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All about chatbots: scheme of work, examples, areas of application
In this article we will explain how chatbots work, show examples of successful use of these bots and reveal different areas where they have found their application. You will get a full understanding of how chatbots function and how they can improve your business processes and interactions in your daily life.
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OCT14.10.2023
All about chatbots: scheme of work, examples, areas of application
Chatbots are the most common type of bots that can save a company money and, in some cases, replace support staff and administrators.
Let's discuss the features of chatbots, how to create them, the principle of operation and steps to implement them.
Content:
What is a chatbot and why do you need one?
Chatbots are a kind of virtual assistants that communicate with you as if you were talking to a real person, but they are actually programs. They can help you get information, make orders and solve different tasks.
Chatbots simplify the interaction between a customer and a company and help save money. Quickly finding an answer to a question, changing personal data, troubleshooting minor problems in an application, making a purchase request for a product - a chatbot is ready to handle it. If necessary, it redirects the request along with the received data to the right specialist.
Types of chatbots
Chatbots can be classified by implementation platform, algorithm, type, development technology, algorithm, way of communicating with users and functionality. They can be simple, such as chatbots in Telegram, which perform only one task. The layout of each chatbot is almost the same. They can even have artificial intelligence, like Apple's Siri or Yandex's Alice.
Chatbots can be found in different interfaces:
- in messengers, including social networks;
- in mobile applications;
- on websites in the form of online chat;
- in voice assistants: Google Assistant;
- on individual web pages.
1. By algorithm:
Limited. Such a chatbot interacts with visitors according to a pre-prepared script, which consists of the most common questions. Using special services, you can set up a simple chatbot completely free of charge. This will allow you to try and understand whether this function is relevant for your business.
Self-developing ("smart"). At the heart of this program is an artificial neural network that "understands" the meaning of the conversation. A conversation with such a chatbot is more realistic, it is able to make jokes and send funny pictures to the interlocutor, and the relevance of its answers increases over time. Such an assistant is developed personally, it is much more pleasant in communication, but it costs more.
2. Chat bots by type:
Button. The user uses preset buttons to "communicate" with the bot - this is similar to a voice menu "press 1 to learn...". Most of the limited chatbots work this way.
Text-based. A chatbot recognizes frequently occurring words in the visitor's query, clarifies the question and offers solutions. We are talking about self-developing programs, as well as mixed models - as an answer to the query, the user can see buttons with clarifying questions.
3. By functionality:
Communicative. They are used exclusively for communication - to answer questions, to share information about special offers and discounts, to help select a product or service, etc.
Functional. Such chatbots make it possible to perform certain actions immediately - for example, to transfer money to the account, to clarify the status of an order by its number, etc.
Benefits of chatbots
1. 24/7 access for the user.
A chatbot is able to work 24/7 and solve issues in the moment, so the customer does not need to call the company's office and wait on the line.
A chatbot is able to work 24/7 and solve issues in the moment, so the customer does not need to call the company's office and wait on the line.
2. Self-service.
The client works with the bot without communicating with a real person - fast, convenient, suitable for introverts, simplifies processes.
The client works with the bot without communicating with a real person - fast, convenient, suitable for introverts, simplifies processes.
3. Cost savings.
Businesses don't need to hire additional employees to communicate with customers and handle their requests.
Businesses don't need to hire additional employees to communicate with customers and handle their requests.
4. Collecting customer data and tracking audience needs.
Through chatbots, a company can study its audience, analyze feedback and lift sales. Previously, customers with questions, problems, or complaints sent emails or called customer service. This format of communication remains, but chatbots allow optimizing the number of incoming calls and reducing the workload on the staff.
Through chatbots, a company can study its audience, analyze feedback and lift sales. Previously, customers with questions, problems, or complaints sent emails or called customer service. This format of communication remains, but chatbots allow optimizing the number of incoming calls and reducing the workload on the staff.
5. Effective sales and customer engagement tool.
Chatbots give the customer accurate information packaged to their needs. The client feels that he is not overloaded with information and is not trying to impose a lot of things at once. He remains interested in working with the company, receiving in return a careful attitude and a newsletter with a non-aggressive sales funnel.
