Chatbot Applications and Considerations

Chatbot Business Implementation

Chatbots are no longer just a good-to-have technology stack but a necessity in this ever-changing and ever-demanding customer experience we deal with. Cognitive technologies, native machine learning, and natural language processing are technological features that revolutionizes customer experience every day. According to a November report by Deloitte on Conversational UI, “such technology can handle large data sets to process, evaluate, and respond to inputs, mimicking human conversation. This enables numerous customer engagement applications, including common uses such as billing support, customer authentication, and FAQ responses, and more sophisticated applications, such as technical support.”

“83 percent of respondents in Deloitte’s State of AI Survey said they had achieved moderate or substantial benefits from their work with AI technologies, and 94 percent said AI is very or critically important to their success.”

This article will provide an overview of how Chatbots can be used in your business and major considerations for implementing Chatbots.

Application of Chatbots

Chatbots are not going away and will be more frequent because they are a more natural way for humans to interact with a machine, as a dialog, either written or text. Furthermore, chatbots will have a 99% uptime and can immediately respond to customers 24/7, thereby expanding service hours outside normal business hours and time zones.

  • Recent studies show that 65% of millennials prefer to communicate through text.
  • Recent studies have also shown that speech to text (talking to a computer) is faster than typing. 
  • Recent advances in machine learning algorithms have reduced speech-to-text error rates to 6%, a 4% reduction from last year!

Therefore, any user interaction with an app or webpage can utilize a Chatbot to increase the user’s experience.

Will websites be completely audible, like talking to Siri on my iPhone? They can, but most likely not. The reason is that humans are still very visual. Therefore, website assistants (Chatbots) will become more common. These assistants will be like assistants in an Apple Store. They will be visible to you can browse at your own leisure. Ask them questions, navigate you to the item/answer that your request, and then act as a register to take your payment. All this happens the entire time you were navigating the site.

Business tools that will most likely become obsolete with Chatbots: Website Search bar Contact Us Page, Support Pages and FAQ’s, Web forms / Data Entry, Site filter criteria (search layout with picklist to find products), User Logins (Machine learning algorithms will recognize your voice, which is as distinct as your fingerprint, to allow premium access to a site.

Considerations

Chatbots consist of the following elements: Customer Channels, Context, Intents, Dialogs, Actions, Integrations, and Pricing.

Customer Channel identifies where and how you communicate with your customers/users, for example, Social Media, Mobile App, Phone, SMS, and/or Chat App. Customer Channels can be split into two major categories: Text and Speech.

Text Examples: Facebook Messenger, Twilio SMS or Voice, Slack, Web Chat, Twitter, Mobile App, and/or Custom.
Speech (Speech to Text): Siri (Apple), Alexa (Amazon), Cortana (Microsoft), and Custom.

Speech to Text requires an additional layer of Machine Learning to Translate the audio into Text. This can be either in real-time or batched. Once the audio is converted to text, the chatbot interacts the same as Text Chatbots. Also, there will usually be a Text to Speech function on the responses so the chatbot can reply to the users.

Context is used in natural language processing so the algorithm can understand technical/specific/trade vocabulary. Without proper context, an algorithm’s speech-to-text recognition could drop from 90% to 60%, which is not good. Since most industries have a specific vocabulary, machine learning algorithms might need to be trained to understand these terms. Special training is not hard. It just requires data to train the algorithm. If this is a requirement, switching to a VoIP or phone service that can record all phone conversations would be a mandatory first step, so we could gather data to start training the Chatbot on how to recognize your industry-specific language.

Intents are the core of the Chatbot’s functionality. Machine Learning algorithms use Natural Language Processing to extract meaning from the statement made by the User. Based on the key phrases, the Algorithm will then match pre-defined intents, leading the user into different dialogs with the Chatbot. This process will continue until the dialog with the customer is complete.

