Chatbots can only relieve the support team if the chatbot software can be set up to perform the desired range of tasks with precision. The various types of chatbot can be used for different areas in the company.
Examples and companies with chatbots
Chatarmin, as one of the leading providers of solutions for WhatsApp, chatbots and their use in online shops, support or marketing, supports customers such as BAUHAUS, Metro and Marc O'Polo or specialists such as bedrop and fatbikeskopen.
From countless use cases, we are able to present you with information for your future performance in customer service, in the e-commerce market and in advertising. The overview of functions and possibilities will quickly convince you to use our all-in-one platform for your company as well.
Customer service with a static chatbot and human agents in the live chat function has proven successful for many of our customers. The division of tasks can be as follows:
- The rule-based chatbot greets customers, provides information about opening hours and business hours, can assign tickets for the human customer service staff or provide information about details of specific products.
During business or office hours, the agent can take care of the remaining questions and answer more complex inquiries in live chat or, if necessary, by email or message via WhatsApp.
AI-supported chatbots, on the other hand, help customers around the clock to put together shopping baskets and clarify details about payment, shipping and delivery. With their knowledge from the database, these AI chatbots can access the customer's previous orders and offer suitable additional products or point out special offers that match the buyer's interests.
Leading providers in the travel industry are increasingly relying on a chatbot to contact their prospective customers, compared to other business areas on the internet. Whether SAS, Air France or Lufthansa, there is hardly a traveler who is not reminded by a chatbot not to forget to book luggage or what size bag can be taken directly on the plane. You can read about chatbot examples on our website.
HelloFresh's chatbot points out seasonal vegetables and fruits, just as it knows the last orders of its numerous buyers and can draw their attention to special offers.
A self-learning AI bot with the appropriate knowledge background can follow a conversation with a prospect or customer today, at a lower cost, just as well as the newly hired human assistant on the phone or in live chat.
Using AI to support chats frees up creative resources in your company, enabling you to conquer new markets and achieve new business goals.
Which chatbot software is right for you?
To find the right provider from the best chatbot software, it has proven useful to compare the following criteria when selecting a chatbot software provider:
- What type of chatbot is offered and does it fit the task at hand in your company?
- Do you need IT knowledge to develop and implement the chatbots or are the chatbot softwares intuitively structured? Modular systems are also often in demand.
- What design options are available for the chatbots and to what extent can its functions and appearance be customized to your website and your needs?
- Is information from the conversations automatically saved?
- Does the chatbot software work smoothly with your company's CRM?
- Are there internal possibilities to replace the chatbot with human employees?
- In addition to WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger of other kinds or social media, for which channels can the chatbot be used?
- Does the chatbot speak all the languages that your website and customer support need?
- Is there a chatbot platform for beginners in the world of virtual assistants or for smaller budgets? It may be possible to find free trial versions of chatbots to better assess and validate their capabilities and structure.
- Does the chatbot provider, like Chatarmin, work in accordance with the requirements of the GDPR? Information on this can often only be found in the small print of a chatbot provider's website.
Types of chatbots
Chatbots are basically divided into three types. It's easy to see what functions and solutions they can provide and perform for you.
Rule-based chatbots
This original type of chatbot system is often referred to as a beginner-friendly variant and can take on a number of tasks in cases of recurring customer queries.
The collaboration of the service team is important for the development of these chatbots. They know which questions your customers approach your company with and can build so-called if-then scenarios based on their experience.
If most of your customer inquiries revolve around delivery times or payment options, these chatbots are sufficient and can now be found on almost every platform with an online shop in Germany.
AI-based chatbots
Chatbots with artificial intelligence in the background can also solve more complex tasks and take on more complicated customer support requests. They do not need predefined scenarios and a comprehensive set of rules.
With the help of NLP (natural language processing), these chatbots understand the natural language and expressions of humans and quickly understand a customer's question, even when it comes to specific product information, for example.
It is important for these AI chatbots to have access to a sufficient amount of data to enable the chatbot software to perform its function. This knowledge database can consist of links to websites, PDFs and other documents. The differences between these chatbots and rule-based chatbots are not only in the chatbot function, but also in the time and budget required for the use of AI in customer messaging.
Hybrid chatbots
Chatbots, especially the first group mentioned, can repeatedly reach their limits and require human intervention. The functions of hybrid chatbots could be described as preparing for the live chat with a support agent.
Standard questions are answered by the bot and complex or new requests are forwarded directly to the employees. This is an interesting way to get started in the world of chatbot solutions, one that also takes the platform's customers with it and doesn't leave them alone with standardized formulas.
Comparison of chatbot providers
Of course, a proper overview of the chatbot providers on the market cannot consist only of our in-house solution. A free trial version from one of the following providers of chatbot software will help you to make the right choice and put the chatbot platform for your company first.
