Google introduces analytics for website chatbots

Chatbots are currently seen as one of the next big things in web design, and a harbinger of the coming age of AI automation. When we hear stories of robots taking our jobs in the future we tend to think of humanoid robots like those featured in the movie AI.

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Rise of the robots?

Chatbots, however, are nothing more than lines of code, with preprogrammed responses to common queries. While the more advanced can learn to some extent, most are simply a more advanced version of a self-serve FAQ site that could be built by any Newport web designer. At least for the moment. Some believe that the age of the AI assistant is almost at hand.

Chatbots can do more than talk and take messages though. Companies are using them on websites and embedded in social media to respond to requests for information, carry out transactions, place and cancel orders, book appointments and handle returns, taking over from traditional customer service agents. This, when done right, can drastically lower a business’s costs, and provide a 24-hour service – something millennials are growing to expect.

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Brain training for chatbots

But if you’ve gone to the effort of building your business a chatbot (and if you need help doing this talk to Netcentrics Newport & Cardiff web design agency), how do you check it’s performing effectively?

Google has once again stepped into the breach with a new free service called Chatbase. Chatbase incorporates a REST API that you can connect to a wide variety of chatbots, allowing the service to pull data from them. Unlike traditional analytics programmes, the software has to interact with a far more dynamic set of interactions. Unlike previous projects, Google is playing the role of trailblazer here rather than digital disrupter, as there are few other genuine competitors on the market at the moment.

Once installed Chatbase can monitor the number of sessions, what percentage of these have been handled effectively and how long it took. Transcripts are also available, and Chatbase can analyse these to pull out repeated words in order to help you to continue to develop your chatbot’s responses based on what your customers are saying.

The console is very similar in style terms to Google’s other products like Analytics and Adwords, so users will feel right at home with it.

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