Chatbots give the customer accurate information packaged to their needs. The client feels that he is not overloaded with information and is not trying to impose a lot of things at once. He remains interested in working with the company, receiving in return a careful attitude and a newsletter with a non-aggressive sales funnel.
Examples of chatbots
Alice is a Yandex product that simulates a live and emotional dialog with the user and solves questions and problems that have arisen. It combines a chatbot and a voice assistant. Alice puts on music, plans a route, looks for suitable divinations on tarot cards and can cheer up when sad. Recognizes both voice and text. Alice can be taught new skills through Yandex Dialogs.
An artificial intelligence based chatbot that works with natural language. It creates stories, answers questions, generates meaning-related messages, and handles translation. The bot is available for text and picture processing.
(P.S. ChatGPT is currently available only through VPN service)
(P.S. ChatGPT is currently available only through VPN service)
The bot searches for discounted tickets, monitors selected destinations and will notify you as soon as the price drops.
Janis Dzenis, Director of External Communications at Aviasales:
"We make all the bots in Aviasales in-house. Alertbots work best when a user asks to be kept informed about existing prices, for example: "I want to go to Paris or anywhere in Europe in the next two months at a discount of at least 60% off the regular price." That's the most salesy scenario."
Bot instantly sends new apartment listings from all popular websites directly to Telegram. No granny repairs or repeats. Free! ... I track ads on popular classifieds sites: CIAN, Domklik, Yandex.Real Estate, M2, Avito, etc.
Ways to create a chatbot
There are two options for developing your own chatbot. You can create a bot yourself with the help of online constructors or attract specialists for this purpose. How to make a chatbot yourself? You will have to master several skills:
- Programming basics
A chat bot is a program that needs to be written correctly. You can't do without programming skills. It is necessary to competently select the program interface for the chosen site and spend a lot of time to get the desired result.
Want to master the art of creating Telegram bots? Join the course "Creating chatbots in Python for VK and Telegram"! Your child will learn how to create bots in Python and use this knowledge to automate repetitive tasks. On the course your child will get all the necessary knowledge and skills to create bots, as well as learn how to work with various APIs and Python libraries.
- Using a builder
These online services provide ready-made solutions for creating chatbots for different messengers and social networks. You don't need to have programming skills to work on a constructor website. You will be able to make a bot with the help of templates. You will only have to choose the scenario of the robot and fill the blocks with the necessary text. The service itself will create a program shell for your chatbot algorithm.
Slack and Telegram have their own platforms for creating bots. They are free, but somewhat more complicated than classic commercial constructors.
How much it can cost to create a bot
An hour of development in this segment costs on average from 800 to 2500 rubles. The final price of the project will depend on the complexity, including whether AI functions are needed. The simplest bot can be ordered from a freelancer for 10 thousand rubles; the price of a good chat bot for a company will be in the range of 100-300 thousand rubles.
Prices for chatbots in agencies that specialize in them start from 40 thousand rubles, and in web studios - from 120 thousand.
The cost also depends on the platform for which you need a chatbot. The cheapest are robots for Telegram, Viber and websites. In them, you can use the existing interface to create dialogs. It is more difficult to make a robot for WhatsApp or SMS - the price can be five times higher.
Conclusion
We see that the sphere of application of chat bots is quite extensive and is constantly evolving providing users with demanded services in the shortest possible time at almost any time of day, regardless of weekends and holidays.
Related areas are developing: training in bot creation, services of development and implementation of robots in business processes, for those who want to understand robotics in order to save the budget develop and improve the services of chat bot designers.
You can learn to develop chatbots on the course "Programming chatbots and games in Python: CODDY and VMK and MSU course". Each student will independently come up with and realize the idea of their work. The children will make projects and defend them by CODDY school teachers, professors of VMK MSU and specialists from leading IT-companies. After the defense they will present young programmers with certificates from VMK MSU. Taking the course "Chatbot Programming" will be one of the first significant steps on the way to mastering programming skills!
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