E-Passports
Business

Deadlines for Application of EAC E-Passport Announced

by Kwabe Ben
written by Kwabe Ben

The Ministry of Interior has reminded Kenyans about the limited time in the need for renewal of the East Africa Community (EAC) E-Passports after a deadline restated from the 31st of December to November 30.

A move that is aimed at phasing out the old EAC passport to replace it with a biometric E-Passport version in a bid to boost free movement among the people of EAC.

The initiative follows a meeting convened by the EAC Council of Minister’s meeting held in Arusha, Tanzania where it was declared for the fastening of the process to roll out the plan.

Based on a statement by the Immigration Services Director General Alexander Muteshi revealed that the deadline had been moved to November 2022 as opposed to the earlier stated date pegged at December 31, 2022.

“Pursuant to the decision by EAC Council of Minister’s meeting held in Arusha from November 22 to November 29, 2021, the deadline for phasing out of the old generation passport for all EAC member States is November 2022.

Thereby in line with this decision, the Directorate of Immigration Services wishes to inform the general public that Kenya is bound to migrate fully to the new East African Community biometric e-passport by 30th November 2022. Kenyans are therefore hereby advised to acquire the new Biometric e-passport to avoid any inconveniences,” read the statement in part.

Re-dating the deadline was influenced by the need to meet the procrastination that has marred the process since it was rolled out in December 2016.

How to Apply

To apply for the new document, interested applicants are advised to visit the e-Citizen platform and complete Form 19 online.

They will then be required to pay the requisite passport fees for the type of passport ranging from Ksh4,550 and Ksh12,050.

There are six types of applications starting with Ordinary “A” Series at Ksh 4,550, Ordinary “B” Series (Ksh 6,050), Ordinary “C” Series (Ksh 7,550), Diplomatic Passport (Ksh 7,550), Mutilated Passport (Ksh 10,050) and Lost Passport (Ksh 12,050)

Applicants must download and print the application form and three copies of the receipt, then the applicant should personally submit the application form to the Immigration offices in Nairobi, Mombasa, or Kisumu.

They must also physically appear for the biometric rollout, present an original birth certificate and one photocopy, possess an original National ID Card and one photocopy, three current passport size photos, and a copy of the recommender’s ID card.

Other requirements include the old passport for replacement plus photocopies of its last three pages, photocopies of parents’ National ID cards (if available) or Death Certificates (if deceased), a sworn affidavit, a police abstract, and an explanation letter required for the lost passport as well as an explanation letter for mutilated passports.

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Kenyan Scientists Keep Tabs on COVID-19 Spread in Africa
AfricaCovid-19Health

Kenyan Scientists Keep Tabs On COVID-19 Spread In Africa

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

In a major new publication last week in Science magazine, a ‘dream team of 300 African scientists, including a group from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya, described the introduction and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 variants in African countries as it unfolded in real-time.

This was the largest consortium ever of African scientists and public health institutions working together to support a data-driven COVID-19 response in Africa.

“ILRI is delighted to have partnered with such an impressive group of scientists,” said ILRI senior scientist Dr. Samuel Oyola, a specialist in genomics and molecular biology. Dr. Oyola holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Cambridge, UK.

The genomics lab at ILRI is one of the three centers of excellence for genomic surveillance recognized and appointed by the African Centres for Disease Control (CDC).

The collaboration was led by two labs that set up the network for genomics surveillance in South Africa, the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation at Stellenbosch University and KRISP, the Kwazulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform KRISP at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in close coordination with the Africa CDC, the World Health Office-Africa (WHO AFRO) and 300 other institutions across the continent.

Kenyan Scientists Keep Tabs on COVID-19 Spread in Africa

Team of Kenyan Scientists who Kept Tabs on COVID-19 Spread in Africa led by the chief scientist, Dr. Samuel Oyola

The paper is titled ‘The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance.’ Dr. Oyola and his team’s contribution was testing and analyzing the SARS-CoV-2 genome by sequencing using modern high throughput genomic technologies.

“The sequencing data has helped to track SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in Kenya and the continent thereby helping the public health officials to monitor transmission dynamics and develop informed measures to control the spread of the virus in real-time,” he says.

Investment in Africa over the past year with regards to SARS-CoV-2 genotyping has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, exceeding 100,000 genomes generated to track the pandemic on the continent.

