6 Types of Chatbots You Need to Know
There are a few different types of functions that chatbots can provide, and you should be aware of them. Once you have a clear understanding of the types of chatbots that are available, you can decide which are best for your businesses.
1. Support chatbots
One of the most common types of chatbots is support bots. These applications help support your customers when they have FAQs and provide additional context to help support the customer’s journey. Support chatbots help your business with key functions, like supporting customer relationships, replying to common emails, and adding more interactive elements to website browsing.
2. Skills chatbots
In addition to answering questions, some chatbots have built-in skill sets to answer basic commands. This can help your customers on interactive platforms for your business.Commands like “open X application” or “play X song” can help increase the engagement your customers have on your website, improving their experience and bringing them back for more.
3. Smart AI chatbots
While many different chatbot applications are simple answer-and-response interfaces, there are also smart AI chatbots that take things a step further. By using machine learning, smart AI chatbots can process complex questions and actually learn and grow to be smarter. Smart AI is a great application for large brands that manage a wide variety of incoming requests from a large group.They are able to support questions and requests that go beyond simple FAQs and therefore can help your brand manage more complex customer relationships.
4. Scripted chatbots
If your brand doesn’t need the complex AI capabilities of a smart chatbot option, there are also simpler options. The chatbot uses a pre-programmed script to respond to specific inputs with clear responses. Scripted chatbots often use specific prompts to encourage customers to give the inputs that they need to provide a response, or will have customers choose from a list of options rather than freely typing. If queries go beyond the script, the bot will often connect customers to a live chat or give contact information to ask their detailed questions. While these types of chatbots are more limited, they can help customers with common requests and are an easy type of chatbot that you can quickly implement onto your site — often at much lower costs than smart AI.
5. Pre-Built chatbots
Chatbot applications often come with pre-built functionality, making it easy to implement and get them up and running quickly.These are often scripted chatbots that just need simple inputs to match your brand’s needs. Once you’ve applied the right responses, the bot is ready to go.Pre-built bots are great for businesses that want to start right away with their chatbot strategy, are already struggling to manage incoming requests, or have busy teams that can’t dedicate an abundance of time to building a bot script from scratch.
6. Customized chatbots
In addition to the pre-built options, many chatbots also come with do-it-yourself functionality that you can customize from beginning to end. With help from tools like drag-and-drop designs and templates, you can still build a chatbot for your business needs that isn’t using a premade script. You can also hire a chatbot agency that specializes in creating custom code for your chatbot or works in developing smart AI that has machine learning capabilities beyond a simple script.
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