Tag: conversational ui

Amazon Fire TV Gets New Business-Friendly Alexa Features

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon’s Fire TV devices have enjoyed Alexa integration since September, and now Amazon is adding even more useful voice-command features to those streaming devices. After updating to the latest software, Fire TV users will be able to ask Alexa to search for local businesses and restaurants in the same way an Echo user does now, thanks to Alexa’s integration with Yelp last year. Besides this business-friendly feature, Alexa can also help Fire TV users launch and navigate the HBO and Hulu apps via the Fire TV remote, look up showtimes for movie theaters, and even read them Kindle ebooks.

What Brands Need To Do
In January, Amazon claimed that Fire TV was “the best-selling streaming media player in the U.S.” With this update, Amazon is extending Alexa’s reach into more living rooms. For brands operating physical stores, especially chain restaurants, it is important to make sure their business information is correctly indexed on Yelp in order to aid discovery.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch

 

Google Is Making An Amazon Echo Competitor

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Recode reports that Google has assembled a secret product team to build a hardware device similar to the Amazon Echo that integrates Google’s search and voice assistant technology. The project is internally code-named “Chirp” and is expected to be announced at next week’s Google I/O developer conference and ready for launch later this year.

Why Brands Should Care
Amazon released Echo to much surprise in November 2014. Since then, the smart speaker with built-in personal assistant Alexa has been gaining momentum, moving an estimated 3 million units and ushering in a new era of conversational interfaces in consumer gadgets. Now with Google building a similar product, it seems likely that this type of connected device with voice-control is going to further infiltrate the consumer market.

For more information on how brands can navigate the new rules of discovery and other challenges presented by conversational platforms, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Recode

Facebook To Add Analytics To Chatbot Platform

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Since Facebook announced its chatbot platform for Messenger at its F8 conference last month, chatbots have garnered a lot of attention from brands and marketers alike. According to Messenger’s head of product Stan Chudnovsky, Facebook has started developing “a full-fledged analytics system” for its platform to help brands better understand how their chatbots are doing by breaking down, for example, which calls to action or messaging schedules are most engaging. In addition, he revealed that there are currently “tens of thousands” developers building chatbots on its platform and cited Activision’s Call of Duty bot, which exchanged 6 million messages in its first week, as a standout.

What Brands Need To Do
As we pointed out in our Fast Forward analysis on Facebook’s F8 Event, brands should consider developing useful bots to reach customers on the popular messaging apps they’re already using. The upcoming analytics tool will offer a way for brands to monitor the performance of their chatbots and improve their services accordingly.

For more information on how brands can effectively reach consumers on messaging apps and other conversational platforms, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch

Staples To Build A Chatbot For Facebook Messenger

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Staples becomes the latest brand to join the chatbot craze as the company’s Executive Vice President of Global eCommerce Faisal Masud reveals that the office supply retailer is working on a chatbot for Facebook Messenger as well as developing chat tools for its existing digital and social properties. According to Masud, the new messaging tools are built for better customer service and facilitating communication while the Messenger chatbot will focus on providing automated customer service.

What Brands Need To Do
Messaging apps are quickly overtaking phone calls as the primary means of modern communication for a growing population segment. In fact, Facebook reported that Messenger and WhatsApp now process 60 billion messages per day. Therefore, in order to reach consumers where they already are, brands should adapt to changing consumer behavior and get on messaging platforms.

For more information on how brands can effectively reach consumers on messaging apps and other conversational platforms, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016 and our latest Fast Forward analysis on chatbots.

 

Source: PYMNT

Booking.com Rolls Out Chat Tool To Improve Customer Service

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Booking.com is getting on the chatbot bandwagon as it starts to roll out a chat tool for customers to communicate with the hotel they booked. The messaging tool, built entirely in-house, will be made available via its website and mobile apps first, but the company says it is working on integrating it with some popular messaging apps, including Facebook Messenger. Users can ask hotels questions or make requests with their Booking account, and hotels can initiate a chat with a customer to ask for information about their arrival time and accommodation preferences. Booking.com does not specify whether the chat tool is powered by a chatbot or real human customer service reps, but it looks to be a mix of both.  

What Brands Need To Do
With the roll-out of this chat tool, Booking.com joins fellow travel booking sites Kayak and HotelTonight in modernizing their user experience and customer service with messaging. With more and more smartphone users relying on messaging apps as their primary communication channel, it is crucial for brands, especially those in the service industry, to update their touch points and communication channels with messaging tools so as to better serve their customers.

For more information on how brands can effectively reach consumers on messaging apps and other conversational platforms, we recommend reading the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016 and our Fast Forward analysis on chat bots.

 

Source: VentureBeat

HotelTonight Expands Its In-App Concierge Service

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
On Thursday, last-minute hotel booking service HotelTonight announced it is extending its in-app concierge service Aces to users to over 30 cities around the world, including big metropolises like London and smaller towns like Scottsdale, Ariz. HotelTonight first started testing Aces in five cities last summer. It allows users to chat with a customer service rep from the hotel they booked for concierge services, such as requests for extra toiletries or local restaurant recommendations without calling the hotel or even leaving the app.