The scientists’ results show an increase in the number of African countries able to sequence within their own borders, coupled with a decrease in sequencing turnaround time. But they warn that sustained investment for genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve, particularly in the low vaccination landscape. These investments are very crucial for preparedness and response to future pathogen outbreaks.

The publication highlights the fact that sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa was needed to not only help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but establish a platform to address the emerging, re-emerging, endemic infectious disease threats, such as Ebola, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said Yenew Kebede, Head Division of Laboratory Systems and Networks at the Africa CDC Vaccine development. ‘These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century.’

But the publication also showed—at least by implication—how the international response has failed (and continues to fail) some of the world’s poorest countries. The study shows, for example, that while most introductions of COVID-19 variants in Africa were seeded from viral lineages in Europe, Africa was often penalized with travel bans by the very countries that had introduced the virus to Africa.

‘There are many lessons to learn from this work,’ said Dr. Oyola, ‘not all of them happy.’ He added: ‘But the swift increase in genetic sequencing capacity on the continent is clearly a major positive development. ILRI is playing a critical role in developing the capacity for pandemic preparedness and response in Africa through our advanced molecular and genomic technologies.’

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EABL Foundation donates Ksh. 1M for conservation of Karura Forest
EnvironmentNewsTourism

EABL Donates Ksh. 1M For Conservation Of Karura Forest

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

EABL Foundation has donated Ksh. 1 million for the conservation of Karura Forest as part of its environmental conservation agenda.

The Ksh. 1 million by EABL Foundation will sponsor the Friends of Karura (FKF) 2022 race. The run is in its fourth year and will take place on Sunday, September 25 2022 at the Karura Forest.

Proceeds from the race will go towards maintaining and securing the Forest, which is Nairobi’s biggest indigenous forest and the most visited running destination.

Speaking during a press conference to announce this sponsorship, EABL Group Corporate Relations Director, Eric Kiniti, noted that all stakeholders must unite and cooperate toward positive change through the conservation of green spaces.

“We recognize the immense value of the environment, especially the urban green spaces. These spaces have multiple benefits such as the social benefits of boosting mental and physical health and environmental benefits such as reducing air pollution, enhancing bio-diversity, and mitigating the impacts of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, extreme rainfall, and flooding among others.”

KBL is a long-term partner of the Friends of Karura and the Kenya Forest Service and has supported the conservation of the Karura Forest for over a decade now. This includes the fencing of the Karura Forest at a cost of Ksh. 8.5 million.

The FKF 2022 race will have a family-friendly format with 2km, 5km, 10km 21km, and 42km race options. The participants will enjoy a cold Tusker lite as they participate in a Berlin Marathon watch party on a large screen at the race’s finish line. 100 KBL staff will be participating in the race this year.

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Business

Kenchic Opens Peri-Urban Poultry Center in Kiambu

by Kwabe Ben
written by Kwabe Ben

Kenchic Ltd. has opened its first peri-urban poultry center in Kiambu County, 25km north-west of Nairobi, as the next step in building a nationwide network to provide Kenya’s growing number of poultry farmers with day-old chicks, veterinary and husbandry services, and technical assistance.

The move comes just a year after Kiambu lost a significant number of birds in one of the country’s worst ever outbreaks of the deadly poultry disease, Newcastle Disease, and follows forecasts by the Food and Agricultural Organisation that the country needs to double its poultry output over the next three decades to keep up with the growing demand for chicken meat in the country.

Kenchic developed its poultry center model as a one-shop stop for local poultry farmers, opening poultry centers in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Nyeri, and Meru. It is now launching the newest center or one-stop-shop in Rironi in a move to get closer to farmers in the county with the company’s vital technical assistance services. Key functions of the poultry centers include providing essential poultry products that farmers need such as day-old chicks, feeds, equipment, multi-vitamins, vaccines, and disinfectants, as well as technical assistance.

Run by a registered vet, the center will serve an estimated 6000 poultry farmers in Kiambu, many of whom were affected by the disease outbreak last year.

“At Kenchic, we vaccinate every chick at birth against Newcastle Disease, Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) or Gumboro and Marek’s Disease (MD), which means that we have an opportunity with this new center to play a social and economic role, as well as an agricultural role, in rebuilding Kiambu’s poultry industry,” said Mr. Jim Tozer, the managing director of Kenchic.

Launch moment (L-R) Kenchic MD Jim Tozer, Farmers rep Minnie Ngugi, Unga Ltd MD Joseph Choge.

