Consumer Expectations Are Fueling the Next Generation of
Chatbots that Are More Intelligent, Personalized and Supremely
Effective in Working as Directed
Despite the growing prevalence of chatbots in the customer
service realm, consumers aren't sold on their efficacy, and many
find chatbot experiences flat-out frustrating. These are some of
the findings of an independent third-party survey of over 1,000
U.S. consumers commissioned by Verint® (NASDAQ: VRNT), The Customer
Engagement Company™, highlighting rising customer expectations for
chat-based channels, and offering critical insights for
organizations to design winning digital-first experiences.
In 2020, the global pandemic led to an unprecedented surge in
the usage of customer service chatbots. The combination of a
reduced labor force and high volume of support inquiries caused a
426 percent increase in chatbot usage as businesses began to rely
on chatbots and virtual assistants more than ever before.
But many consumers find their relationships with chatbots
“complicated.” Nearly one-third – 32 percent – say they rarely or
never feel understood by a chatbot (only 28 percent say they always
or often feel understood), and over 30 percent (30.5%) say a
chatbot rarely or never fully answers their questions.
Due to this failure to communicate, over 30 percent (30.8%) say
they always or often abandon their efforts to resolve an issue when
interacting with a chatbot. As a result of the inability to resolve
issues or have their questions answered via chatbots, more than
half of consumers turn to human agents for help – 54.5 percent say
they always or often must request to speak to a human after
speaking with a chatbot.
A common frustration noted by over 60 percent of consumers was
having to re-explain a situation to a customer service agent after
starting the interaction with a chatbot.
Beyond problems with comprehension and issue resolution,
consumers voiced frustrations with lackluster chatbots
including:
- 45.7% say the options aren't sufficient
- 41.7% say chatbots lack context for their unique situation
- 41.4% say chatbots don't have all the information that they
need
- 26.1% say the interactions feel impersonal
- 21.3% say the experience is too time consuming
Respondents said they are most comfortable using conversational
AI for simple use cases such as retrieving account information
(40%), scheduling appointments or services (38.3%), and travel
bookings (30.9%) and do feel chatbots are increasingly effective
for 24/7 assistance and quick responses in use cases such as
healthcare, in scenarios such as increasing patient adherence.
What’s Next for Chatbots
Consumers were quick to list desired chatbot “work ons” for
performance improvement. These include the addition of contextual
and language understanding, and the ability to recall past
issues.
“Businesses rely on chatbots now more than ever and customer
expectations are higher than they’ve ever been. These demands and
expectations are fueling the next generation of chatbots that are
more intelligent, personalized and effective,” says Verint’s Jen
Snell, vice president, go-to-market, Conversational AI.
“Chatbots need to move beyond micro-smarts to become intelligent
systems that deliver advanced understanding, assistance, and
intelligence. ‘Beyond the bot’ conversational AI systems can carry
on true contextual conversation, complete with clarifications or a
subsequent choice by users. These supercharged chatbots are
supported by deep domain expertise, so their comprehension of user
intent goes way beyond generic Natural Language Processing,” Snell
continued. “They are also highly integrated with many systems of
record to ensure effective issue resolution and the delivery of the
right information. This also includes when the conversation is
moved to a human agent and delivering all relevant context of the
interaction, so customers don’t have to repeat themselves and
agents can be successful by quickly resolving issues.”
Learn More
In a series of spotlight reports, Verint aims to further explore
each of the top-level findings to reveal further insights on
consumer preferences and provide practical advice for businesses to
capture each opportunity to better engage customers.
Click the link for more information and to download a copy of
the report, Conversational AI Barometer: Chatbots and Next-Gen
AI.
Report Methodology
The survey was administered by an external market research
organization that gathered responses from 1,000 participants living
in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 65 in September 2021. In
addition to demographic information, the survey included various
questions on consumer chatbot preferences through a combination of
multiple choice, Likert Scale, and ranked responses.
About Verint
Verint® (Nasdaq: VRNT) helps the world’s most iconic brands –
including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies – build enduring
customer relationships by connecting work, data and experiences
across the enterprise. The Verint Customer Engagement portfolio
draws on the latest advancements in AI and analytics, an open cloud
architecture, and The Science of Customer Engagement™ to help
customers close The Engagement Capacity Gap™.
Verint. The Customer Engagement Company™. Learn more at
Verint.com.
This press release contains “forward-looking statements,”
including statements regarding expectations, predictions, views,
opportunities, plans, strategies, beliefs, and statements of
similar effect relating to Verint Systems Inc. These
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and they are based on management's expectations that involve a
number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, any of which could
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in
or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a detailed
discussion of these risk factors, see our Annual Report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2021, our Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2021, and
other filings we make with the SEC. The forward-looking statements
contained in this press release are made as of the date of this
press release and, except as required by law, Verint assumes no
obligation to update or revise them or to provide reasons why
actual results may differ.
VERINT, VERINT DA VINCI, THE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT COMPANY,
BOUNDLESS CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT, THE ENGAGEMENT CAPACITY GAP and THE
SCIENCE OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT are trademarks of Verint Systems
Inc. or its subsidiaries. Verint and other parties may also have
trademark rights in other terms used herein.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220126005051/en/
Media Relations Amy Curry amy.curry@verint.com
Investor Relations Matthew Frankel
matthew.frankel@verint.com
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