How to Make an Omnichannel Chatbot?

By Aayushi | July 12, 2024 8:53 am

Chatbots are AI-powered tools that have transformed the digital world tremendously in many industries. Omnichannel chatbots, take this transformation to another level by seamlessly unifying communication across various platforms. Customers can switch between platforms in the middle of one conversation to continue it on some other platform without having to repeat anything. An omnichannel chatbot can be created effortlessly using software like Appy Pie’s Chatbot Builder to unleash its amazing benefits! Let’s dive in to look at what an omnichannel chatbot is and the procedure to be followed to create one.

Build Your AI Chatbot

What are Omnichannel Chatbots?
How to Make an Omnichannel Chatbot in 10 Easy Steps?
Benefits of Using an Omnichannel Chatbot
Conclusion

What are Omnichannel Chatbots?

Omnichannel chatbots are at the core, computer programs designed to engage in conversations with users in a human-like manner. But what sets them apart is that they can integrate communication on various platforms i.e they can interact with customers via multiple channels like social media apps, websites, email, text messages etc. without breaking the flow and maintaining a contextually correct conversation.

Omnichannel chatbots provide an uninterrupted communication experience to users. For example, a user might start a conversation with the AI bot on a company’s website but with the help of it, can continue the conversation, say on email. This feature of omnichannel chatbots helps streamlines customer support processes like a customer support chatbot does and enhances customer experience. In recent times, users want increasingly personalised and seamless interactions, which make these chatbots a great tool to incorporate in the customer service strategy.

Now, let's understand how to make an omnichannel chatbot.

How to Make an Omnichannel Chatbot in 10 Easy Steps?

Creating an omnichannel chatbot is as easy as it can get if the right software is used, like Appy Pie’s Chatbot Builder. Here are the 10 steps one needs to follow to create it:

Open Appy Pie’s Website

Go to Appy Pie’s Chatbot Builder and login to your existing account or sign-up in case you are a new user. Signing up on Appy Pie is an easy process and the account can be accessed just by filling in a few details.

Name your Chatbot

Once you are logged in, you’ll see a button for ‘Create Bot’. Click that and you’ll get a text box where a name is given to the bot. Try to keep it short, catchy and memorable to help customers recall and remember it. This name can be changed later at any time.

Select Inquiry Bot

After you have entered a name for your chatbot, you will land on a page where you can select the type of chatbot to be deployed. Select the “Inquiry Bot” option from the available ones. This type of bot is the best for creating an omnichannel chatbot.

Click on ‘Edit Bot Flow’

Now click on the button that says ‘Edit Bot Flow’ to open the bot editor screen.

Edit the Bot Conversation Flow

You will now be able to see the bot editor screen. Here, you can edit the flow of conversation and add greeting messages, information retrieval messages, feedback collection prompts etc. according to your requirements.

Design the Bot’s Widget

Once the bot flow is edited, click on the “Design Customisation” button to design your chatbot’s widget. Edit the widget’s avatar, header, background and color scheme to personalize it according to the brand’s look and feel.

Setup and Embed the Chatbot

Now, click on the ‘Setup’ option and you’ll find a widget code. Copy this code, paste it into the section of your website where you want it and reload the page to embed it.

Deploy Chatbot on the Website

Once you have copied and pasted the code on every page of your website where you wish to deploy the chatbot, you will see the fully functional widget of your trained AI chatbot appearing on your website.

Deploy Chatbot on Social Media Platforms

Now select the bullet that says ‘Deploy bot on social media apps’ to embed the omnichannel chatbot into various social media platforms. For example, you want to deploy the bot on WhatsApp, select the app from the list presented on the left and enter WhatsApp Business ID number, WhatsApp phone number ID and the access key or bot token. Once entered, click on ‘Install’ and the bot is deployed on the application.

Deploy Chatbot on iOS and Android Apps

Similar to the above step, click on the ‘Install Chatbot SDK’ bullet to embed the chatbot on iOS and Android apps. On selecting the bullet, you will see two options- iOS and Android. Select the required one, say Android SDK, and you’ll see a few steps to be followed which are:

Download Chatbot SDK by clicking on the purple button that appears
Generate google-services.json file from firebase console and add inside ‘app’ folder
Create a ‘libs’ folder in the ‘app’ folder in the project and add chatbot ARR file previously downloaded
Add dependencies code in the app build.gradle file and the chatbot is deployed.

Once completed, the chatbot will be installed on the selected apps.

Create Omnichannel Chatbot

Benefits of Using an Omnichannel Chatbot

An omnichannel chatbot has a plethora of benefits to offer. Some of the most important ones are:

24/7 Customer Support

Omnichannel chatbots provide 24/7 assistance to customers by answering their queries in a prompt manner on any platform and providing them reasonable and efficient solutions in no time using their natural language processing and machine learning capabilities. This helps streamline customer service processes as the customers can easily reach out to the chatbot at any time of the day without having to wait for a long time before assistance is available. Customers feel heard and their frustration caused due to any roadblock they are facing is reduced to minimum.

Easy Data Collection and Analysis

With the help of omnichannel chatbots, user data is collected easily and more efficiently through various different platforms on which the user is communicating with the bot. The data so collected is analyzed in a proper manner to understand the trends and patterns in consumer behavior, interests and needs. This helps in making appropriate changes in the customer support strategy based on what is working and what is not. The omnichannel bot also asks for the user’s feedback on all channels to keep a track of the pain points.

Time and Cost Efficiency

Omnichannel chatbots are extremely time and cost efficient. They carry out most of the routine tasks through automation and save time. Users don’t have to wait for long time periods before their queries are resolved. This improves user experience and increases user satisfaction. Additionally, there is no need to handle large teams for customer support as most of the work is done by the bot, that too more efficiently. Thus, cost utility is provided.

Scalability and Growth

Through automation, omnichannel chatbots take charge of almost everything starting from customer support to scheduling meetings and setting reminders. This allows human agents to focus on more complex tasks and the resources are utilized to the fullest without any wastage of time and effort. This brings with it chances for further growth and expansion of the organization as a whole.

Increased Customer Retention

A business’s goal is not only to attract new customers but also to retain existing ones through provision of seamless customer support and chat assistance to improve user experience and build a sense of trust and belongingness in the minds of customers. This is very easily achieved through the use of omnichannel chatbots as they handle all customer queries across all platforms with perfection, by giving the required attention to each and every customer and making them feel heard, respected and solving their problems efficiently.

Also Read: What does Omnichannel Really Mean for your Customer Service Strategy?

Conclusion

Creating an omnichannel chatbot has been made easier with the help of chatbot building software like Appy Pie’s Chatbot Builder. Once created, these bots significantly enhance customer engagement and streamline communication across multiple platforms. With a well-executed chatbot omnichannel strategy, businesses can achieve a competitive edge in their industry.

Aayushi