Launch moment (L-R) Kenchic MD Jim Tozer, Farmers rep Minnie Ngugi, Unga Ltd MD Joseph Choge.

The center will help in providing protection against a range of other diseases too, offering related vaccines, as well as vitamins to promote growth, equipment to ensure chicken get regular food and drink in sufficient quantities, and knowhow in providing sufficient space and protection from the weather, pests, wildlife, and infections to prevent them becoming stressed, which affects both their health and their growth.

“Extension services are often overstretched, as budgets get tighter, but there will always be a technical representative at the center who is fully trained to assist walk-in farmers, at no additional costs and we are providing vets who will visit farms to resolve possible problems should it be escalated to them,” said Mr. Jim Tozer.

Over the years, Kenchic has emerged as a leader in the poultry industry and the region’s leading supplier of day-old chicks, applying international agricultural best practices to produce the best quality eggs for chick hatching and healthy poultry. Its investment in the new poultry center network marks its determination to support the growth of subsistence and commercial poultry farming in the region by ensuring local farmers are equipped to maintain the best farming practices.

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PSC
Business

Principal Secretaries Applications Deadline Postponed

by Kwabe Ben
written by Kwabe Ben

Jobseekers interested in serving the Kenyan Government as principal secretaries have seven more days to apply for the vacancies.

In a statement signed by the director of public communications, Browne Kutswa, on Tuesday, September 20, the Public Service Commission (PSC) noted that the deadline had been extended to Tuesday, September 27, 2022.

Initially, the vacancy had been open for all candidates until Tuesday, September 20.

“According to PSC Chief Executive Officer Simon Rotich, interested applicants now have seven more days to apply for the positions that are expected to fall vacant following the General Elections held on August 9, 2022,” read the statement in part.

At the beginning of September 2022, PSC invited applications for the 44 principal secretary slots whose successful applicants will be forwarded to President William Ruto.

The appointed PS will report directly to cabinet secretaries hand-picked by Ruto and vetted by Parliament.

Among the roles, the PSs will take, is being the accounting and authorized officers of their state departments.

They will also implement government policies and strategic plans key to shaping Ruto’s legacy.

How to Apply

“A detailed curriculum vitae should accompany each application. Copies of relevant academic and professional certificates and transcripts, National Identity Card or passport, testimonials, and other relevant supporting documents will also be required.

“Scanned copies of these documents must accompany an online application,” PSC directed.

It also advised applications that letters delivered physically should be marked ‘Application for the position of Principal Secretary.’

“Manual applications should be hand-delivered to the Office of the Secretary/CEO situated on the 4th floor of Commission House, off Harambee Avenue,” the notice added.

A list of successful candidates will be published in the print media.

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AgribusinessBusinessTrade

Kakuzi Receives Shipment Approvals For Fresh Avocado To China

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

Kakuzi has received pre-shipment approvals from the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) for its second fresh avocado shipment to China.

This time around, Kakuzi will be shipping several 20-foot container loads to China by sea before the end of this week as demand for quality Kenyan avocado fresh fruits continues to grow.

Kenya has a market advantage as it is the only approved African source market for fresh Avocado fruits in China. Alongside Kenya, China counts several leading producers, including Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Chile, as the approved exporters.

Speaking when he confirmed the scheduled shipment, Kakuzi Managing Director Mr Christopher Flowers said the containers were prepared and transferred to Mombasa over the weekend. Flowers said shipments to China are providing much-needed growth leverage for Kenyan produce and Kakuzi as it seeks to enhance its markets and product diversification strategy.

“We received the pre-shipment clearance by KEPHIS last week and proceeded to load and dispatch the container to Mombasa over the weekend. The container is expected to leave the port of Mombasa for a 30-day voyage to China.”

“In recent times, our order book with Chinese buyers has been growing at an encouraging and steady pace. While we have a full order book from our existing customers, additional crop this year has enabled us to keep shipping at least one container weekly to China for the next two months even as the avocado harvest season ends.” Flowers said

The export of fresh avocados to China follows the early January signing of two protocols to facilitate bilateral trade, mainly the export of avocados and aquatic products from Kenya to China.

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Celestine Munda appointed to the Britam Board of Directors
BusinessNewsWomen in Business

Celestine Munda Appointed To The Britam Board Of Directors

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

Britam has appointed Celestine Munda to its Board of Directors subject to the approval by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA).

