By 2020, chatbots will be the rule, no longer the exception

Artificial intelligence is on the advance and does not stop at customer service.

On the contrary: Especially in the service sector, personal support is an enormous cost factor for companies.
And customers welcome the fact that they can handle inquiries, returns, etc. completely without contacting employees and instead act on their own via apps and service platforms. A chatbot can meet these requirements and soon make phone calls to customer service superfluous.

Today's customer demands on businesses are highly individual and call center queues are not part of the purchase or service experience that is valued. Companies that listen carefully to what customers want have already recognized this and the first chat offers have already been integrated into customer service. But this is only the beginning.

Oracle study sees completely changed customer service

By 2020, it will no longer be unusual to use a chatbot to clarify service issues. This is the result of a current study by Oracle on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR). More than three-quarters of the companies surveyed stated that they had already integrated AI or VR into their service today or at least plan to implement this by 2020.

The search and booking of flights, for example, can be implemented easily and automatically without the customer having the feeling of receiving poor service. On the contrary, in many cases a chatbot can act faster and more accurately than a human being could.

Data as a prerequisite for success

The biggest hurdle that companies have to overcome when integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) in service is the provision of the necessary data for the output of relevant information. A chatbot can only be as good as the programming and feeding of information in the background. Complete profiles of customer data are just as much a prerequisite as linking to similarly oriented requests.

If data from previous contacts is used correctly and additional information from social networks is linked to the existing customer profile, a chatbot could theoretically soon be able to answer queries before they have even been advertised - without waiting times and of course independent of business hours.

2017 is the year of change

What was long dismissed as dreams of the future is now reality. Companies that want to continue to delight their customers in the future and offer them an exceptional service experience can no longer avoid the developments and technologies in the fields of AI and VR.

While some entrepreneurs are still somewhat doubtful about the possibilities and are shying away from partially replacing people with machines in service, others are already one step ahead and are already testing chat bots and similar automated service offers. At Lufthansa, for example, "Mildred" is already looking for cheap flights for its customers, and at a speed that no human being could achieve.  

Other brands are also developing their own new service offerings, using AI as a basis and trying out how the service can not only be changed, but above all improved. Those who are a little brave will join this trend this year and secure a lead over those competitors who are still waiting a little longer or have to deal with the preparation of the information in theory first.