What is a Chatbot?

A chatbot is an online software application that harnesses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to solve customer queries and enhance customer experience. Adopted by businesses who wish to optimise their customer service offering and grow new revenue streams, chatbots can engage in conversations and respond to questions similarly to how a live chat agent would.

Whilst chatbot software has been around for decades, it was the introduction of Facebook and Google's AI-powered bots that catalysed the mainstream adoption of chatbot software for customer service in recent years. Since then, a multitude of companies have reaped the benefits of chatbots, including:

• Operational efficiency
• Financial savings
• Enhanced customer experience
• Increased CSAT scores

Chatbots are deployed on company websites for the facilitation of customer support and due to their success, have become a core tool in any support team from Retail to Finance and Utilities to Telecoms. Chatbots should be built to suit the requirements of the individual company, be those strictly informative, transactional or advisory.