Celestine Munda is a former Senior Partner with Ernst & Young (EY) with professional experience in both Assurance and Consulting Services. This is in the areas of Governance, Risk and Compliance, Financial Management, Strategy/Institutional Reforms, Human Resources Consulting, and Board Consulting.

She joins the following on the Britam Holdings PLC board of directors;

Kuria Muchiru – Board Chairman
PETER K. MUNGA – Non-Executive Director
JIMNAH M. MBARU – Non-Executive Director
Edouard Schmid – Non-Executive Director
CAROLINE KIGEN – Non-Executive Director
George Odo – Non-Executive Director
Josephine Ossiya – Non-Executive Director
Winniefred Juma – Company Secretary

Ms. Celestine Munda has held a range of leadership and management positions including Country Managing Partner for EY Kenya, Consulting Services Managing Partner for East and Central Africa, Consumer and Diversified Industrial Products Sector Leader for Advisory Services in Africa, and Risk Advisory Services Leader for Africa.

She has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting (Hons), is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya, a member of the Institute of Directors (IOD) South Africa, and a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) South Africa and Kenya.

Her Leadership training includes the Strategic Leadership Programme (SLP) run by the Harvard Business School; the Harvard Market Segment Leader Program; and the Advanced Leadership Programme with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria.

Britam Holdings Plc has interests across the Eastern and Southern Africa region, with operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Mozambique and Malawi. The Group offers a wide range of financial products and services in Insurance, Asset management, Banking and Property.

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KCB Bank
Business

KCB Bank Invests Ksh 120 billion in Oil Marketing Companies

by Kwabe Ben
written by Kwabe Ben

KCB Bank Kenya has pumped over Sh120 billion into Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to assist in importing fuel as it seeks to consolidate its support to the energy sector.

The partnership is also aimed at supporting OMCs in the stabilization of fuel prices in the short term, as the government phases out the fuel subsidy program.

“KCB is a champion of regional trade, we are working with the oil marketers to better support them to compete in the global petroleum market,” said KCB Group CEO Paul Russo.

KCB has been facilitating oil importation into the country by financing the oil firms under its portfolio that have won business under the Open Tender System (OTS) through the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining.

Under the OTS system, the winning oil marketer imports the fuels on behalf of the other firms using the confirmed allocations; the other oil marketers are mandated to offtake their volumes upon arrival.

Since 2005, Kenya has been importing refined petroleum products through the OTS — whereby the winning bidder solely imports the petroleum products and delivers them to the port of Mombasa, where other oil marketers buy from the importer.

Importation of petroleum products through the OTS allows the oil marketing companies to access petroleum products at the same price and therefore levels competition in the petroleum market.

OTS is run through monthly tenders and entails sourcing of petroleum predominantly from the spot market, whereby petroleum is sourced from the open market without any prior contracts.

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BusinessNews

Kagame Calls For Creation Of Enabling Environment For African Development

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has said that Africa’s prosperity lies in the hands of entrepreneurial youth who should be supported to unleash their full potential.

Kagame made the remarks during the launch of the Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI) aimed to create a new roadmap for Africa that highlights business opportunities and development across sectors an initiative that was launched on the margins of the ongoing 77th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“To make Africa unstoppable, we must unleash the potential of young people and there is no better way than through entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship creates jobs using the power of innovation, creativity, and technology,” Kagame said in a speech he delivered virtually.

More than 100 global leaders attended the launch of the initiative dubbed ‘Unstoppable Africa’.

“Africa’s young men and women are transcending obstacles and building our continent’s future. Unfortunately, the enabling environment is often not as good as it should be in terms of funding, infrastructure, and heavy regulation. We need to do better,” said Kagame.

He said the conference was an opportunity to develop strong public-private partnerships,

The two-day event was organized by the UN Global Compact in partnership with the African Union, UNDP Africa, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, and the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa.

The Global Africa Business Initiative is designed to highlight opportunities in Africa where every sector of the economy from manufacturing to agriculture to services to finance is on a growth trajectory.

Africa has more to offer

According to the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, Africa is an essential part of global business and a major investment destination.

“Africa includes some of the world’s fastest-growing economies and Africa has more to offer. Every sector of the African economy is growing, the continent’s vibrant, young population represents a dynamic workforce and a massive consumer and business market,” said Guterres.

He urged the world to see the continent for what it is – a land of enormous potential and resources – and noted that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement will further accelerate investment and trade opportunities.

