbot like Capacity’s LiveChat can find what you’re looking for on a website and direct you to the right page or person. Most of these questions or requests are pretty straightforward, and virtual assistants can be programmed to determine the keywords and offer an appropriate response.
The bot may have APIs and libraries that they scan for pattern matching. It can also learn over time via machine learning and artificial intelligence and offer more personalized responses. But for optimal results, you need to know what constitutes an excellent virtual assistant bot.
Types of virtual assistant bots.
There are two main types of chatbots:
- Rule-based chatbots – These are decision-tree chatbots coded with specific rules aimed at addressing particular inquiries. The system maps out potential conversations like a flowchart and provides answers to all possible questions. It uses simple or highly complex rules which don’t answer random or unrelated questions. They only answer already programmed questions.
- AI-powered chatbots – Unlike their rule-based counterparts, AI-powered virtual assistants can understand context and intent through machine learning. With time, AI-powered bots can learn from mistakes and feedback to provide more accurate responses.
What is a good virtual assistant bot?
Initially, virtual assistant bots lacked core functionalities, and target groups found these technical experts unreliable. Currently, however, the communicators are experiencing a comeback across industries thanks to tech progress. But what actually constitutes an excellent virtual assistant bot and makes it valuable?
Let’s explore.
It should make things easier.
One of the critical features of a good chatbot is situational awareness. The bot should leverage stored data to offer appropriate responses and address users’ needs with ease. It should also automate day-to-day tasks like ordering groceries or booking a hotel room. If it doesn’t save time or reduce pain and human effort, it’s not much better than any app or website.
Simple and brief interactions.
Bot conversations should be brief and straightforward for smartphone compatibility. The virtual assistant should divide the message into multiple texts, giving it a human touch. Instead of a user interface filled with graphics, a chatbot should have simple texts. It should also store conversation histories.
A human touch.
The chatbot conversation should be as fluid and seamless as a normal human conversation. This should apply whether or not the customer is notified that they’re communicating with a chatbot. Human and personal touch attributes should always be used, and a little friendliness and humor won’t hurt. Notably, you can program the bot to respond with short delays to give the impression of a thoughtful guide.
Learning abilities.
Nothing beats the frustration of having to repeat a query or statement to a virtual assistant over and over. To avoid this, the bot must be implemented through the company structure and linked to your CRM system. Doing this lets the bot filter relevant responses from your current data. The bot doesn’t have to refer the user to the support staff since it can use CRM data to answer all questions.
Extended support.
Chatbots help us complete our daily tasks and should provide the necessary details and perform vital functions for a continuous positive experience. The essential documentation and help should be available on the chatbot, and users don’t need to open other apps or sites for the necessary information. This will ensure a pleasant experience and give the impression of a reliable provider.
Ability to fail usefully.
Advanced chatbots can notice instances when a particular customer request is beyond their abilities. Any complex problem is forwarded to the human support team, and the data recorded. This allows creators to prioritize critical features in the virtual assistant’s product development.
Bot personality.
Users expect clear and straight answers when chatting with the virtual assistant bot. They want to interact with a familiar person, so it would help to give the chatbot a personality. First, determine who your virtual guide is, then decide what matches its actions and identity.
A good example of an excellent chatbot personality is Facebook’s “Poncho,” the weather chatbot that portrays a friendly, trustworthy, and knowledgeable persona. Choose a preferred communication style befitting your brand image and target audience.
The bottom line.
Virtual assistant bots are fast gaining popularity as the center of interaction between brands and their customers. Virtual assistants give your brand a face and make you readily available. They also form the foundation for your company’s conversational marketing strategy and give you insights into customer behavior.
Many companies are deploying smart chatbot solutions with AI capabilities to improve customer experience. But you need to choose the right virtual assistant solution to enjoy the full benefits.
If this is what you’re currently looking for, then you’re on the right website. Capacity is an advanced AI-powered helpdesk designed to automate support for your company personnel and clients.
