4 types of chatbots to optimise your customer service

Chatbots for customer service

1. Scripted chatbots

One of the more common chatbots used in customer support and marketing, scripted chatbots can carry out simple conversations with customers. When a user sends a customer service query, the chatbot will reply with a predefined script. If the conversation goes beyond the chatbot’s scripts, the bot can request more detailed information and connect the customer to a live customer service agent that can help.

Scripted chatbots are popular for small- to medium-sized businesses that don’t typically receive complex questions from their customers. Although these types of chatbots have limited capabilities, they can help resolve common requests, such as return and exchange requests, and guide users through the customer journey. They can also be quickly added to your website to reduce the time and labor costs of your customer service department.

2. Conversational AI chatbots

Artificial intelligence has been used in multiple types of chatbots for several years now. However, conversational chatbots are much more advanced, combining artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to provide an exceptional customer service experience.

NLP chatbots can actually “understand” a customer’s questions and responses and make it seem like the customer is speaking to a human being. With these advanced technologies, the bot processes the words used in each sentence to analyse the context and better understand the question. Then it can apply this knowledge to resolve the query.

Unlike more simplistic types of chatbots, conversational AI chatbots operate based on context, not just keywords, so they can understand human conversations, even with typos that other bots might miss. These types of chatbots usually record each conversation to improve the capabilities of AI-powered chatbots, so every conversation is better than the last.

3. Menu-based chatbots

As implied in the name, these types of chatbots offer several options for users to choose from, usually as a menu or series of buttons. Once the user chooses which option best suits their question, the bot then offers another set of options, and so on until the query is resolved or passed on to a customer service representative.

Due to their simplicity, menu- and button-based chatbots are some of the most common types of chatbots out there. These bots typically use a shared knowledge base to answer predefined queries or help users navigate a website. However, once a request becomes more complex, the chatbot will be unable to proceed any further.

When using these types of chatbots, organisations should program them to provide multiple options to contact their customer service team with further questions in case a customer’s query wasn’t resolved right away. This can be helpful in avoiding any disappointment or frustration on the user’s end.

4. Keyword-based chatbots

Keyword-based chatbots identify keywords and phrases in a query to match them with a prewritten response. These types of chatbots can be easily configured to respond only with content from an approved knowledge base, creating a more consistent customer service experience through automated messaging.

However, these types of chatbots are limited to predefined keywords and phrases, so if a user misspells a word or uses more natural language, the bot will not understand the query. Keyword-based chatbots are highly dependent on context, so a business will need to update the chatbot’s responses as their products and services change. 

Get started with chatbots

Today, customers expect a quick resolution to their problems, and the 24/7 availability of chatbots makes this possible for any organisation. The customer experience is a crucial part of your business’s success, so investing in the right tools to support your customers is essential.

CM.com offers multiple types of chatbot tools to support varying levels of customer service to improve customer satisfaction. From scripted chatbots to our Conversational AI Cloud, you can find a chatbot that provides 24/7 responses to your customers in a scalable service solution that grows with your business.