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VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS – WHAT ROLE CAN THEY PLAY IN IMPROVING YOUR BUISNESS?
Virtual Assistants are becoming increasingly prevalent in our daily lives. This technology is growing extremely fast. The Global Chatbot market alone is expected to exceed more than US$994 million around 2024 and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of more than 27% in the given period (Source: marketwatch). Both Chatbots & Digital Assistants serve a similar purpose and they can be classNameified as Virtual Assistants, but there is a clear and present distinction between the two. A Digital Assistant aims to assist the user by completing tasks via natural language commands. A Chatbot, on the other hand is a form of digital assistant that automates certain dedicated tasks by chatting with the user, usually via text.
Virtual Assistant technologies have become ubiquitous in the tech world to the point that Siri, Cortana, Alexa and ‘Okay Google’ are now considered personalities by themselves. In a way, this is achieving the target of them being considered Artificial Intelligence. Chatbots may not be as high profile as Digital Assistants, but that doesn’t diminish their importance in the slightest. Chatbots can and have been deployed in a wide range of activities like banking, marketing, processing. According to Grand View Research, Over 45% end users already prefer Chatbots as the primary mode of communication for customer service. More and more companies are adopting chatbots as the primary mode of customer service as their efficiency in dealing with customer queries is making it extremely hard to ignore the technology.
2017 was an amazing year for both Digital Assistants and Chatbots. Many homes and organizations adopted Virtual Assistants. Chatbots greatly assisted in improving customer interactions with businesses and generally leaving a positive impression. Chatbots have already built on this foundation in 2018, and the years ahead are looking to be extremely positive for these technologies, both for users as well as developers.
TAKING THE ABOVE INTO ACCOUNT, THESE ARE THE TRENDS DEVELOPING IN THE WORLD OF CHATBOTS AND DIGITAL ASSISTANTS.
1) Production of Hardware focussed on interacting with Virtual Assistants
Yes, we already have lamps, fans and even air conditioners that can talk to Google home and Alexa, but there’s still a space vacant for home devices that would truly revolutionize this sector. Digital assistants have already become portable with their addition to earphones and automobiles, and the opportunities to create for them have increased manifold.
2) Enterprise Chatbots and Assistants
Virtually all of the major players in the Digital Assistant segment have implemented applications that enhance office productivity which they are keen on businesses to adopt. Voice controls for calendars are quickly becoming the norm in offices which are often synced with one’s assistant at home. Chatbots, on the other hand can and are taking over mundane tasks at the workplace, like setting meetings, or reporting issues, often functioning as an in-house ticketing system.
3) Chatbots for Data Mining
AI chatbots that are developed keeping data gathering in mind are extremely effective for organizations that are keen on gaining insights into their customers’ mindset. Many enterprises are using Chatbot development services to integrate these bots into their websites as the first line of communication with their end-users allowing them to stay within regulations like GDPR as well.
4) Voice Chatbots
The advancements made by Digital Assistants in language processing is now trickling down to chatbots as well. While it’s not expected to replace typing any time soon, voice commands to deal with chatbots are welcome additions that will only pick up steam as Natural Language Processing gets better.
5) Better, more natural conversations
Yes, AI and assistants are now adept at understanding our speech, and now make allowances for differences in accents as well, but while it may not seem like a big issue, they still struggle to understand multi-part sentences. This flaw holds them back from truly replacing traditional methods of communicating with machines. However, this is rapidly changing, as Virtual Assistants will soon be able to hold proper two way conversations, greatly aiding end users.
6) Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make its mark on chatbots
NLP or Natural Language Processing has undergone significant advancements in the last year, as has AI based voice generation. This is leading to chatbots that will be indistinguishable from humans for general queries. Many call-centers are keen to adopt this technology for handling customer queries during late hours. This is only one application though, as the potential for this feature is endless.
7) Chatbots to aid in marketing
The improvements made by chatbots in gathering customer insights can prove indispensable to sales and marketing teams. One can develop insights into what the customers are looking for both from a developers and a marketers perspective, leading to better products as well as better advertising for them.
WHY THESE TRENDS NEED TO BE TAKEN NOTE OF
Taken in isolation, Virtual Assistants may not seem like the groundbreaking inventions that they are, but the ease they add to a regular user’s life can not be underestimated. One can hire chatbot developers who can integrate the technology within an enterprise’ systems or on websites that open to the public, that can both solve the problems they were designed to solve as well as store analytics about the users who interact with them. Virtual Assistants are now a big part of people’s lives in 2018, and look like they will be indispensable in the near future.
Use MetaDesign Solutions as your IT Partner
If you are looking to get a chatbot developed for your service or enterprise, please consider MetaDesign Solutions, a Chatbot Development Company in India. We have made several state of the art chatbots for multiple clients that interface perfectly with multiple platforms and can leverage our expertise to develop Chatbots that are ideal for your requirements.