Are chatbots the future of customer service?

1Oxford Professional Education Group Ltd

Are Chatbots the Future of Customer Service?

Red Barrington


About Me

• Digital Marketer with over 15 years’ experience.

• Worked with brands such as Vodafone, Sainsbury’s and Dell.

• Course level manager at the Oxford College of Marketing.

• Based in Oxfordshire, UK


What is a Chatbot?

A computer program that simulates human conversation, or chat, through artificial intelligence.


Current Customer Service Interactions

1. Find contact info of company through the Internet

2. Call contact number

3. Navigate through a sequence of touchtones or semi-functional speech recognition steps

4. Wait on hold until a specialist is available

5. Step through a sequence of verificationsto make sure it is truly you who is calling

6. Get told you need to talk with a different representative and get put on hold while you are transferred

7. Finally, get an answer to your question


The Chatbot Experience

• Open a Messenger platform and search for the business name using its “handle”

• Start the conversation by making a request

• Receive rich media feedback (text + images + hyperlinks + voice) that answer your question


Chatbots Have Been Around For a While…

• In 1966 computer scientist named Joseph Weizenbaum published ELIZA

• In 2000, SmarterChild was created – an instant messaging personal agent


Why Are Chatbots Suddenly a Hot Topic?

Convergence of three things:

1. High mobile penetration

2. Rise of messenger apps

3. Rapid advances in AI


Why Are Chatbots Suddenly a Hot Topic?

• Facebook launched Bots for Messenger at their recent F8 conference

• Businesses can now access to its API in order to develop chatbots for the Facebook Messenger app


How Can Chatbots be Used for Customer Service?

• Can be used as an additional customer service channel.

• Can automate low value tasks – focusing on those that really add value.

• Can gather information for eventual interaction with a human rep.


Key Benefits

• Enables rapid customer service – 24/7.

• Organisations can engage with customers in a place they spent the most time.

• Reduced need to validate person or data.

• Enables a consistent experience and can reduce chance of human error.

• Extremely cost effective

• They can incorporate media, provide detailed descriptions of items, services or features.


Will Chatbots Mean the End of Customer Service Reps?

In one word, no.

• Bots and human agents are complementary when it comes to offering the best customer experience possible

• It will allow customer service representatives to focus on building relationships and undertake a more fulfilling role.


What Could Possibly Go Wrong?


Questions?