In recent years, natural language processing technology has attracted attention. You can see the use in various scenes, but among them, I think that everyone has more opportunities to touch chatbots.
In addition to telephone and email, chat is used as a means of communicating with customers as a matter of course. Not only that, chatbots are not only used outside the company, but are also being used internally.
Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (hereafter, JAL), a leading company in the airline industry, introduced a service called “Chat Plus” and succeeded in cutting the cost of responding to inquiries from employees.
This time, we interviewed Mr. Oe of Chat Plus Co., Ltd. (Chat Plus), which has a cumulative track record of 11,000 installations, and Mr. Miyamoto of JAL’s IT Operation Planning Department Business Group about the behind the scenes of the introduction and the secrets of utilization. did.
Table of Contents
- Information provision in a new form by chatbot
- Background of deciding to introduce Chat Plus
- Flexible and Customizable Chat Plus
- Qualitative data can be tracked in Chat Plus
- What are the characteristics of companies that successfully use chatbots?
- Future prospects
- Lastly
Information provision in a new form by chatbot
Background of deciding to introduce Chat Plus
–Please tell us how you introduced Chat Plus.
Mr. Miyamoto: My team shares internal information with employees on the company’s intranet site.
However, there were many users who could not find the information they needed. Such users were more likely to contact us by phone, increasing the cost of the corresponding team. As we worked on ways to cut costs, we decided to introduce “Chat Plus,” which was well-received within the company, as we wondered if we could provide information in a different format.
On the intra-site, the information was arranged vertically, so it took time to reach the desired information. On the other hand , with chatbots, we can reconstruct that part again and reach the information in the form of answering questions in order, so it is possible to respond to inquiries in a different form than before.
In addition, as a way to use Chat Plus, we are also promoting utilization other than responding to inquiries. Until now, the receptionist was in charge of holding online consultations for the company, but now Chat Plus is in charge. By replacing it with Chat Plus, it is now possible to distribute participants automatically and accurately.
Currently, my team is using Chat Plus in these two styles.
ーーBy introducing Chat Plus, you were able to reach users who had trouble finding information, and found new ways to use it.
Mr. Miyamoto: If you can’t find the information you’re looking for after answering questions on Chat Plus, you can contact us by phone.
Of course, there are users who inquire by phone from the beginning, but for those who do not know how to find information, ChatPlus has increased the chances of finding the relevant information.
Flexible and Customizable Chat Plus
–Please tell us about the usefulness of Chat Plus.
Mr. Oe: Chat Plus is a chat tool that can be used by combining automatic response, manned response, and AI-based response, depending on the plan . You can select your favorite AI engine for AI, and you can use it by connecting via API.
The uses of ChatPlus can be broadly categorized into three types, as Mr. Miyamoto said, ” internal use “, ” use to improve the efficiency of inquiries from outside the company “, and ” web service and acquisition of new customers “. It can be divided into 3 patterns of ” case with
Chat Plus is a system that can be used by companies that handle a large number of people, so even companies that handle large-scale inquiries can use it with confidence.
In addition, depending on the plan and options, there is also a function to automatically propose answers to the person in charge by multiplying the AI engine. Therefore, it can be used quite richly according to the needs of the customer, or it can be used at a reasonable price by narrowing down the functions, and it can be used freely.
ーーI think you keep the lowest price in the industry, and that is one of the attractions.
Mr. Oe: I think it’s probably the cheapest chatbot tool in Japan.
Cloud services in Japan generally start at a price range of 30,000 yen, but there was a product that cost $20 a month when viewed globally.
When launching Chat Plus, we thought that if we didn’t take into consideration the global market, we would lose out on the price, so we prepared a plan of 1,980 yen per month, or 1,500 yen per month for a one-year contract .
ーーHow did ChatPlus respond to the waves of the industry?
Mr. Oe: As long as we handle customer information, we place great importance on information security. Since it is used by many customers such as general companies, local governments, and medical institutions, we also offer connection methods and plans that specialize in security .
In addition, our service is a cloud service that customers set up, so there is no initial cost and we offer it at a low price. We want to contribute not only to the use of tools, but also to help companies achieve their goals and solve problems, so we actively provide online support for setting and operation consultation.
Qualitative data can be tracked in Chat Plus
ーーWhat kind of feedback did you receive from users after introducing Chat Plus?
Mr. Miyamoto: By using Chat Plus in the information provision scene of the intra-site, it became possible to see data that could not be seen before. For example, it is now possible to track how users arrived at information and what keywords they entered in the inquiry field.
Before we introduced Chat Plus, we were able to understand what pages were viewed the most on our intranet, but by comparing user paths with search keywords, we were able to identify the information users were looking for. I can understand now.
In addition, regarding the reception work for online consultations, we have heard that ” Since the waiting time for receptionists has been eliminated, we can now concentrate on this work .”
–Are you considering introducing it in other departments?
Mr. Miyamoto: Since our team uses ChatPlus, we sometimes receive consultations regarding the introduction of chatbots.
Other departments were also facing communication issues as telework became mainstream due to the coronavirus pandemic, and some departments were thinking about improving information sharing with employees. Within the company, there is a movement to consider chat plus in exploring whether it is possible to solve the problem.
What are the characteristics of companies that successfully use chatbots?
ーーWhat do you think are the factors behind the successful use of ChatPlus?
Mr. Miyamoto: I think a major factor was the simple response to simple requirements. Instead of doing something complicated from the beginning, I think that Chat Plus was directly applied to the place where there was a business problem, so the effect was immediate.
We sorted out what kind of inquiries the users had and what kind of information they were looking for.
ーーWhat are the characteristics of companies that have successfully introduced ChatPlus?
Mr. Oe: The most important thing is to analyze the current situation, determine what is needed, and act with a sense of purpose. If you are in a vague state of thinking, ” If we introduce a chatbot, it will somehow work out.”
If you have a lot of inquiries, you can create an effective chatbot by separating what you really need and what you don’t.
We believe that companies that are well aware of problems and have a solid analysis of the current situation are making good use of our services.
Future prospects
ーーPlease tell us about your future prospects.
Mr. Miyamoto: Right now, we are simply using Chat Plus for simple tasks. We are seeing results at this stage, but we would like to expand the scope of its use. Taking advantage of the characteristics of chatbots, we are also considering receiving all inquiries via chatbots.
By combining it with chatbots, we would like to revolutionize the conventional communication of “telephone support”.
Mr. Oe: Our company aims to provide easy-to-use tools for customers of all purposes, and we are working hard to provide various updates every day. In the case of Japan Airlines, we contributed to reducing the number of inquiries.
For internal use, our support is limited. However, in the future, even in such cases, we will continue to work to ensure that ChatPlus can be used effectively by providing the best possible service.
Lastly
I think that there are some people who are unable to introduce AI easily because they perceive the issues as complicated by thinking about them. It is important to think about things such as “how to make employees work more comfortably” and “how to spend time on essential work”, but when you are worried, it may be a good idea to reconsider the problem once. .
By simply grasping the problem, we can see a solution similar to JAL’s introduction of Chat Plus, which will lead to improvement of the current situation.
