These days, there is a wide variety of chatbots, some more intelligent, some more simple. The more types of chatbots there are, the more complicated it is to know which one best suits the challenges of your company.
In this article, we show you the different types of chatbots, and you will know which is best to meet your needs.
A Type of Chatbots for Each Type of Challenge
The chatbots, in the era we find ourselves, are already a common element in the sites of our favorite brands.
Companies increasingly bet on digital contact channels. It’s rare to go to a website, and there is no chatbot ready to talk to us.
The adoption of chatbots by companies is a good sign. It means they care about their customers and want to offer them the best possible service. However, these companies need to know which type of chatbot best fits their reality.
Different Types of Chatbots
There are different types of chatbots, and each one can be defined according to various parameters.
From a corporate point of view, IMB differentiates chatbots according to the functions they entail. They can be Support, Skills-related, or Assistance.
Support Chatbots
As the name implies, they are conversational bots that help on a specific subject, such as information about a company. This type of chatbot is the most commonly used by customer support institutions.
This type of chatbots, as it is used for interactions with the public, must have personality. Furthermore, it’s necessary to know the world to perceive various contexts and perform multiple tasks.
In addition, these chatbots have the ability to guide clients through various procedures and answer a massive number of FAQ-type questions.
Skills Chatbots
These chatbots are more straightforward than the previous ones and are considered “one skill” bots, as they are restricted to specific missions. That is, they have defined certain commands and are governed by them, needing no context.
You can find chatbots like these, for example, at home or in smart offices, where commands like “Turn off the lights” are possible.
Unlike Support Chatbots (which may or may not have), voice functionality is recommended. With this, users do not need to use buttons or devices. Thus, they can perform various tasks while communicating with the bot.
Assistant Chatbots
There is still a bot that stands between the two previous ones and are the Assistant Chatbots or virtual assistants. An example of this kind of chatbot is Alexa.
Also called Voice Bots, they’re the future of chatbots. These chatbots are a combination of the Support and Skills Chatbots.
They have personality, and knowledge of the world, and can perform specific tasks, such as opening the blinds or turning off the light in the room.
The Complexity of Each Type of Chatbots
Although some define the types of chatbots by the functions they can perform, others (and they’re the majority) are ruled by the intelligence that the bot has.
In this case, when one speaks of intelligence, one speaks of artificial intelligence. Human-made intelligence to resemble the behavior of a bot to that of a person.
As you can see from the image, the types of chatbots can be divided by their intelligence. That is, if they are more intelligent and can perform more complex tasks depending on the contexts (with AI), or more basic and stay by the paths they are defined (without AI).
Contextual Chatbots
It is more demanding in terms of techniques to create an intelligent chatbot. These, using Artificial Intelligence, involve more elaborate technologies.
The technologies common to all chatbots with AI are Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning (ML). However, depending on the functions we want them to perform, they can use others such as Computer Vision, more specifically, OCR (Optical Character Recognition).
Contextual Chatbots can improve their responses and interactions with the public through the inputs they receive. The more they interact with customers, the more comfortable they are answering questions.
However, human intervention is always necessary to confirm the learning of the chatbot. In these cases and in cases where the system does not know how to respond, it can train.
In the Visor.ai platform, we have the AI Trainer, a feature where you can train your virtual assistant without difficulty. Learn more about this tool in the article AI Trainer: How to Train a Successful Chatbot.
Chatbots based on Keywords
Chatbots based on keywords are exactly what the name indicates. Although they have Artificial Intelligence, the processing of the requests they receive is based on keywords.
This type of chatbot is more suitable for companies/businesses with a lower volume of contacts. In these, the requests are not so much of problem-solving, but quick doubts.
The AI used in these chatbots is more rudimentary since the processing is based on specific words from which the answers result.
Chatbots based on Menus/Buttons
These chatbots have no Artificial Intelligence and are the most basic type of bots. Their “knowledge” is based on tree hierarchies, where users choose the option they want.
Because they do not have AI, they aren’t able to answer questions or requests from customers that involve more detail. It is the user who has to make the selection of the information until they get the final answer.
There are still other authors who define the type of chatbots as simple (no AI), smart and virtual assistants. In the end, the definition of each is the same; only the names change to distinguish them.
How to Know which Type of Chatbot is Ideal?
Now that you know how to define the different types of chatbots, you can decide which one best fits your needs.
Therefore, before making any decision, you need to consider the following five factors:
1) How big is your company?
2) How many contacts do you receive per day?
3) In which channels do you intend to integrate the chatbot?
4) What are the needs of your Customer Support team that you want to see optimized?
5) What services will chatbot provide to your customers?
Some factors, like the contacts you receive per day, are very relevant for the selection of your chatbot.
Usually, from the number of contacts, you can understand the size of the company and its impact. More prominent companies will have a more significant number of customers and greater affluence to their Customer Support services. Therefore, they need more complex chatbots, in more contact channels, that can solve more detailed requests.
Smaller companies with fewer contacts probably don’t need such complex chatbots and can work well with the simplest ones.
Only after answering these questions will you find the ideal type of chatbot for your company.
If you still have questions and want to know more information, contact the Visor.ai team. We will be glad to help you!
