Google’s Bot-in-a-Box

AI chatbots have gained a lot of popularity in the past few years. Especially during the COVID times. It was the time when shopping online was people’s most favorite pastime.

In 2021, more than 65% of the global consumers interacted with businesses via an AI chatbot. This clearly shows that it’s convenient and easy to use a chatbot. Businesses that do not have AI chatbots on their websites will surely lose a lot of potential customers.

Creating smart and efficient chatbots is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some businesses face a pretty tough time creating such tools. Google, the tech giant, is here to help all such businesses.

Google’s Business Messages platform has launched a mind-blowing new feature, Bot-in-a-Box. It will help businesses address their customers’ conversations through AI-powered chatbots. Businesses and customers can connect with each other from Google Search, Google Maps, and many other channels.

Google’s Bot-in-a-Box is a special and helpful feature for small and medium scale businesses. Small businesses often lag behind when integrating AI into their business. Sometimes it is because of the lack of technical knowledge. And most of the time, it is because of their limited budget.

Bot-in-a-Box will help businesses use AI’s power to connect with their customers and respond quickly. It removes the need to have a human agent available all the time to respond to customers.

This latest feature by Google uses Dialogflow. It is Google’s conversational AI tool that effortlessly converts a webpage or FAQ document into an automated bot. Without having to write a single line of code!

Suppose your customers send in a few queries. In that case, they will receive relevant answers literally in a few minutes. For example, a customer asks for the price of a product while you aren’t available. The Dialogflow tool will reply to your customer by extracting the FAQ page or web page information.

Apart from giving timely responses, Bot-in-a-Box can also provide some special features. For instance, providing the option of booking an appointment, placing an order for a product or food, etc. These options can be integrated by using the same Dialogflow tool.

But, adding these options requires a little coding. A few lines of code and you can have all the advanced features ready to help your customers.

How Can a Business Get Started with Google’s Bot-in-a-Box?

A business has to register itself as a development partner on the official developer website of Google.

The second step is to visit the ‘Business Communications Developer Console.’ Find and select the option of ‘create an agent.’

The next step is enabling Dialogflow integration with Bot-in-a-Box. A business can add an existing Dialogflow or create a new one. Don’t worry; it’s super simple to create a new project. You have to go to the Knowledge Base section, which is present on the left sidebar. Create a new knowledge base. After that, upload a FAQ document or link to a webpage.

Click Submit, and that’s it.

Your chatbot will be ready in a matter of a few minutes. It will answer the common and frequently asked questions of customers. You won’t have to stay online 24/7 to address your customers’ queries.

What Benefits Businesses Can Avail From Google’s Bot-in-a-Box?

Businesses can reap a lot of benefits from Google’s Bot-in-a-Box feature. Some of them are:

1.Around the Clock Availability

Customers can visit an e-commerce store at any time. They can visit the online store and have questions when you are not available. In such situations, Bot-in-a-box can answer the customers promptly.

If there is no AI-driven chatbot, nobody will respond to the customer. As a result, the customer will leave the website and might forget about it.

The second benefit businesses can avail of is:

2. Increases Company’s Rapport

Customers love businesses that are available for them. Loyal customers do not only trust the business because of its product or service’s quality. But, also from their customer service’s quality.

Having a Bot-in-a-Box enables businesses to be always available for their customers. Responding to your customers on time win’s their loyalties. Plus, it also improves a business’s reputation in the market.
Moving on to the third benefit, which is:

3. Helps Boosting Sales

If site visitors cannot find the information about a product, they leave it. But by having a Box-in-a-Bot business can always cater to their customers’ inquiries. By answering the customer’s questions, a business can clear its doubts.

Once the prospect has all the details about the product and is satisfied with it, he can buy the product. Box-in-a-Bot can also recommend a product to a customer according to his preferences.

Up next, we have:

4.Tool To Get Instant Feedback From Customers

Customer feedback is an essential element for a business to grow. Customers’ opinions about the business’s products and services can help a business improve further.

A chatbot is an excellent channel to ask the customer for feedback. The customer isn’t required to fill out special forms or get over a call. They can simply give instant feedback to the business about its products and services.

The 5th benefit that can be reaped from Bot-in-a-Box is

5.Provides Valuable Market Information

Connecting with customers on a chat is an excellent way to gather valuable information. You can get an insight into what your customers are looking for and what type of products they like the most.

To conclude, Bot-in-a-Box will make it easier for businesses and customers to bridge the gap and communicate effectively.

Final Thoughts

Businesses are no longer only about selling a product. In the digital era, a customer observes not only the product’s quality but also its customer service’s quality. Being available for your customers and responding to them on time works wonders for the business.

Thanks to Google! Many small and medium-scale businesses can use the power of Dialogflow to automate the conversation with their customers at any time of the day.

Google Bot-in-a-Box will work as a 24/7 virtual agent for businesses to respond to their customers.