Chatbots and virtual assistants are becoming the leading tech trends in 2018. However, in some instances, users are confused between the two terms. According to Chatbot Chocolate, an agency specialised in the development of chatbots, the main differences between the two lie in their development, functionality and environment.
It’s not only chatbots that have experienced unprecedented growth so far this year, the use of virtual assistants has also been rising steadily. Alexa, Siri and Cortana have all become real-life companions with more for more than 50 million users in the US alone, according to figures from Voicebot.
Interest in this technology is continually increasing. Google Home was launched recently in Spain, and there are only a few days to go before Prime Day, which many believe will see the arrival of Amazon Echo in Spain, Amazon’s smart speaker that connects to Alexa. With technology moving so fast, the industry is facing an increasing risk of leaving many consumers behind who are unable to differentiate between chatbots and virtual assistants. With a view to facilitating the uptake of these new concepts and environments, Chatbot Chocolate, the agency specialised in the development of chatbots, highlights 3 differences between both technologies:
- The main difference between chatbots and virtual assistants is found in their development. Large-scale companies create virtual assistants with the aim of making them our personal assistant and resolving doubts that we may have at any time. However, any company, big or small, can set up a chatbot with the help of companies specialised in their creation and training to streamline its business communications and automate its relationship with a customer in a conventional format that we’re all accustomed to, the chat.
- They don’t perform the same functions. While the objective/goal of virtual assistants is wide-ranging, with chatbots, it’s far more specific. They appeared with the purpose of resolving a clear action, which is usually focussed on the resolution of FAQs, to reduce the workload in contact centres and generate leads. In fact, these assistants will replace search engines as we know them today, thanks to the growth in voice by users when searching for something online.
- Although both emerged as a result of the rise in the use of conversational technology, chatbots and virtual assistants are not integrated into the same environments. Chatbots are developed on websites, messaging apps, social networks or applications, while, virtual assistants emerged in and of themselves as new mobile applications and are hosted in an entirely new environment known as Home Speakers or Home Devices, such as Google Home, Amazon Echo or Apple’s HomePod. These devices are a new platform to make use of the introduction of chatbots and make them the heart and soul of the Smart Speakers that will soon be a common part of the furniture in any home. “Being in home devices is an opportunity for companies. Tech companies are making decisive efforts towards this. One example is Amazon’s Alexa that will hopefully arrive here relatively soon. As a result of this new revolution, it is becoming increasingly common to see companies interested in developing for Google Home, or skills for Amazon Echo,” says Ángel Hernández, managing partner of Chatbot Chocolate.
Against this backdrop, home devices are becoming a new channel to be in, a new conversational environment different from the ones we were used to with chatbots in messaging apps. “Although we’re still at an earlier stage, we’re convinced that these devices will be introduced into our homes to make our lives easier, and in no time at all, we’ll get used to interacting with businesses through these devices,” says Hernández.
