#contactcenterworld, @egain, @chatbots

eGain, a provider of cloud-based customer engagement solutions, announced that chatbot silos are the biggest hurdle for consumers in using virtual assistants. The finding is from an independent survey of 3,000 consumers, conducted by Chatbots.org.

Established in 2008, Chatbots.org is a global community devoted to the promotion of AI for business and societal value. The organization collaborates with businesses and academic institutions, sharing new developments in AI technologies such as chatbots and reasoning, and propagating best practices in leveraging them.

Sponsored by eGain, the research was conducted by Chatbots.org in Q4 calendar 2017 across the US and the UK, using SurveyMonkey™. Responses were compiled from 3,000 consumers who had used a chatbot for customer service in the prior 12 months. Key findings and corresponding viewpoints from Chatbots.org and eGain are:

• 59% of respondents (62% in the US and 55% in the UK) found that having to repeat information and context to a human agent in the event of escalation from chatbots was the biggest hassle by far in using virtual assistants. Not surprisingly, this is a result of chatbot deployments that are completely disconnected from agent-assisted touchpoints.
  
  
• The second biggest deterrent at 32% (29% US and 37% UK) was chatbots "getting stuck and not knowing what to do next." This is a common problem that arises from a lack of focus on knowledge management to empower chatbots.
  
  
• 53% of the consumers surveyed (54% US and 52% UK) found chatbots to be "not effective" or only "somewhat effective." US consumers were harsher in their assessment of chatbots with 14% rating them as not effective versus only 5% of UK consumers. This is perhaps an indication that US consumers are challenging chatbots with more complex questions than UK consumers.
  
  
• Younger consumers thought that chatbots were more effective—where 22% of Generation Z and 15% of millennials rated them as "very effective," only 12% of boomers and the silent generation gave them the same rating. This is likely due to the positive attitude that digitally savvy Gen Z and millennial consumers have towards chatbots.
  
  
• Consumers with higher education found chatbots to be twice as ineffective as the less educated consumers did—13% of respondents with undergraduate or graduate degrees rated chatbots as "not effective" versus 7% of those with high school diplomas or incomplete high school education. This could be because educated consumers challenge chatbots to resolve more complex service problems.

"We wanted to understand the barriers consumers face in using chatbots in order to promote their adoption," said Erwin van Lun, CEO and founder of Chatbots.org. "The survey findings will help technology providers improve their offerings while helping businesses select and deploy chatbots the right way to make it easy for consumers."

#contactcenterworld, @egain, @chatbots