Chatbots are all the rage these days. Kern Elliott, Senior Professional Applications Support, at the National ICT Company Limited, also known as iGovTT, helps to understand the basics of chatbots, along with key considerations when deploying a chatbot, and what might be the future of chatbots.

 

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If you believe all of the hype, and (almost) regardless of the size of your business – be it a one-person affair, to a large corporate – there is a chatbot solution that is right for you. However, it can be difficult to distil fact from fiction, especially when organisations are at the receiving ends of slick marketing campaigns, and as consumers, we may be interacting with chatbots, and not even realise it.

According to global IT research and advisory firm, Gartner, “By 2020, 85% of our engagement with businesses will be done without interacting with another human. Instead, we’ll be using self-service options and chatbots.” (Source: Big Commerce). Moreover, and to a considerable degree, among millennials and those who are comfortable in the digital space, they are not only more comfortable with, but also prefer to interact with, a chatbot, in the first instance.

In a nutshell, chatbots are artificial intelligence software that can simulate either text or oral-based conversations in natural language, with those conversations being conducted via telephone, messaging applications, websites or mobile applications. A popular area in which chatbots are deployed is customer care, where typically, they are on the frontlines of consumer engagement, and respond to a broad range routine issues, such as product or service enquiries, account issues, how-to questions and complaints, to name a few. In a well-managed operation, and if the issue is more complicated that the chatbot can handle, or if the issue is not being quickly resolved by the chatbot, it is escalated to a human, who will then attend to the issue.

However, whilst although almost any organisation can deploy a chatbot, it takes time, planning and effort to have it run: not just well, but to a standard where it enhances the consumer experience, and is an asset to the organisation.

Kern Elliott

To help us better understand what chatbots are, how they work, the implications for business and the workplace – essentially, the 411 on chatbots – we spoke with Kern Elliott, the Senior Professional Applications Support, at the National Information and Communication Technology Company Limited, more commonly known as iGovTT. iGovTT designs, manages and implements enterprise-wide ICT solutions for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

An IT specialist by training and profession, Kern has been a important player in the Trinidad and Tobago Government’s efforts to introduce chatbots, and so is versed in what it takes to successfully deploy them, along with key challenges that are likely to be experienced. Hence, some of the questions we posed to Kern during our conversation, included the following:

  1. What is a chatbot?
  2. How and when are chatbots used?
  3. In many instances, chatbots are used to engage customers, and effectively, can be seen as replacing people who work as customer care agents. Is that the case? Are chatbots taking jobs away from humans?
  4. For what companies, organisations, or even industries, might chatbots be a good fit?
  5. For the chatbots Kern has installed and/or has managed. what has been the response by consumers?
  6. The bedrock of a good chatbot is artificial intelligence, but how can one ensure that the chatbot is learning well?
  7. What are some of the assumptions people tend to make about chatbots?
  8. What type of investment is needed to have a well-functioning chatbot?
  9. What does Kern think is the future of chatbots? Or Is it just a fad?

 

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Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Image credits:  John Jackson (Pexels);  K Elliott

Music credit:  Ray Holman

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