What is a ChatBot ?
A Chatbot / SmartBot/ IM Bot is nothing but a computer program or an AI Program designed to conduct conversations as humans would.
They're typically used in a dialog system on text chat and voice chat platforms and are used widely for customer service or information acquisition.
The more complex chatbots use Natural Language Processing but the simpler ones scan for keywords to form their replies.
What can a Chatbot do ?
1. Lead Generation
These kind of Chabots are used for finding people (leads) who’re likely to become your customers immediately or in the future. It involves collecting names and contact information about qualified prospects who will be contacted later.
Example :
2. Customer Service Bot
A customer service chatbot can help answer customer queries cheaply, quickly and in real time, 24/7. It understands your products and how your company likes to communicate. They can work with higher volumes of requests with similar responses. They also make fewer errors while answering customer inquiries than human agents do.
Example:
2. Recruitment
A recruitment chatbot can:
Collate information from various candidates i.e. their Resumes , Profiles etc.
Filter candidates by asking questions about their Work Experience, knowledge, acquires skills etc.
Rank candidates based on a certain set of parameters such as qualification, recent activity, or engagement etc.
Be the point of contact in answering basic FAQ,s about jobs and the overall application process
Example:
Which are the best Chatbots available right now?
Let's Compare each of them understand what sets them apart
I. Dialogflow
Pros :
Available for free or pay as you go for enterprise-grade services.
Access to NLP technology and Machine Learning capabilities of Google
Many one click integrations (can establish a conversational app across 14 platforms with just one click)
multilingual agent capability
Domains that can be used to deal with several common use cases and applications Eg : Wisdom, Flight Schedules, Reminders etc.
SDKs for multiple programming languages
Cons :
Setting up the Chatbot can be a bit complex
Requires some experience, might not be as easy for beginners
Testing ins't refined , expect it to be a bit clunky
Integration with FB, possible but after some Legwork ( Creating the FB App , Getting Approval etc. )
Help documentations and tutorials, not very satisfactory
Building complex bots can be difficult, due to lack of visual representation of the bot's flow. If you have a mix of Linear and Non-Linear flows, you might not find the tool intuitive
Manual hand-on training required
II. Chatfuel
Pros:
Tool for creating chatbots for Facebook Messenger
You can build a really simple bot quickly
Easy to learn
Try it on messenger without actually having to deploy it
Create customised personal experience using custom fields function(filtering to group users by conditions specific for your particular business)
On the Pro Plan, you can export the Messenger ID of all your users into a spreadsheet by clicking on the “export” button and use it to create more targeted ads
Can delay answers up to 20 seconds
Limitless integration via JSON API
Cons :
Free version comes with Chatfuel branding
You cannot build anything beyond simple, linear bots without a lot of effort
No machine learning
Viewing the whole interaction flow can be a bit complex
Cannot visually see how the messages are linked to each other
III. SnatchBot
Pros :
Totally free
One bot works on all channels
Bot template section - a variety of bots available based on specific tasks and common chatbot use cases.
Add established bots to your preferred channels with a single click, from their Bot Directory
Cons :
Tutorial with how to implement all the options not available
IV. ManyChat
Pros :
Free Basic Plan that comes with limited features
Easy to use interface
Active supportive community
Visual chat flow while building
Before you send a broadcast, you can check to see who is going to receive your message (# of users & name) and set a specific time for sending
Duplicate the chatflow to other bots, including the messages with them
Bulk actions feature, a very useful feature to perform actions like adding or removing a tag from multiple users, subscribing or unsubscribing users from a sequence in bulk
LIveChat tool that allows you (or your team) to communicate with your subscribers right in the ManyChat platform, jumping into conversations to answer questions, manage subscribers’ data manually.
Cons :
With Free plan, ManyChat branding in the bot’s menu and promotional tools.
Cannot be easily integrated with Third party analytics
V. BotPress
Pros :
Open source
Bot templates available
Multiple NLP solutions
Modules once created are public so other user’s modules can be used
Universal Message Markdown (UMM) which allows content managers to easily customize content for different messaging platforms and languages
Cons :
Basic coding skills are required
More developers oriented
VI. Hello Tars
Pros :
Focused on after ad-click conversations
Easy to use interface to design
great support and documentation
conditional logic
Cons :
No calculation functions to bot logic.