Moin AI
This Hamburg-based chatbot software belongs to the company Knowhere and provides artificial intelligence in its bots.
They are used in large numbers on homepages and in company pages on Facebook. The bot can suggest products to customers, collect leads and accompany prospects through the entire customer journey.
Countless design templates and 100 possible languages allow this chatbot builder to be used for a wide range of use cases that have already been tested by other customers.
Compatible apps and integrations:
Through integrations with Zapier or Zendesk, Moin AI's AI-based chatbots can also be used in Instagram and for WhatsApp chats.
SAP, Freshdesk, Hubspot or Salesforce are among the other integration options. The bot also allows for a direct handover to human assistants.
Price:
Moin AI starts at €790 per bot version per month. The number of conversations is unlimited.
Parloa
This chatbot provider was founded in Berlin in 2017 and is based on a drag-and-drop principle in its chatbot builder. The ability to create chatbots without extensive IT knowledge is what makes Parloa so popular.
Parloa is also an AI bot that can be used in different channels with different basic information for knowledge formation.
Parloa's chatbots are not only text-based, but can also be created for voice-based phone support.
Compatible apps and integrations:
SAP, Zendesk, Freshdesk or Salesforce are the most important integrations, which also allow the application in WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger of other kinds or Google and Alexa.
A direct transfer from the bot to a human is not possible with Parloa, but could be created via a third-party provider that has live chat options in its functions.
Price:
A company can only find out Parloa's prices by making a direct request.
Botfriends
Also in 2017, Botfriends was founded in Würzburg. The chatbot builder relies on an intuitive structure, so that there is hardly anything standing in the way of creating bots from numerous templates.
Botfriends offers a variety of templates for chatbots that are integrated into booking platforms and purchasing processes. These examples can be easily adapted to the needs of your company and interact with your other software in use.
Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp or a handover from the chatbot to the support employee is offered by Botfriends via third-party providers. Voice bots can be found in addition to the AI-supported text bots in the selection.
Compatible apps and integrations:
The chatbot provider from Würzburg impresses with many integrations, such as Salesforce, Hubspot, Zendesk, Freshdesk or SAP. Paypal ensures the necessary payment flows when the chatbot has successfully intervened in a sales or booking process.
Price:
Prices for Botfriends can only be found on direct request.
Cognigy
Cognigy, based in Düsseldorf, has been able to gather a renowned international customer base since its foundation in 2016. The Parloa-like core of Cognigy relies on user-friendly editors for flows to create human-like entertainment options.
With over 100 languages supported by this chatbot software, it is only logical that the chatbot service can be used across borders.
Interfaces directly to messaging apps like WhatsApp are not yet available, but these chatbots can converse with your customers in text as well as in speech with AI support.
Compatible apps and integrations:
Since both WhatsApp and the handover from bot to human must be done via third-party providers, there are various integration options.
All well-known CRM systems used in our latitudes can be found on this list. Furthermore, Alexa, Google or even Telegram can be found on the list of compatible apps.
Price:
As an entrepreneur, you can find out Cognigy's prices directly from the chatbot provider.
Melibo
Melibo is still a young chatbot software forge. It was founded in Frankfurt in 2020 and supports companies as well as public institutions with an AI chatbot.
The intuitive software for creating bots from numerous templates allows chatbots to be created for conversations in Facebook Messenger as well as in online shops directly on the company's website.
Melibo enables a human to take over a conversation directly if the bot gets stuck or the customer does not want to talk to a virtual assistant.
Compatible apps and integrations:
In addition to Hubspot, Zendesk and Pipedrive are also among the current integrations. Further integrations are planned by Melibo in the future and will be pushed forward quickly.
Among the compatible apps, Teamwire can currently be found alongside Facebook Messenger and Microsoft Teams.
Price:
An unlimited number of conversations are possible in the Pro version starting at €750 per month.
Chatfuel
Many well-known companies can also be found on Chatfuel's customer list. It is quite possible that you have already talked to one of their chatbots.
Chatfuel offers all types of chatbots. As an entrepreneur, you can use rule-based bots for support or for initial contact and rely directly on an AI chatbot in the webshop.
The templates of this chatbot software work in a customizable modular system and, compared to other software, helpful videos can be found on the in-house YouTube channel.
Thanks to a free trial option, Chatfuel has been able to spread quickly and convince customers.
Compatible apps and integrations
The only compatible app currently known is Facebook Messenger. Integrations can be found with Zapier, Shopify, Hubspot, Calendly and Google Sheets, to name just a few of the possible software options.
Price:
The Pro version starts at $15 per month. Numerous different pricing models can be negotiated with Chatfuel.
Ada
Ada's AI-based chatbots don't get tripped up by spelling mistakes made by customers, nor do they have a problem understanding idioms and finding appropriate responses to them.
