Ok, let’s face it; the age of robots is now. As businesses automate their sales and support teams, chatbots and other AI programs are becoming increasingly popular. So, if you’ve been living under a ROCK and need a refresher, please allow me to explain chatbots in layman’s terms. A chatbot is a computer program that automates certain tasks by chatting with customers through a conversational interface, like Facebook. Chatbots give brands from any industry the ability to engage with customers on a personal level. It’s actually super cool.
With apps struggling to get downloads and bots being cheaper and quicker to make, many executives are saying that bots are poised to take over apps! It seems that some of the big brands are catching on, and as consumers get familiar with communicating this way they will start to expect it from more companies.
To give you some examples, here are 5 known brands using chatbots through Facebook’s messaging platform. Continue reading
The “chat” style of communication, where two parties type text back-and-forth, is wildly popular with consumers. Companies are eager to embrace this popularity because A) it’s smart to communicate in a way your customers like and B) it’s less costly than call center agents.
What a huge year it was for bots! A term that was barely on the radar became a sizzling hot trend. Facebook kicked off the mania by opening its Messenger platform and now has 
Like the seasons following each other, the hype cycle is part of the natural order in technology land. When #BotMania went thermonuclear in May, it was only a matter of time before the disillusionment set in. Then comes a wave of blog posts, like this one, explaining why.
The world of customer service is ever expanding, making it a complicated and dynamic space to navigate. With new communication channels appearing and evolving every year, it’s a challenge to understand how they relate to each other, and how they should work together. New terminology can help our thought process, if we all agree on the meaning. Conversely, ambiguity about words like “digital” or “chat” or “call” makes the navigation harder.
The burning questions for the customer service industry today are which channels of communication are currently most relevant, and which will be most relevant down the road. In recent months, the discussion has centered around Facebook Messenger and other messaging channels.Many people are debating whether any of these platforms (Messager, Snapchat, Kik, Line, etc) can “win” the B2C communication platform war. (See 
Messaging is growing at a 
The eternal conflict in customer service is between delivering a good experience and keeping costs low. For example, pushing callers to self-serve IVR lowers cost, but customers hate dealing with phone menus and “talking to the machine”. The industry has always sought a way for customers and companies to interact that is enjoyable for the former and cost effective for the latter. Hopes are high that “messaging” is that messiah.
