What do chatbots do?

Different companies use chatbots in various ways.

Food chains such as Domino’s Pizza and Pizza Hut are successfully using chatbots to accept orders and talk to customers.

For example, we at Jasoren developed virtual assistants for Engie, the largest energy provider in France. One of these assistants helps customers subscribe to a new energy contract when they move to another house or apartment with the further automated fulfillment of the subscription form.

The other one provides users with a capability to easily share their gas and electricity meter readings, instantly receive the information about a current tariff plan, etc.

Both chatbots are enabled with Natural Language Processing technology which allows them to understand human language.

The beauty brand Sephora’s chatbot offers customers personalized beauty tips and recommends products.

Uber’s customers can request rides without leaving Facebook Messenger.

Chatbot named HealthTap connects people with real doctors on Facebook.

The list is endless but regardless of their application, they have common advantages for businesses. So, what do Facebook chatbots do and how can chatbots based on other platforms help businesses?

One chatbot can replace a call-center

In most call-centers, operators talk to clients following scripts and rules. Chatbots can do that, too. They can talk to customers, answer questions, find information on request, provide queue status updates, so and so forth.

The benefit of the chatbot customer support over a traditional call-center is that many customers (especially millennials) prefer messengers as a communication channel.

Give them an opportunity to talk to your customer service without leaving Facebook Messenger. They’ll definitely like it.

In messengers, your business can find millions of potential customers

Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are used by more than 1 billion people each on a regular basis.

WeChat has more than 700 million users, Viber — more than 600 million, Kik Messenger — 300 million, and so on.

For enterprises, it means that messengers give access to huge customers’ base. Those are people who use messenger apps (this is true for FB Messenger) as a primary communication channel.

They do not want to leave their messenger app. They want to place orders, talk to your customer support, get order updates, etc. — all while staying in the messenger.