ChatBot

From Workshop Idea to Project

Who hasn't experienced this: you visit a new website, want to find specific information, but are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content? Whether it's searching for the right product, booking an appointment, or having general questions about navigating the website – the digital age not only offers the opportunity to present and position your company in the best possible light, but also to specifically engage your customers and offer help exactly where they need it. And ideally, all of this is fully automated.

Within the DIH-OST project, a workshop idea on this topic was taken up, and ultimately, the project implementation of a digital assistant emerged. Customers receive support with general questions, appointment bookings, contact requests, website navigation, and much more.

What is a ChatBot?

The bot has the ability to understand human language and respond appropriately to valid queries. Common customer questions can be compiled in an FAQ system and answered by the chatbot. Furthermore, this virtual assistant can refer customers to human employees or contact them directly, depending on their inquiry. This is particularly helpful when the bot itself is unable to provide the necessary information. The bot also assists customers with website navigation, ensuring they can quickly find the information they need. In addition, the chatbot can handle complex tasks, such as compiling a quote. The bot can request necessary information, such as product and quantity, from users within a dialogue. With a connection to the appropriate interface, the bot can even schedule appointments.

For a chatbot to be well-received by users, it must sound natural and intuitive, and the interactions must be user-friendly.

What does the project entail in detail?

FOTEC Research and Technology Transfer GmbH is working on the project "Developing a Chatbot" to make customer communication more efficient and intelligent. The project's starting point is the creation of a chatbot that is equipped with skills and trained accordingly.

Implementing a chatbot, intended to serve as the foundation for other virtual assistants, is consistently challenging. Significant time must be invested in developing conversations that feel as natural and human as possible. Implementing functionalities that go far beyond simply answering questions is considerably more complex. One such functionality is the ability to quickly check prices, where the bot extracts all necessary data from the customer's message and returns the results in a user-friendly and visually appealing format. Many of these skills must be developed and tested individually before being integrated into a comprehensive system.

This project provides a solid foundation for developing future bots. It includes not only a bot with numerous dialogues that can be quickly adapted to a company's specific needs, but also extensive documentation, including examples, that covers everything from development to software deployment.

Conclusion

While chatbots will not replace human interaction in the future, their "intelligence" can simplify or even replace many work processes. Crucial to this is the thorough development of the chatbot, ensuring its versatility and user-friendliness.

 

More information
https://dih-ost.at