WTF Are Bots? (And Why Should I Care?)

My son Tom turned two last week. And in the run-up to the celebrations, I realised that one of his presents hadn't arrived.

So I fired up Amazon and got in touch with one of their Customer Service Reps. Here's how it went:

They asked the right questions, got to the bottom of the issue, and sent out a replacement just in time for Tom's birthday. Perfect!

But here's the thing. This Customer Service Rep wasn't a human being.

At no point in the interaction did I speak with an actual person. Despite no faces or brains being involved in the process (except mine), Amazon was able to find out what went wrong and immediately put it right.

As a customer, I was completely happy. But as a Chief Technology Officer, it got me thinking:

Do people really know what's involved with making a bot work?

WTF does a bot actually do?

The Amazon case above is an example of a chatbot.

In simple terms, it's a computer program that you can interact with through a chat window. It 'reads' your text and responds with its own – hopefully in the most natural and human way possible.

You've probably seen something similar with apps like Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa. They're all chatbots, and they're all designed to emulate a person while they automate simple tasks (like searching through Google or loading a song onto Spotify).

But don't let the simplicity of the interface fool you. There's a lot of complexity disguised behind that simplicity – and there's a lot going on behind the scenes.

When I opened a query with Amazon, their chatbot had to:

·      Understand the intent behind every sentence I typed – no matter how I phrased it, or what language I was using.

·      Dig into Amazon's system and search through my historic orders – and between you and me, I've got a long list!

·      Check Amazon's courier system to find the status of my order

·      Ask me if my problem had been solved – and then either close the ticket in their customer service system, or escalate the problem to a real human being.

In fact, the Amazon chatbot had to do just about everything a real person would do as a Customer Service Rep (except answer the phone).

So why aren't we using bots for everything?

It's a good question. There are loads of good reasons to use bots instead of call centres:

They're available, reliable and predictable. You can keep a bot running 24 hours a day, seven days a week – and your customers can use them from any place where they can type on a phone. They give the same exemplary service every time without fail, and they'll never have an off-day where their patience runs thin.

They're also cost-effective, accessible, and easy to use. They're text-friendly for people with hearing impairments, and they work with a screen reader if you struggle with your eyesight.

And if you're a Workplace user, you can get them up and running with minimal effort or cost.

Because Workplace already gives you the framework to support bots like these, you've already got most of the jigsaw pieces in place. And that means you can avoid the usual complexity of getting your bots set up and integrated with your existing systems.

But just like every other useful bit of technology, there are some downsides:

Bots are a relatively new phenomenon, and some customers are still showing resistance. Back in 2018, a survey conducted by Drift and Salesforce found that 43% of people would rather deal with a real-life helper than an automated chatbot.

That's no small number. But it is worth noting that you'll find similar statistics around companies using email support – or those interactive automated menus you find when you reach a call centre.

It's not that people have a problem with bots. It's just that some people want a dedicated human being on-hand to help them with every query or problem they have.

But as we all know, that's basically impossible.

So how can we find a balance between getting the benefits of bots – while still keeping the human-loving population happy along the way?

That's easy:

You get the bots to play to their strengths.

WTF are bots actually good for?

If you want to get the most out of your bots, you need to know exactly when and how to use them (and when not to use them).

It means using bots in situations where their advantages outweigh their disadvantages. And usually, that comes down to three types of scenario:

1.   Automating repeatable tasks

Some actions are so straightforward that it's just not worth taking up a human's time with them.

And when these actions are always the same and happen often, a bot can fill the role with perfect precision and an untiring attitude.

That could mean things like:

·      Approving holiday requests

·      Booking meeting rooms

·      Answering frequently asked questions or explaining terminology

·      Or sending notifications and reminders from other tools and apps.

2.   Infrequent workflows

There are some jobs that only need attention every so often. And a bot can fill in those small gaps without pulling an employee away from their daily schedule.

I've seen bots used for things like:

·      Onboarding new starters – with a small daily drip feed of new information or assignments

·      Helping employees replace a company car – something that only happens every couple of years

·      Or sending out annual appraisal forms.

3.   Modernising and mobilising your legacy systems

If you're already on Workplace, you know how simple and easy to use it is. It's based on a familiar interface, and your teams don't need much training.

So imagine if we could take that clean user experience and lay it on top of your existing legacy systems?

Let's say you have a team of engineers that needs to receive support tickets, order parts, and log their work time.

In the same way that Amazon have connected their ordering, courier, and support systems and filtered them through an accessible chatbot, you can take your legacy systems and give them a fresh face.

By linking these systems together with a bot, you can give your engineers the same simple interface and experience they get with Workplace – while it secretly uses your older systems to get the job done.

(And you'll also get all the benefits of Workplace's security infrastructure as an extra bonus!)

So why should I care?

Bots are one of the most cost-effective ways to give your colleagues and end-users a better experience.

They're quick and reliable, and they're always available.

(And they never get grumpy or tired.)

You can set them a repetitive task and they'll get it done at lightning speed. And you can even use them to inject a little personality into your company's everyday processes.

Here at Coolr, we've got a team of dedicated developers who love putting bots into action (and creating entirely new ones.)

So if you'd like to hear more about what bots can do for your business, drop me a message and I'll tell you all about it:

[email protected]