Chatbots are dialog systems with which you can communicate via text input or voice. They are often combined with avatars and enable websites or instant messaging systems to automatically process inquiries from (potential) customers. In the long term, customer communication can be fully automated.

Until around 2016, chatbots were mainly reserved for large companies, but they can now also be found in small and medium-sized enterprises.

The challenge that chatbots are currently facing is user acceptance. Many customers still prefer to be advised by a real person. However, this is changing as the technology becomes more widespread and reliable. According to a survey conducted by Bitkom (German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media) at the beginning of 2017, one in four Germans could already imagine using chatbots.

Chatbots provide services in various areas of the company. On the one hand, in direct contact with customers, i.e. in sales or e-commerce (smart & personal search function, assistance services such as sales promotion advice, instant service to answer questions, personalized customer care).

Another field of application is recruitment: chatbots facilitate communication with applicants and take the pressure off employees. In addition to communication tasks, the use of chatbots is also common for organizational tasks such as scheduling or other routine tasks.

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