Companies across the world are struggling to communicate with customers with direct interactions discouraged with lockdowns enforced amid COVID-19. To surmount these problems, many enterprises are adopting chatbots. These not only help them interact with customers, but also help spread awareness about the ongoing pandemic.
Chatbots have been a great help – especially healthcare in this critical time – to help spread information about the coronavirus, and also assist with customer queries. Below are some of the well-known chatbots which have been helping industries in the time of COVID-19:
MyGov Corona Helpdesk
MyGov Corona Helpdesk chatbot is the official chatbot of the Government of India to answer COVID-19-related queries. It is available on WhatsApp and can be accessed by messaging on this number – 9013151515.
The chatbot offers a wide range of information about the pandemic in a conversational and easy-to-understand manner. The information includes symptoms, how infection is transmitted, preventive measures, health and travel advisories, and official government helplines for further assistance.
Rapid Response Virtual Agent program
Recently announced on Google Blog, the Rapid Response Virtual Agent program will provide information to help battle COVID-19. The chatbot allows Google Cloud customers to respond more quickly to questions from their customers about the coronavirus. The chatbot is designed for organisations who want to provide information related to the COVID-19 pandemic to their customers. These organisations can also include government agencies, public health functionaries, as well as those in the travel, financial and retail industries.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft’s Azure Cognitive Services can be used by large companies and healthcare organisations to build enterprise-grade bots that can speak, understand and listen. Some hospitals have already started using Microsoft’s tech to automatically answer people’s queries about the symptoms of COVID-19, and screen patients virtually before inviting them to come for in-person evaluations. The platform includes open-source SDK, and lets businesses maintain control of their data.
LivePerson
LivePerson is best known for its conversational commerce software, which is powered by AI. The platform enables customers to have virtual conversations with a brand without any actual human interaction. From the company’s estimates, 70% of consumer inquiries have the potential to be automated with its technology. These conversations can take place across several digital channels, which include SMS, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. Brands can also integrate LivePerson’s software into their websites and mobile apps.
Cobot-19
This chatbot is created by customer support and automation platform Verloop and healthcare startup Portea Medical. Cobot-19 is developed to help people access information about COVID-19. The data gathered is from WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and John Hopkins University. This chatbot operates via WhatsApp where customers are asked to choose from available options depending on the information they require.
Directly
Directly specialises in intelligence automation and uses technology to determine which customer queries should be handled by the subject matter experts. Directly offers a critical infrastructure to make all virtual agents work with five API calls to its platform. It integrates several messaging applications, virtual agents, ML platforms, and CRM platforms.
It also uses daily trained ML models to identify new opportunities for automation. Currently, Directly works with brands like Airbnb, Samsung, and Microsoft.
