What Are Embedded Bots and How Are They Being Used?

April 12, 2022

Blog

New technology, particularly AI and natural language processing, are helping to create a new generation of customer support chatbots. Businesses that embed these bots directly into web pages or apps can more effectively support customers who may have questions about products or problems they can’t solve on their own.

This article highlights how businesses are using embedded AI chatbots and how developing technology may create new potential use-cases in the future.

What Are Embedded Bots?

Many older chatbots come with set guidelines. They use a somewhat simplistic and rule-based approach to conversation, relying on preprogrammed phrases and vocabulary to talk with visitors. A customer could easily trip these bots up with an unusually phrased question or an issue the designer did not anticipate.

A growing number of modern chatbots use technology like AI and natural language processing (NLP) instead of simple set guidelines. That helps them more effectively communicate with conversation partners. Many of these bot platforms are designed to support customer service operations — responding to inquiries, answering basic questions, and gathering information on problems.

AI chatbots are also often designed to learn or adapt as their conversation continues. Throughout an interaction, the AI chatbot can use feedback to more effectively solve customer problems or offer suggestions. Chat data can also support the development of more effective language processing algorithms in the long run.

Examples of AI chatbots and conversational AI platforms include IBM’s Watson Assistant, ubisend, EBI.AI, and ProProfs Chat.

Embedded vs. Non-Embedded Chatbots

Embedded chatbots are included in a webpage or app rather than functioning as a standalone program or posting on a third-party platform like social media. They may be customized or specialized in handling problems related to content.

For example, a chatbot embedded into a product page may be programmed to provide additional information on product specs, link to help pages, or connect visitors with a salesperson.

By contrast, a help page chatbot may be quicker to provide links to specific help pages or connect visitors with the company support team.

How Can Businesses Use Embedded Chatbots?

A single business may employ embedded chatbots for several purposes. Chatbot experts, like Gartner, generally recommend that companies with diverse needs use a single chatbot platform across the company. Otherwise, it is possible to create an ineffective and fragmented strategy that may cause problems for customers, the business’s IT team, and support staff.

For the most part, existing bot platforms are built to provide information to visitors or facilitate a smoother customer experience. Most come with features that will help support operations.

However, not all these platforms will support embedding bots in webpages because many businesses use chatbots as an onramp to live support, it’s a common feature for AI bot platforms.

These bots can be embedded directly into a webpage to help users or answer questions about a particular topic, service, or product. Platforms typically include customization and personalization features that allow web designers to tweak elements like chat window UI to match branding or the overall site design.

Specific Applications of Embedded Chatbots

Platforms can offer a range of bot types. The IBM Watson Assistant can provide suggestions at regular intervals or connect visitors to a business’s service desk, allowing the bot to transfer people to live agents if necessary.

Bots also often support a range of data-collecting and analysis features that can provide key decision-makers with important metrics on customer behavior. This information can help a brand determine what questions customers have and on which pages they tend to become stuck.  Web designers can then build sites that respond to visitor intent and needs more effectively.

Specific use-cases for chatbots can vary significantly depending on business needs. While support and sales bots are likely the most common, they’re not the only way companies are leveraging them.

For example, DoNotPay is an app-embedded chatbot lawyer built to help individuals navigate certain legal issues — like fighting parking tickets, filing police reports, or copyright-protecting new works.

In the future, as AI and NLP technology used in chatbot platforms becomes more sophisticated and accessible, other innovative applications of embedded bots will likely emerge.

Leveraging Embedded Chatbots With AI Technology

AI is breathing new life into chatbot technology. Tools like NLP allow businesses to use chatbots to improve support operations and meet customer needs. Embedded chatbots are a powerful tool for companies wanting to provide specific types of help to their clients.