“The continent boasts of significant solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal energy sources that could make it a renewable energies leader. The transition to clean energy could create more than 6 million new jobs in Africa by 2050. And yet, it has received just 2 percent of global investment in renewables over the past decade,” said the UN Chief.

During the launch, it was noted that Africa has staked its position as the cornerstone of the world’s future. The continent is now positioned to be the most important driver of global business with a US$2.5 trillion market opportunity.

According to Strive Masiyiwa, the founder of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, “We need the policy framework on the ground that makes it possible to see the African market. We need to make it easier for someone who starts in Kenya to believe they can also be working in Ghana or in the DRC.”

Wamkele Mene, the Secretary General of AfCFTA, emphasized that this is the right time to tap into Africa’s enormous opportunities.

“It is either now or never. We have to seize this opportunity to take the first steps. It is very important that we create opportunities for the private sector to scale,” he said.

Wawira Njiru, a Kenyan entrepreneur, nutritionist, and philanthropist, who is also the executive director of Food for Education emphasized that Africa’s prosperity depends on a healthy population.

“African governments and philanthropy should invest in nutrition for Africa’s largest demographic-children. Africa is the future and the future is now-we must take care of the basics,” she said.

The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, also pushed for bringing the Caribbean on board saying that it is the bridge between Africa and the United States.

“Until we realize that we must work together, people are going to continue to use the imperialistic tool of divide and rule. We cannot let language and geography separate us as people of African descent,” she said.

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Chatbot News

The Complete Guide To Chatbots For Marketing

by Wanjiku Mbugua
written by Wanjiku Mbugua

Once you launch your bot you have to measure bot performance and make the required iterations from time to time. Weak AI is a machine intelligence that is limited to a particular area. “How Chatbots are Transforming Wall Street and Main Street Banks?”. Chatbots have also been incorporated into devices not whats a chatbot primarily meant for computing, such as toys. Digital Twin Consortium CTO Dan Isaacs explains the organization’s work and assesses the progress made in digital twin technology… OpenText Cloud Editions customers get Teams-Core integration among a raft of new features, as OpenText kicks off ‘Project …

Motivate your workforce and make it easy for employees to get what they need, when they need it. Build the future of IT with digital workflows on a single, unified platform. Connect your enterprise and modernize operations to transform your business. Develop innovative solutions with a modern service provider platform.

The Complete Guide To Chatbots For Marketing

Here’s an example of Sargento expertly handling an inbound product issue with their Twitter chatbot. They include a ton of relevant responses to continue the conversation, no matter what you’re looking to discuss. These emojis were chosen well and all are relevant to the messages that accompany them. While there is currently only one map you can see their social team is building out additional locations. Not only does media bring more personality to your messages, but it also helps reinforce the messages you send and increases conversation conversion rates. To let customers know they are talking to a bot, many brands also choose to give their bot a name. This gives them the opportunity to be transparent with customers, while fostering a friendly tone. If you choose to be more creative and opt for a more marketing-focused experience, evaluate what existing content you have that best supports your goal before creating new content. This is especially important as consumers expect a quicker response than brands can guarantee.
whats a chatbot
Providing chatbots on these messaging platforms opens up large markets to a business. Many businesses have leveraged phone trees for decades, which work but are time-consuming for the customer to navigate. A chatbot can turn “Press 1 for Alex, press 2 for Joey” into “Who can I connect you with?” The chatbot can understand the caller’s input if they say “Joey” and route the call directly. Depending on the journeys you create, chatbots can lend a strong hand to your marketing team, sales agents, product teams and customer support. Chatbots for customer service Resolve problems for your customers faster, with frictionless service. Explore Chatbots from Freshchat Learn more about what chatbots can do for you. The best platforms offer two types of chatbot configuration, directed conversations and free-form conversations.

Drive Efficiencies Through Global Business Services

Once you get beyond the initial fear of letting a bot assist you, the idea of creating and launching your own is exciting. Domino’s allows customers to order pizza by simply sharing an emoji. The Domino’s bots then route those orders and ask additional questions if necessary. By using a robust chatbot when your business is closed, customers still gain access to the information they need. This seamless user experience makes the painstaking process of planning a trip much easier for both the user and the business. Customers don’t always know where to go to find the information they’re interested in. In fact, your customers may not even know what it is they’re interested in. Maybe they just heard your brand name in passing and decided to explore. By asking a series of qualifying questions, you route users to the best place for them to find the information they want.