HotelTonight is not the only booking site that is modernizing its service with a messaging interface. Travel booking site Kayak has built a chat bot on team communication app Slack that can handle flight and hotel searches. Startups like Hyper and Pana aim to simplify travel booking by replacing all web searches and phone calls with travel agents with texting.

What Brands Need To Do
Today, more and more people are using messaging apps as their primary communication channel. In fact, Facebook reported that together its two messaging apps – Messenger and WhatsApp – are now processing 60 billion messages a day, which is three times higher than SMS handled at its peak. Therefore, it is crucial for brands to integrate messaging features into their service so as to cater to the changing communication preferences of customers and better serve their needs.

To learn more about how brands can navigate the unique challenges that messaging apps present, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch

LiveWorld Debuts Tool For Managing Conversations On Messenger

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
LiveWorld, a social media software provider, released a product earlier this week to help brands better manage the various streams of conversations across social and messaging platforms in real time. The self-service, cloud-based platform combines social media scanning with case management and a CRM system to allow social managers to stay on top of all social chatter. The platform currently supports Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, as well as one messaging app, Facebook Messenger. The company says support for more messaging apps such as WeChat and Snapchat is coming soon.

What Brands Need To Do
As messaging apps start to open up to brands, an increasing number of brand-consumer interactions are moving from social media to messaging platforms. Therefore, it is only natural for brands to start deploying the right tools to manage their conversations with customers in messaging apps and improve their customer support.

For more information on how brands can effectively reach consumers on messaging apps and other conversational platforms, we recommend reading the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016 and our latest Fast Forward analysis on chat bots.

 

Source: Marketing Land

How This Online Vinyl Store Uses A Chat Bot To Sell Records

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
The Edit, an SMS-based vinyl retailer, is an ecommerce venture launched by Seattle-based startup ReplyYes eight months ago. It uses the ReplyYes text-to-buy platform to send customers automated text messages of daily vinyl offers and allows them to simply reply “yes” to initiate the purchase process. Users can also reply “like” or “dislike” to inform the bot of their musical preferences. The Edit says it has so far sold over 50,000 records to tens of thousands of subscribers in this way. The company attributes much of its early success to an algorithm powering the bot that recommends records based on purchase behavior and other interest-level data. Furthermore, whenever a customer asks a question beyond the bot’s capability, a customer service rep will quickly step in and provide an appropriate response.

What Brands Need To Do
Since Facebook introduced bots to its Messenger platform last week, chat bots have been pushed into the industry spotlight and received a considerable amount of doubts and criticisms. Most early reviews of Messenger bots rightfully pointed out their cognitive limitations and lack of sophistication. However, The Edit’s success shows that it is possible for brands and businesses to find an appropriate way to use chat bots to engage and communicate with customers, as long as they are aware of their limitations and incorporate a human touch to avoid frustrating the customers. As chat bots continue to evolve and mature, we expect to see more brands figure out how to properly use them to serve customers on conversational platforms.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdWeek

Alexa Can Now Answer Your Medical Inquiries

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Another week, another new skill for Alexa. Amazon’s voice assistant continues to grow its capabilities as KidsMD, an Alexa skill developed by Boston Children’s Hospital, officially launched last week. It allows users to ask Alexa-enabled Amazon devices for information about their sick children’s symptoms and receive health advice. Users can also ask Alexa for age and weight-specific dosing guidelines for various medications for kids.

What Brands Need To Do
This new skill marks one of Alexa’s first entries (besides My Dermatologist) into the healthcare domain, and it should come in handy when parents are too busy taking care of their sick kids to manually Google for information. As conversational interfaces led by the likes of Alexa and chat bots continue to gain momentum and evolve in their capabilities, it is important for brands of all industries to explore possible integrations into those advanced platforms.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Engadget

Kayak Wants You To Book Flights By Texting A Slack Bot

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
We first heard in December about Kayak’s plan to build a messaging-based app that allows users to text travel queries to get recommendations. Now, the travel site has used Slack’s API to develop a chat bot that allows Slack users to search for flights and hotels. Users can message Kayak’s bot with simple inquiries such as “/Kayak hotels in NYC this weekend,” and the bot will reply with a selection of hotels available with prices, user ratings, and photos.

What Brands Need To Do
Texting is quickly becoming a preferred way to talk to businesses and brands for many consumers, thanks to the dominating popularity of messaging apps. Kayak is one of the several travel brands getting on board with messaging apps. Just a few weeks ago, Dutch airline KLM became the first airline to integrate with Facebook Messenger to offer users customer support. With more and more people using messaging apps as their primary communication channel, it is crucial for brands to follow their customers and consider integrating their service into popular messaging apps.

To learn more about how brands can navigate the unique challenges that messaging apps present, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

Source: Digital Trends