Ada only supports 14 languages, but for companies in our region, these are usually sufficient. In addition to AI, chatbots can also be set up that follow a conversation based on rules in the chats.
Compatible apps and integrations:
Integrations and supported apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or Salesforce and SMS contribute to the success of Ada.
Price:
The price for this chatbot software depends on the needs that a company creates for its chatbots.
BotSociety
The Californian chatbot software provider BotSociety offers easy operation on the platform with its rule-based chatbots.
In the chatbot comparison, this allows it to score points with low prices and a strong team in the background. A bot can perform a variety of tasks in different apps. Conversations can be easily copied and stored.
Even in the free version, the bots can be tested intensively and tried out in live chat.
Compatible apps and integrations:
BotSociety bots can be found in the website chat of start-ups as well as in WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Slack or
Alexa Skill.
Price:
An all-inclusive package is available starting at $79. Negotiable prices and packages make BotSociety an interesting option for small companies as well.
Landbot
Landbot offers a self-explanatory modular system with its intuitive chatbot platform. These chatbots also work on a rule-based system and the decision tree on which the bot's actions in the chat are based must be thought out in advance.
Landbot is recommended for chats in which only simple questions need to be answered or appointments made.
Customer communication is kept simple, but offers a wide range of design options.
Compatible apps and integrations:
In addition to WhatsApp, the Landbot chatbot can be found primarily in Facebook Messenger.
Price:
Customizable packages start at $100 per month.
The chatbot solution for you with Chatarmin
WhatsApp has established a significant position as a live chat in support or marketing in recent years. Our all-in-one software solution not only helps to optimize customer communication, but also takes customer service and customer experience to a whole new level with the support of AI.
Your company will achieve new goals in e-commerce with this chatbot software and simplify the possibility of lead generation in the area of social media. Short interaction paths between your company and your customers will convert the customer journey into outstanding reviews for you.
3 important examples for you, besides the support function, which is the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to the use of chatbots, can be found here:
Asking for customer feedback
Chatbots are a great way to ask your prospects, buyers and website visitors for feedback. Targeted questions during a chat about possible improvements, opinions on product quality and delivery service are automatically processed by our integrations and made available to your marketing and sales team for their future actions. A WhatsApp marketing agency can help you develop the right strategy.
You can also use your bot's activities to control your ratings. It points this out to your fans and followers and also ensures that they get to the right place by controlling which page you might need newly posted recessions on.
Increase sales
AI-supported bots are important in your online shop. It doesn't take much to distract a customer from their purchase: the phone ringing, someone at the front door, or simply not being sure whether the selected product really meets their expectations. The result is abandoned shopping carts and precious money lost.
Your friendly chatbot in the shop knows exactly where your customer is at any given moment, provided it is properly integrated. Is your customer looking at the same pair of shoes for minutes on end, or reading your terms of payment and delivery for the third time?
The bot can respond immediately, address your visitor and dispel their doubts in a short conversation. This means fewer abandoned shopping carts and more returning, satisfied customers for you and your business. Worldwide sales
The customers of online shops are scattered all over the world and, above all, shop around the clock. If you have filled a niche in the market with your products, interested parties will also find you from other countries.
Hiring a support representative for possible questions in every possible language, at least in neighboring countries, quickly blows the budget. The chatbot, on the other hand, speaks all the languages you need and is even happy to learn new ones. Automated sales processes and frequently asked questions, in particular, can be easily answered and sent in multiple languages via chatbot. Expand your reach and thus your market.
With us, you can also use WhatsApp for sales.
Your advantages with the integration and subsequent possibilities
Chatarmin is prominently placed in every comparison of chatbot providers. In addition to the user-friendliness of our chatbot tools, our in-house customer support, the rapid fulfillment of requests and the setup of the offered service are particularly emphasized.
Since we have mentioned this in the descriptions of the various providers, our integrations are also listed here. The possibility of integration further improves the workflow and performance of your chatbots.
- Google Sheets
- Shopify
- Klaviyo
- Slack
- WooCommerce
- JTL
- Pipedrive
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Magento
- Freshdesk
- Shopware
- Gorgias
- Emarsys
Our price-performance ratio is also particularly praised, because of course the costs for chatbots must also be kept in mind.
Your budget for the Chatarmin AI chatbot solution
The biggest cost factor in a chatbot solution, whether based on artificial intelligence or static rules, is the cost of the WhatsApp Business platform.
If your company has to deal with around 10,000 customer service requests per month, you can expect to have 3 permanent employees in support. Having your customers' requests processed in your chat by chatbots will cost you around €700.
Work out for yourself how much you can save by using chatbots and consider how you can use chatbots creatively and profitably in the future during the free trial period.
