Virtual
assisted-service products should be part of the customer service
portfolio for every business. They fit nicely between web self-service
built on search and knowledgebases and chat or contact centers. In fact,
they integrate with knowledge management and chat.
This week’s report is our evaluation of ActiveAgent,
the virtual assisted-service offering of Next IT, a privately held ISV
based in Spokane, WA. It’s the third in our research series on virtual
agent products. These products use natural language processing (NLP)
technology to determine the intent of customers’ questions and to
deliver a single answer in response. Yes, that’s right, a single answer.
Contrast them with search, which delivers hundreds, thousands, or
hundreds of thousands of answers and leaves it to customers to figure
out the best one(s). ActiveAgent integrates with ActiveChat, Next IT’s
chat offering, and has an API that Next IT’s consultants use for
integration with other chat apps.
