Trends for Chatbots & Conversational AI 2022
The past 2 years have seen the increasing adoption of chatbots and Conversational AI technology, with more customers adopting digital communication channels as a result of the pandemic. Recent research conducted by MarketsandMarkets predicts that the chatbot market will have grown from $703.3 million in 2016 to $3,172 million by the end of 2021. The technology has come a long way in the past decade, with organisations turning to Conversational AI Assistants or AI-infused chatbots to deliver more engaging and satisfying customer experiences.
The below highlights some of the biggest trends in the space for 2022 and beyond.
1. Payments
Chatbots and Conversational Assistants are commonplace for many e-commerce businesses and retailers, enabling consumers to get support, submit queries and find information on-demand. This functionality will be enhanced through the ability for customers to make purchases via Conversational Assistants. Assistants guide customers through a series of questions to securely gather information relating to their purchase request, logging, and processing request via API integrations with payment systems and/or RPA bots.
This will increase the ability for customers to self-serve within tools, improving their satisfaction as well as reducing the impact on contact centres through greater query deflection and increase sales through ease of purchase.
2. True Omni-Channel Experiences
The way that we communicate with brands is more complex and varied than ever before. With organisations providing multiple channels, from traditional telephone calls to Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, for customers to communicate with them. Managing these channels can be a daunting and difficult task for contact centres, with customers expecting the same levels of support regardless of the channels they are using and being able to speak to someone 24/7.
The advancements in many Conversational AI platforms, including Humley’s, meaning that they can operate across a wide variety of channels, automatically handling queries and requests when and where customers choose to engage. Additionally, through integrations with CRM and ticketing systems, Assistants can retrieve information about previous conversations. Providing relevant context to new conversations even if a customer chooses to swap channels, improving their experience.
3. Voice
The ability to operate AI and bots by voice is commonplace in many parts of our lives, from Google Assist to Siri and Alexa. So, It is understandable that tech providers would seek to replicate this within their tools and there has been growing adoption of it within industries such as insurance, tourism, and education.
It is also notable, that voice-enabled Conversational Assistants could also open up the technology to less tech-savvy demographics who are more reluctant to engage with chatbots via a company’s website or social media. Increasing the levels of service delivered to them and the efficiencies to a business.
4. For Internal Use
Chatbots and Conversational Assistants have been widely adopted within the customer service realm, with many organisations offering some form of the technology for consumers. It is predicted that in 2022, we will start to see their increased usage within internal functions such as HR or finance. Supporting employees with on-demand information and the ability to perform tasks and make requests through integrations to internal business systems.
This application of the technology has already started to be deployed by some businesses, primarily in the HR space, and is delivering benefits such as improved employee retention, awareness of policies, and reduced the pressure on internal teams through providing a unified source of information in the channels they actually use such as MS Teams or slack.
2022 and beyond are set to be an exciting one for the Chatbot and Conversational AI space, with the evolution of the technology set to transform how we communicate with and within organisations.
If you would like to find out more or are interested in seeing how Conversational AI could help deliver enhanced customer and employee experiences to your organisation, get in touch today.