Self-service kiosks have been changing business for years. It’s becoming increasingly rare to find retail shops, restaurants, banks and public spaces that don’t utilize self-service kiosk technology in some form. This trend has only continued. In fact, it was reported that the global interactive kiosk market was expected to grow from 24.8 billion in 2019 to 32.8 billion by 2025.
Understanding Chatbots and AI
Chatbots are an application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for functions traditionally requiring human activity. Basically, a chatbot pops up on a website like an Instant Messaging window, and could even have the “avatar” or “profile picture” of a real person, depending on how the business configures the bot. This chatbot handles clientele queries so people don’t have to, and in a way that seems organic.
Gone are the days where businesses had lifetime customers. Today, 60% of consumers in the U.S would consider switching to a different product or service if their customer experience was unsatisfactory. As you may well know, call centers have always played an indispensable role in customer loyalty. And as a customer, you don’t always get a glimpse of the contact center world. Thereby, you may likely be uninformed of their countless challenges such as heavy workloads, high turnover rates, and repetitive tasks.
Fairfield, NJ: soolis, an innovator in the artificial intelligence and chatbot space, has announced a partnership with Sneeze It, a leading marketing agency within the fitness industry that specializes in online lead generation. Through this partnership, the companies will unite to produce higher member conversion rates by utilizing a revolutionary online tools suite.
In 2020 the pandemic bought about unexpected changes in technology across many industries. The need for social distancing and safe distribution has created a variety of new innovations to deal with the crisis. With 5G and AI in the backdrop and IoT in the foreground, tech trends have become a mix of predictable and surprising ground-breaking solutions. Here are nine top tech trends to look for in 2021.
1. Internet of Behaviors (IoB)
IoB was listed as number one by Gartner for top strategic technology trends in 2021. It involves the use of data from digital and physical realms to alter behavior. Telematics is an example of this field of study, in which data monitoring devices from insurance companies can be installed in cars to encourage good driving behavior.
2. Remote Work
The pandemic has raised awareness across several industries that allowing remote work is a solid solution for staying in business and practicing social distancing. The demand for remote work will increase throughout the pandemic and beyond. It will become such a defining solution for cutting costs, telework will grow into the norm. Businesses will use cloud services to schedule work that can be done by employees anywhere.
3. Cybersecurity Mesh
The more a company uses remote workers, the greater the opportunities for hackers to study the network and make plans for penetration. Hackers are constantly trying to outsmart sophisticated cybersecurity systems, but they have a very hard time getting past certain robust security layers. A cybersecurity mesh involves setting a centralized security policy and distribution of its enforcement. It places a security wall around individuals instead of the entire network.
4. Blockchain
As the underlying technology behind cryptocurrency transactions, blockchain has become increasingly more relevant each year in modern digital ecosystems. A major benefit of blockchain is that it provides very strong security, as it involves creating a chain of data that cannot be changed. Look for blockchain adoption to accelerate in 2021 and not just to facilitate online gaming or Bitcoin transactions.
5. Distributed Cloud
When cloud services are distributed to different physical locations, the practice is known as distributed cloud. These cloud services are overseen by the public cloud provider, who hands cybersecurity. Distributed cloud is a strategy for reducing latency and costs that Gartner has identified as the future of cloud technology in general.
6. Hyperautomation
Last year's top trend on Gartner's list was hyperautomation, which is a concept that suggests anything that can be automated should be. IT specialists can help businesses find hyperautomation solutions to gain greater efficiency, efficacy and agility. Within this umbrella is the development of robotic process automation (RPA), which is like machine learning in the sense the software can interpret applications and respond to emails.
7. Intelligent Composable Business
This type of business is designed to adapt to changes in the market, as a solution to go along with fast-changing technology. Organizations must make deep insights easy to access to improve ability to respond to problems. This type of business is flexible and able to shift gears quickly to avoid inefficiency.
8. Privacy-enhancing Computation
This system protects data with a trusted environment, analytics and encryption. Businesses are increasingly using this approach to maintain safe and private data sharing within their networks.
9. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)
Managing data in one centralized location is an effective strategy when it comes to data collection from a variety of sources. A CDP is essentially a unified customer database accessible to other systems such as an email marketing platform. It allows different departments within an organization to access a variety of customer data.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has left many business at loss. Companies that rely on physical interaction with their customers like the hospitality, banking, and retail are worst hit, given most governments’ directives to lockdown towns. Even those in operation have to work with smaller teams, which leads to delay in the delivery of services.
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown businesses into a spin. The strict lockdown measures undertaken by authorities have forced businesses to close. Their customer support departments have been hit particularly hard as call centers across the world remain closed.
Understanding Chatbots and AI
Chatbots are an application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for functions traditionally requiring human activity. Basically, a chatbot pops up on a website like an Instant Messaging window, and could even have the “avatar” or “profile picture” of a real person, depending on how the business configures the bot. This chatbot handles clientele queries so people don’t have to, and in a way that seems organic.
A prediction by Gartner states that by 2020, non-human interactions will account for 85% of enterprise-customer relationships. Surveys reveal that 89% of consumers prefer to engage with businesses via text. Out of all the customers that engage with businesses via text, 64% of them leave the interaction with a positive impression.