Dialogs vary between Chatbots, as they can be linear, non-linear, or both. Linear dialogs are types that have a specific start point and endpoint with pre-determined steps in-between.

An example is Ordering a Pizza would have these specific steps for all orders: 1) Choose Size, 2) Choose Toppings, 3) Choose Sauce, 4) Choose Sides, 5) specify delivery Address, and 6)specify Payment Info.

Non-linear dialogs will not have specific steps, and the steps can be added or removed based on the information the user provides. Example – Searching for a Home – User will have home criteria, which will change available options, for example, City, Price, #beds, #baths, pets. Then based on the application, income, credit, references can again change the options for the users. Accepting credit card payment is a simple example, as to whether or not the credit card is approved will change the next steps of the Chatbots dialog.

Actions can be performed with Chatbots in real-time to provide record lookups, record creation, or any actions utilizing any available API via webhooks and REST API requests. When a phone number or email address is passed to the Chatbot, it can query salesforce for a contact record that matches and respond with the Contact Name. Or, if no match is found, the chatbot can create a new record.

Hybrid Chatbot/Agent Models can escalate customer conversations when certain actions the chatbot cannot perform or when the customer’s tone becomes negative/frustrated. Dialogs can be mapped so certain customer requests direct them to an agent. Additional Machine Learning algorithms can be included to monitor the customer’s tone, so when the sentiment becomes negative, the customer can be escalated to an agent.

Customizing and Integrating your Chatbot is easy. There are Chatbot building tools such as Api.ai, Converse.ai, Flow. xo, Microsoft LUIS that allows you to create Chatbot intents in a drag and drop fashion. Some like api.ai and converse.ai can let you create complex linear/non-linear dialogs. Most allow some form of integration, such as webhooks and HTTP requests. Some only allow a single endpoint, where others allow you to create a many as you wish. Almost all allow for multiple channels to deploy your bot, such as Twillio, Slack, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc.

Pricing varies tremendously among the different platforms and the type of channels, volume, and integrations you require. All Chatbot implementations should strongly consider the required usages of the Chatbot and what the pricing impact will be for the platform of choice. Any aspect of a Chatbot can easily be customized with coded and hosted on your own server if your requirements are beyond the scope of any platform.

Contact us today so we can help strategize the best ways to implement your custom ChatBot!

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Satch Patel, Executive Vice President, MD, UK & EMEA

Satch brings 25+yrs of enterprise global solution experience having contributed to the growth of some of the worlds largest marquee software and hardware giants in the industry from Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Cisco/EMC, to Apttus & Salesforce.
 
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Brion Schweers, Board Observer

Brion Schweers is a Senior Vice President of Product Management at Salesforce, currently managing the Revenue Cloud Solution Excellence team. During the past 30 years, Brion has assisted enterprises around the world in transforming their business by focusing on their Product-to-Cash processes. Prior to joining Salesforce Brion was VP & GM, CPQ at Apttus, VP, Sales & Success at A5 Consulting, served on the OAUG ConfigSIG Board and spent 15 years at Oracle in various roles related to their CX and CPQ products. Brion is also the executive Sponsor of Vetforce – Carolinas and is actively involved in the Salesforce Military program where he mentors Veterans and their spouses with actionable, personalized career advice.

Joseph Truhe, Board Member

Joseph Truhe has over 20 years of investing experience. Prior to joining Jefferson Capital in 2013 Joseph was a Portfolio Manager with Whitney Bank in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he oversaw the company’s Trust accounts and served as the Energy sector analyst for the Hancock Horizon Funds. Prior to Whitney, Joseph worked as an analyst and member of the investment committee at HFR Asset Management, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund platform in Chicago, Illinois. There, Joseph reviewed and maintained investment discretion over the firm’s Event Driven and Asia-focused hedge fund allocations. He was also responsible for the expansion of the firm’s Asia-focused fund offerings.  Joseph holds a BA in Economics from Yale University.

