Today, most of us have first-hand experience of conversational AI from using smart assistants like Siri, Cortana, and Alexa. But for some organizations, it may not be a technology widely used in the workplace. However, Azure Bot Service is unlocking the potential of conversational AI experiences for enterprise organizations everywhere – including your competitors.

This blog explores how chatbot application development with Microsoft’s Azure Bot Service can help you improve operations across a wide range of business use cases. We will look at the key benefits of integrating Azure bots into your network and explain how to maximize the potential of conversational AI. But first…

What is conversational AI?

Let’s start with a definition, a distinction, and then a quick introduction to Azure Bot Service.

Definition

Conversational AI is a form of artificial intelligence that is geared towards developing conversational experiences with computers. It allows us to speak or type words and sentences in a way that can be understood, and it also enables computers to respond in an appropriate, sensible, and human-like way.

Distinction

Chatbots are not exactly the same thing as conversational AI, but they’re closely related. Chatbots are computer programs that carry out varying levels of language-based interactions between humans and computers. On the level of greatest sophistication, this can include conversational AI, but often it might be programmed to use a simple script, responding with preselected phrases. For instance, these phrases might direct you to a customer sales team.

Introducing Azure Bot Service

Azure Bot Service is a platform from Microsoft that allows organizations to deploy and manage conversational AI and chatbots. If you are already using Microsoft technology, there isn’t an easier or quicker solution to implement.

With multilanguage and multichannel capabilities, organizations can deploy bots in an extensive range of processes, from helping to improve productivity to driving sales and enhancing customer support.

With Azure Bot Service, Microsoft is making chatbot application development quick and easy for everyone. They’re providing the tools to bring about conversational AI experiences for enterprise organizations.

Key benefits of integrating Azure bots as conversational AI experiences for enterprise

With integration across the entire Microsoft ecosystem, there’s a multitude of potential scenarios for realistic conversational AI experiences.

Boosting productivity with conversational AI

When people think of business uses for conversational AI, they tend to think of customer- or prospect-facing use cases. But there is a multitude of ways to use AI chatbots to improve how you operate internally. Conversational AI can improve employee experiences in many key areas.

  • Knowledge – Use AI bots to help users find the information they need. Rather than searching within files and folders, you can employ conversational AI to provide assistance. “Are there any docs related to Project X which focus on benefits to HR?” “Show me the most recent spreadsheets for Project Y.” With greater insight into context across the entire organization, a bot might suggest other sources of information. For instance: “here’s an email chain where you discuss Project Z.”
  • Productivity – Not only do examples like the above improve the speed and accuracy of simple but time-intensive tasks like searching for information, but crucially it also frees up staff to work on higher-value work. It also provides better employee experiences all around, leading to increased morale and job satisfaction.

Sales and customer service use cases

There are so many different scenarios that conversational AI can help sales and customer service employees. Here, we outline a few of the important ones.

  • Direct, quick Q&A – by placing chatbots on websites and within channels like Teams, Slack, and Facebook Messenger, prospects and customers can quickly find answers to questions they have.
  • Recommendations – from a quick conversation with a sophisticated bot, prospects and customers can be offered highly personalized recommendations, boosting sales and customer experience.
  • Nurture leads – conversational bots can help speed up the journey from prospect to customer, by providing valuable interactions that speak up for your brand, products and services.
  • Dynamic interactions – translate static FAQ pages into dynamic, interactive conversations. What’s more, these can increase in sophistication over time as bots speak to more customers and solve more problems.
  • Customer feedback – AI bots can conduct surveys and reach customers via the channels they prefer for communication. This invaluable resource helps you gain more detailed customer feedback from people who may otherwise not have supplied feedback.

Conversational AI experiences for enterprise users

Conversational AI is fast becoming an important tool for organizations to achieve better outcomes across the enterprise. From sales to support to productivity, your organization can benefit from implementing and integrating Azure bots into your apps and processes.

At Bauen Solutions, we help organizations build innovative solutions to enable growth. We can work with your organization to help you start with conversational AI. By working closely with your teams, we can identify the areas where the technology will be most impactful.

So why not get in touch? You can speak with one of our expert technicians today to find out more and discuss how conversational AI can help your business.

To learn more about conversational AI experiences for enterprise, chatbot application development, and the key benefits of integrating azure bots for your organization, get in contact with the team at the Bauen Group.