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Hello! Thank you for reading again this time! Black Friday sales are on at every shop, aren't they? I clicked "buy" on a sub-monitor on Amazon too. Half a year into remote work, it's a bit late now. Once I buy it, I'll probably set it up on the desk in my room. But the kotatsu is in the living room. So even when it arrives, I'll surely work in the living room. —and again, something completely unrelated, but this time I'll be writing about "chatbots"!
1. What is a chatbot?
It's exactly what the words say. It's a combination of two words: chat (conversation) and bot (robot). Today many companies have adopted them, and they're used as communication tools connecting users and companies. Basically it often refers to conversing via text (like a talk room), but it can also refer to things that converse by voice, like AI speakers. There's an image of using them when making inquiries and such. But the most familiar is probably the iPhone's "Siri." It's a form of chatbot that responds to your voice. After that, various companies also sold AI speakers, didn't they? The number of chatbots is on an increasing trend, and the market is projected to exceed 13 billion yen by 2022. To explain the mechanism simply: ・"Set rules" ⇒ In this case, do this, etc. ・"Analyze keywords" ⇒ Identify the most important word ・"Enrich the database" ⇒ Enrich it by human effort. And make the replies humorous
—that's how it works. Concise.
2. Benefits
The following benefits can be considered for adoption: ■ Cost reduction By having a chatbot handle inquiries, you can reduce personnel costs. Unexpected cases will be handled by humans, but if you enrich the database, you can handle many inquiries with the chatbot alone.
■ Increase touchpoints with users Users hesitate to call about little things they're curious about, but with a chatbot they can casually make inquiries. And by using a company account on a messaging app like LINE, you can create even more touchpoints!
3. Examples
・Lifenet Insurance They offer a service that lets you do insurance diagnosis and estimates on LINE and Messenger. Enter your date of birth, gender, preferences, and so on, and it automatically suggests insurance suited to you. Insurance has a high barrier, but with a chatbot you can do it casually, which is nice!
https://www.lifenet-seimei.co.jp/line/
・Yamato Transport Yamato Transport offers a notification-message service using LINE. From the menu screen you just select from two main items—"redelivery request" and "pickup request"—and proceed.
https://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/ytc/campaign/renkei/LINE/
・City of Yokohama Many municipalities have adopted chatbots, but the City of Yokohama operates a chatbot that guides garbage sorting, to promote its efforts around garbage. Enter "how to dispose of a bicycle" and it guides you on how to dispose of a bicycle. Wide-ranging!
https://www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/city-info/koho-kocho/koho/sns/line/line-official.html
4. In closing
Many people use company accounts on LINE and the like, don't they? Insurance, real estate, and such have a high barrier, so being able to get information or make inquiries via chatbot is really nice! I've also sent a message to the chatbot of a celebrity I like. It's worth watching as fan marketing too. That said, "Rinna," which LINE offered, was scary—so realistic somehow... Thank you for reading this time too!