Steve Swartzman, Board Member

Steve Swartzman is a Principal and co-founder of CPC. Previously, as a co-founder of C3 Capital, he helped originate and manage over 35 investments, including national brands such as American Apparel, Traeger Grills, and Grunt Style. Steve’s chief focus remains consumer brands and e-commerce enablement businesses, and he currently serves on the boards of Grunt Style, Accel Clinical Research, Spoke Custom Products, Warne Scope Mounts, and New World Natural Brands.

Prior to C3, Steve structured and managed subordinated debt investments at KC Venture Group, and he spent 7 years as a Vice President with Citibank in New York, managing client relationships for emerging markets clients and structuring over $1 billion in complex trade financings. He is a past President of the Midwest chapter of the Small Business Investment Alliance, and he serves on the board of the International Center for Music at Park University in Kansas City.

Steve received a MBA from Columbia Business School and an AB in History and Literature from Harvard College.

He resides in Kansas City, where he was raised, with his wife Evelina and two sons, Harrison and Zandy. When he’s not working, his favorite activities are fishing, golfing, and eating.

Charles Scripps, Board Member

Chad has over ten years of experience investing in dynamic, growing businesses in diverse industries and geographies. His private equity experience includes HIG Capital, which has over $12B in capital under management, and AEA Investors, which manages over $3B of invested and committed capital. While at HIG and AEA, Chad led diligence, structuring, and financial analysis of potential and existing investments, and completed transactions in the industrial products and consumer services industries. Chad also has experience investing in the public equity markets, most notably as a Managing Director at Fox Point Capital, a $1B fund seeded by Julian Robertson of Tiger Management. He invested across a number of industries, including industrials, financials, technology, and consumer products, and led Fox Point’s international research. Prior to focusing his career on investing, Chad was a management consultant at McKinsey and Company, solving strategic problems for the world’s leading companies. Chad earned an MBA with Honors in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS with Distinction in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lester F. Alexander II, Board Member

Les Alexander is a partner with Jefferson Capital Partners where he provides mezzanine and equity capital for growth and buyout transactions. Mr. Alexander is a member of the firm’s investment committee and serves on the board of directors of several portfolio companies where he is actively involved in strategic planning and corporate governance. Prior to joining Jefferson Capital, he worked at Advantage Capital Partners where he completed several portfolio company investments and served on the investment committee. Before becoming a private equity investor, Mr. Alexander served as president of Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc., a leading fire truck and emergency vehicle manufacturer. At Ferrara, he was responsible for managing a workforce of 450 employees producing over 300 vehicles annually for its domestic and international customers. As an investment banker for 15 years with such firms as Howard Weil, Southcoast Capital, and J.C. Bradford & Co., Mr. Alexander completed over 50 public offerings of debt and equity securities, private placements, and merger and acquisition transactions totaling more than $7 billion for public and private companies in a variety of industries. Mr. Alexander is an adjunct professor at Tulane University and Loyola University where he teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in investment banking, private equity & venture capital, advanced financial management, investments, and entrepreneurship. He is also the board president for Benjamin Franklin High School, a public charter school in New Orleans. Mr. Alexander is the former Chairman Finance of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) and served on the global Board of Directors. He is a founder of the Louisiana chapter of ACG and was a recipient of the ACG global Meritorious Service Award and the Louisiana chapter’s Outstanding Service Award. Mr. Alexander received his bachelor of science in Commerce from the University of Virginia in 1989 and his MBA from the University of North Carolina in 1993.

Patrick F. Healy, Board Member

Based in Kansas City, Mr. Healy is a co-founder of C3 Capital. He has been an active private equity investor since 1985 and was a co-founder of C3 Holdings in 1994. Prior to this time, he sponsored and structured equity investments in real estate. He gained extensive workout and restructuring experience as chair of the creditor’s committee of a $1 billion bankruptcy and from being called upon to rescue a publicly-traded company from a major fraud. Mr. Healy was a senior tax partner at Mayer Hoffman McCann, a regional CPA firm, for eleven years. He received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Kansas.

