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Imagine your doctor asked for different exams—blood work, imaging/scan tests, ultrasound—and you want to know whether a lab in your city can do all of them in one place. You visit the website and discover that, instead of calling or emailing the company, you can ask anything on WhatsApp—a very practical interaction these days.

When you send a message through the app, you almost instantly receive a welcome message and then another one offering options like scheduling exams, asking customer service questions, learning how to get results online… all by pressing 1, 2, 3, or 4 and waiting for the response.

This lab example shows how a question can be resolved in just a few minutes—with a key advantage: depending on the complexity of the conversation between the customer and the chatbot, a human can call the client and finish the service just as quickly, without the customer having to make any effort to reach an attendant.

Now, instead of a lab, imagine an interaction with your bank. You want to unblock a card, you message the chatbot asking for the service, and the bank’s own bot does it for you.

The same would happen if you wanted to check your balance before making a transaction: before opening the bank app, you use the chatbot and ask “what’s my balance?”, then wait a few seconds for the answer.

If this reminds you of that annoying time on the phone listening to hold music, it’s not a coincidence. Companies today use chatbots—robots that respond to user demands—to avoid losing customers to mandatory phone interactions, which have been out of fashion for a long time.

That’s why chatbots promise to steal the spotlight in a future that is already happening: companies from many sectors already use bots on their Facebook pages, on WhatsApp, and even on websites to interact with users who want quick answers and problem resolution.

Chatbots vs. apps: who wins?

Many specialists claim apps are dying and the next wave will be chatbots. After all, people have limited storage on their phones to download apps, and the most used apps—messaging apps like WhatsApp and Messenger—could be “replaced” by bots doing operations on people’s behalf.

X-Apps believes chatbots matter, but they are just one more customer relationship channel. Apps still offer more convenience and ease when it comes to delivering services.

To use a simple example, imagine if Uber were a chatbot: you’d open the chat, tell the bot you want to go to a certain destination, and it would call the car for you—instead of requesting it yourself in the app based on geolocation.

In that case, which interaction would be better?

It depends on each person’s preferences: some will find the chatbot more practical, while others prefer the app experience, since a bot doesn’t feel “as natural” and it’s simpler to make the request inside the app they already know.

How to use chatbots intelligently

The best way to use this tool is to adopt the chatbot as one more channel. That way, combined with an app and a website, it’s as if all user support bases are fully covered.

In a multichannel scenario—where one of the channels is the chatbot—it’s essential to think about API development. APIs define the business rules (including validations, flows, functionality, and applicability) in a base structure where features and interactions are programmed once and reused across all channels where the software operates.

And it doesn’t stop there: an API allows an application to be replicated into a chatbot, a website, and even VR glasses and other emerging technologies.

That way, even if you’re not yet thinking about applying your idea on every possible front, you’re at least preparing for the digital future of your channels.

Here are some practical examples of where a chatbot can be used intelligently:

• Retail channels: the chatbot can tell a customer where to buy a product, how much it costs, and available payment options;
• Weather: who doesn’t want an immediate answer to “is it going to rain today?”;
• News channels: when a reader asks about today’s top headlines, the chatbot can list interesting links;
• Personal finance: how about a bot that tells you, in real time, whether you can commit to a purchase with six or more installments, based on your banking history?
• Calendar: for workaholics, asking a bot to add a new task to the calendar and getting confirmation in minutes can feel as good as going to Disneyland (especially if the trip is also scheduled by a chatbot).

As you can see, there’s no shortage of chatbot ideas—and there’s also no shortage of people wanting to use them as an additional relationship channel with a brand. In China, 20 million people use a chatbot whose main “job” is to be a friend for those who feel lonely.

Siri, the mother of today’s chatbots, better watch out.

If your company wants to learn more about this new technology and how it can support your website or app strategies, talk to X-Apps.

Whether via chatbot, email, phone, or a handwritten letter, we’ll find the best solution for your business.