While most companies are still exploring various chatbot use cases, the technology is entering the next phase. Ready to launch or improve chatbots within your organization? This blog looks at fundamentals like market needs and tool selection. I’ll also explain why it’s so important to go for a platform rather than a simple chatbot solution.
Why it pays to choose a platform from the start
Most companies are implementing and creating chatbots on a business unit level, using solutions that may turn out to be very short term. For example, implementing a Q&A chatbot for HR, however valuable, will not automatically help you leverage the learnings for your colleagues in the legal department. Enabling the technology across an entire organization can seem like a daunting challenge. In order to facilitate learning and maximize value in all departments and business units, you need solutions that enable employees to leverage experiences, processes and components inside and outside the organization, without losing access to (new) best practice solutions. Improved technological services and components are being developed daily and the race to determine who will dominate this market is a long way from being won. It is important not to lock-in to one specific chatbot vendor or solution. The Blits platform is technology agnostic, allowing you to switch between machine learning engines and other cognitive API’s at will, to make sure your organization can benefit from the best solutions available on the market now and in the future.
Meeting your strategy needs
Companies that are convinced of the value chatbots represent to their organization, have to take important decisions about which tool or platform is going to service their (growing) needs in the long-run. Selecting the right solution is difficult, and can consume a great deal of time and resources. Most companies start by selecting the tools they are familiar with, or that employees have experimented with. However, you will achieve a better outcome if you think about your organization’s short- and long-term strategy. Here are some key factors to consider before making a choice:
Is the organization fully aware of the current technical chatbot (in)capabilities?
Will the solution help a specific use-case only or the whole organization?
How do you want to implement and scale the technology and capabilities?
What vendors are preferred and what is your infrastructure setup like?
What departments are (also) likely to benefit from the technology in the next three to five years?
What technical resources do you have (or are you building)?
Who will be responsible for optimizing, building and extending use cases?
What are your functional and technical requirements in the near future, and how do you monitor trends?
Does the solution or vendor have enough (international) support and implementation power to support your scaling needs?
120+ solutions in multiple categories
Before Blits started developing its own platform for customers, we identified over 120 solutions of all sizes already in the market that help companies to harness the power of chatbots. Understanding the current market and the differences is a challenge itself, as there are many solutions for specific markets, domains, use cases, company sizes, interfaces, users, and maturity levels. We have identified nine different categories by market needs.
Need clarity? Blits can help
Our developed Blits platform helps clients to start small with specific use cases, while enabling a seamless scale-up to the entire company in due course. It provides everything necessary for an effective roll-out of chatbot applications, from building your very first chatbots to embedding the new technology throughout your organization. Next to using the markets’ best services, the platform’s tools facilitate:
Iterating best practices
Generic chatbot dialogue flows and building blocks
Out-of-the-box integration with core business applications
Not only that, our team of experts provides in-house training and ongoing advice on how to develop a chatbot strategy and an implementation plan.
If you want to know more about our platform and services, or would like to see a demo, please leave your contact details here.
