What is a chatbot?

Imagine this: it’s 4 AM, and a customer sends you a question. You’re fast asleep, and there’s no one around to respond. These late-night customers are often serious, high-quality prospects, but they can’t wait until business hours for answers. OR

Phones constantly ringing, emails piling up, and your coworkers rushing to keep up—it’s a familiar scene for many customer service teams. Customers want quick answers, using all kinds of communication channels, while service agents often feel overwhelmed trying to catch up.

Now, picture having a digital assistant—a chatbot—that’s always awake and ready to help. It can automatically respond to these inquiries as soon as they come in, ensuring your customers get the answers they need, no matter the time.

So, what exactly is a chatbot?

A chatbot is a computer program that can have conversations with people. Thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI), chatbots are now smarter and more accessible than ever. You don’t need to be a tech giant to create one!

AI chatbots use a technology called Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand what people say. Instead of sticking to pre-set answers, they can recognize different ways people phrase questions, understand spelling mistakes, and even figure out the intent behind a question. For example, if a customer types, “When will my order arrive?” or “What’s the delivery time?” the chatbot knows both mean the same thing and can provide the right answer.

Hybrid Chatbots: The Best of Both Worlds

A great chatbot combines AI with simple, clickable options. For instance:

• Common questions can be answered quickly with buttons customers click (like “Track my order” or “Contact support”).

• More complex or unique questions? Customers can type them out, and the AI takes over to provide the answer.

But what happens if the chatbot doesn’t know the answer yet? That’s where the human team comes in. When the chatbot encounters an unfamiliar question, it forwards the query to a service agent. The agent also gets a full history of the conversation, so they can pick up seamlessly where the chatbot left off. Meanwhile, the chatbot “learns” the new question, so it can answer it next time.