Chris Waters, VP of Strategic Sales

As Vice President of Strategic Sales, Chris guides and influences all strategic sales activities at A5 , starting in presales activities, successful sales methodology, sales process, and continued revenue generation and expansion opportunities. Furthermore, he will provide oversight in strategic sales function for the company and develop strategic sales plans that will promote growth in sales and customer satisfaction. Chris has proven his commitment to sales leadership and organizational success through field leadership as National Sales Manager at Deluxe Corporation, Field Sales Manager within the Social / Analytics Cloud at Oracle, US Regional Manager for CPQ Major Accounts at Oracle and now as Vice President on Sr. Leadership Team at A5.

Keith Fox, GM Salesforce Canada

Keith Fox is a software and consulting veteran for the past 34 years. Keith started his career at EDS which was followed by 4-year stint offshore in Bermuda. Keith then returned to Canada where he held a number of progressive sales and technical positions with software companies such as Sybase, BEA, and Oracle. After his stint with Oracle, Keith founded Cloudware Connections, a premier Salesforce consulting partner. 11 years down the line, Cloudware was acquired by A5, and Keith joined as GM for Canada.

Tarun Sharma, Vice President Delivery

Tarun Sharma is Vice President Delivery at A5 and is responsible for customer success, project operations, recruitment, resource utilization, and sales operations functions for Oracle practice. As a business and technology leader Tarun helps businesses develop solution strategies to streamline the sales process and improve customer relations to drive revenues, profits, and build brand loyalty. Tarun has led customers through digital transformation journeys. He has commanded strategic and tactical initiatives to shorten sales cycles, increase deal values and productivity, improve brand awareness and help organizations become easier to do business with. He has helped customers modernize their sales enablement tools and present a single source of information to support an omni-channel sales approach. This includes global roll-out for multiple business units included multi-currency and multi-language. Tarun graduated from Texas A&M University with a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering.

Adam Rosenfield, VP of Salesforce Practice

As Vice President of A5’s consulting practice – Adam is responsible for both strategic alliances with partners and expanded sales growth through the entire portfolio of A5 services. With over 20 years of Sr. level management consulting expertise – Adam has worn multiple hats in his career including practice development, sales, and client advisory. He has sold & delivered countless enterprise transformational initiatives creating a measurable competitive advantage for his customers. In addition to various technical software certifications, Adam holds an undergraduate and master’s degree in Accounting & Information Technology from the University of Texas at Austin and resides in El Paso Texas with his wife and 3 children.

PJ Alfrejd, CFO

As the CFO, PJ is responsible for all things financial at A5. With over 20 years of experience in financial leadership positions, PJ has worn all the hats required of a growing tech business. His extensive knowledge of the consulting industry, experience with M&A, and strength in operational finance is another catalyst to take A5 to the next level in its growth trajectory. PJ is a CPA with a BS in Accounting from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and has held various finance leadership positions at Exodus/Savvis (acquired by Centurylink), Neohapsis (acquired by Cisco), and mFoundry (acquired by FIS).

Vinay Kruttiventi, President & CEO / Chairman of the Board

As the CEO of A5, Vinay plays an active role in all aspects of day-to-day business operations. He is also actively involved in establishing a strategy and vision for the company. As a true customer advocate with Salesforce and Oracle product development, Vinay is actively engaged in various industry user/special interest groups. Since founding the company in 2004, Vinay has grown the business into a leading Salesforce, and Oracle partner focused on multi-cloud transformations.

Vinay has successfully implemented and architected CPQ solutions and multi-cloud complex transformation projects for various Fortune 500 companies since 1996. He has a strong authority over industry, process, and technology in Configure-Price-Quote and ERP applications. Vinay graduated from Osmania University with a Bachelor of Engineering degree and JNTU (Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University) with a Master in Technology degree.