Can you imagine, the global chatbot market was valued at $3.2 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $14.9 billion by 2027? A “big market pie” stimulates hundreds of companies worldwide to develop various types of chatbots that can improve customers’ experience across different fields. For this reason alone, some sources say there are 3 types of chatbots, others round up the number at 7.
So, how many types of chatbots are there? It depends on the functionalities and the use cases of bots. Not to miss anything, let’s go through each of the two categories, starting with different types of chatbots based on how they work.
Assistant Chatbots:
Assistant chatbots are a middle ground between the two dots above, more or less. When they know a little bit about a range of subjects, they perform best. Many people hope that one day these bots will become navigators with all the other bots that are now out there. The Assistant chatbots, while being as entertaining as possible, need to be conversational and respond to just about everything. Say, a person wants to pay a bill the virtual assistant will help the user in connecting with the banker assistant.
Siri is a fine, current example. Although she just does so much and she is phenomenal in virtual assistants, people constantly ask her for stuff simply because the answer she gives appears to be humorous even when she does not execute the order.
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1 Rule-based chatbots (click bots)
The frequently used rule-based chatbots (also known as click bots) are based on predefined conversational paths, for instance, where users get predefined question and answer options. If a user tries to ask questions outside these pre-designed questions, the bot cannot answer them.
This is why it is important to design the rule-based chatbot in a versatile way. Different media formats such as images, GIFs, audios, videos, etc. can help. Also, a personal approach (requires the prior request of the name or first name) and different response options improve the experience. In comparison to AI bots, click bots are quickly designed, implemented and inexpensive.
Decision Tree-Based Chatbots
Decision Tree-Based Chatbots or Rule-Based Chatbots are chatbots that use a series of defined rules, “if X then Y” concept to map out conversations. These chatbots drive engagement by anticipating what a customer might ask, and how the chatbot messaging should respond using menu/buttons. These chatbots work by giving you a quick answer in real-time, retrieving results from third-party systems using APIs, navigating you to a knowledge base article, or even human transfer.
The first step is to understand the organization’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) when creating such bots. These scripted chatbots involve a deep analysis of their customers’ queries, designing a bot such that these questions are easily accessible. One of the reasons this type of chatbot has found popularity is that it can support simple and complex flows. This chatbot however does not support queries outside of these ‘rules’.
What are chatbots?
A chatbot is an advanced computer program that uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand and answer users’ questions. Through voice or text, a chatbot is capable of simulating human-like conversations and sharing prompt information to end-users.