Twitter has begun to roll out customer service chatbots which will be used by companies when users contact them through direct messages. The chatbots will be able to answer basic questions regarding the company and address several complaints. Each bot will have messages specific to the company they are assigned to.
One of the new customer service chatbots provides welcome messages to users who contact companies. Any users sending a direct message will be prompted by a greeting and information regarding what they can expect from the online exchanges. The other Twitter chatbot product involves quick replies. This feature allows business to answer questions and address the complaints of their customers without involving a person. The service is similar to the automated call systems in customer service.
To start off this new customer service chatbots program, Twitter is partnering with almost a dozen companies such as Evernote, Spotify, Tesco, Pizza Hut, Norton, and Airbnb. Depending on how the chatbots will be received by users, we will probably see more companies adopt the service as it is relatively inexpensive.
According to a Twitter post by the company, the new features are designed to help companies develop rich, responsive customer service experiences which open up new ways for people to engage with businesses. However, this isn’t the first time the company experienced with automated messaging services, as they have revealed to be building chatbots for tweets and direct messages since 2007.
Nonetheless, the recent release of these new customer service chatbots is the first time Twitter combines machine learning and artificial intelligence with user experiences. In this regard, Twitter is only playing catch-up with other companies like Facebook, that has already implemented a number of chatbots for various uses in their Messenger app.
Nonetheless, Twitter is taking its new endeavor seriously and in order to better scale the number of companies interested in using the new features, the company has formed partnerships with various software developers to build the bots. The list of developers includes Rozie, Spredfast, Dexter, Conversocial, Assist, Audiense, and more.
By improving the convenience of customer service for users, Twitter thinks that it will lead to better sales for companies, and in return they are more likely to continue using it and more business will opt for the service.
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