  • This includes providing answers to common questions and offering solutions to known issues, but also goes further—scheduling appointments, following up on previous cases, changing passwords, etc.
  • Pattern matching is more or less a document retrieval system that relies on a database and keyword identification to gather information.
  • Using chatbots can help automate interactions and offer instant accessibility across sales, marketing, and customer service functions.

Conversational bots are extremely popular, especially among the younger generation of online shoppers. About 40% of Millennials interact with bots on a regular Creating Smart Chatbot basis. They provide seamless, conversational shopping experiences. The costs of deploying a chatbot on your website or social media are negligible.

Previous generations of chatbots were present on company websites, e.g. Ask Jenn from Alaska Airlines which debuted in 2008 or Expedia’s virtual customer service agent which launched in 2011. By contrast, chatbots allow businesses to engage with an unlimited number of customers in a personal way and can be scaled up or down according to demand and business needs. By using chatbots, a business can provide humanlike, personalized, proactive service to millions of people at the same time. Besides marketing and sales, chatbots offer customer service benefits as well.
whats a chatbot
They provide information and solve the problems that users have throughout the purchase decision process. Chatbots tend to operate in one of two ways—either via machine learning or with set guidelines. This tool helps add convenience for customers—they are automated programs that interact with customers like a human would and cost little to nothing to engage with. Hello Barbie is an Internet-connected version of the doll that uses a chatbot provided by the company ToyTalk, which previously used the chatbot for a range of smartphone-based characters for children. These characters’ behaviors are constrained by a set of rules that in effect emulate a particular character and produce a storyline. A study suggested that physicians in the United States believed that chatbots would be most beneficial for scheduling doctor appointments, locating health clinics, or providing medication information. The France’s third-largest bank by total assets Société Générale launched their chatbot called SoBot in March 2018. In 2016, Facebook Messenger allowed developers to place chatbots on their platform.

How To Launch A Facebook Chatbot At Your Organization

Although the complexity of the language certainly plays a part, the less data available in any particular language, the more difficult it is to build a model for it. The widespread chatbot market is relatively new, and a lot of terms are still being defined by various chatbot vendors. Automation and Deflection applies to most chatbot use cases, and calculating their benefits is quite similar across all use cases. This combines NLP and Natural Language Understanding to figure out the intent in the user’s question. Chatbots that use keyword recognition rules are technically AI Chatbots, as they use a simple form of Natural Language Processing . Kelly is an SMB Editor specializing in starting and marketing new ventures. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist covering small business marketing content. She is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and she holds an MSc in International Marketing from Edinburgh Napier University.

Sometimes using bots is the best way to deal with angry customers. Chatbots that don’t have an identity can feel less natural in interactions, and visitors will not get the sense of your brand identity. Think of who your ideal customer is and build your chatbot’s identity to cater to their comfort. When programming conversation, think of the tone your team would use and duplicate the same for your chatbot. It’s best to find a balance between humor and sensitivity. People are engaging more on messaging apps than on social media, and this means your business needs to engage with your audience where they prefer to communicate. Check whether the chatbot integrates with messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The very first chatbot, ELIZA, made in 1966 by Joseph Weizenbaum, was built as a therapy robot, to offer scripted responses to therapy-related questions. It was linear and structured and didn’t understand intent. Your business should be able to engage with your customers at every step of their journey.

Move global business services up the value chain to expand scope and scale. Automate end-to-end process flows, integrations, and back-end systems. Simplify how they get service, support, and information so they can do their best work from anywhere. Make work easier with a unified experience that brings together people, workplaces, processes, and technology. Differentiate your business with the secure and resilient delivery of technology.
https://metadialog.com/
A customer service metric that applies across different parts of the industry, but here we focus on the relationship between live chat and chatbots. However, to provide a real-world example, without being too theoretical, let’s focus on how to define and calculate customer service chatbot automation and deflection. This chatbot follows no rules, except for the ones it makes up for itself. This is the closest to the science-fiction AI most people imagine. It takes any information it can get from anywhere and creates questions and answers, based on its experience. When deciding which chatbots to implement, it’s important to understand your audience and evaluate the communication channels you use to connect with them. This will help you prioritize which types of chatbots you should implement and what messaging you should utilize. Chatbots are smart enough to know when a visitor opens a sales email and then visits a landing page. With the help of Drift, sales and marketing teams can use chatbots to trigger conversations with prospects on their terms, when they need assistance the most.

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