BlackBerry has announced that they are to open up a chatbot application programming interface (API) for BBM, enabling new and existing businesses on BBM with a conversational interface complementing what the company offers with channels & discover services.
Chatbots work inside messaging apps to provide useful services via conversation-based interactions. In the simplest terms, it’s a piece of software that you chat with to get things done or be entertained. Think of it as a replacement for all of the apps you have downloaded. Instead of opening the weather app to see the temperature, you can ask a bot and it will tell you the weather instead.
Eventually, a single chatbot could become your own personal assistant to take care of everything, whether it’s calling you an Uber or setting up a meeting. Or, Facebook Messenger or another platform might let a bunch of individual chatbots to talk to you about whatever is relevant — a chatbot from an airline could tell you your flight’s delayed, another chatbot from DPD could tell you your package is on the way, and so on.
What is important to note is that Chatbots are not actually robots behind the software. Some chatbots even have humans that help them answer tricky questions. The whole interaction takes place in messaging, and the person never has to leave or go outside the messaging app. This amalgamation is what makes bots so exciting and powerful.
Chatbots could change everything about how you surf the web. In the future, you could just say “I wonder if it will rain today” and a chatbot would know your location and be able to answer conversationally whether you should bring an umbrella. No apps. No search box.
Matthew Talbot, Senior Vice President – Emerging Solutions at BlackBerry states:
“People are clearly spending their mobile time in messaging apps. That’s where they want to be. That’s where we can offer valuable services, and that’s where brands can reach them.
This is where chatbots come in. They work inside messaging apps to provide useful services via conversation-based interactions.
Let’s say you just saw a post in your feed from an eCommerce provider, whose channel you subscribed to, and you are curious to get more details. One option is to go search on the web try to locate that deal, and maybe even call them via the phone. All very cumbersome. Whereas with a bot capability, you could simply send a message to the business inquiring about the item with the item number. The business is now able to respond automatically to the request, without involving a human. And if the conversation goes beyond the capabilities of the bot, it can be routed to a contact center person. What is important to note is that the whole interaction took place in messaging, and the person never had to leave or go outside the messaging app environs. This amalgamation is what makes bots so exciting and powerful.
Certainly, there are much simpler use cases too. You want to find out the exchange rates for the day. A simple message to an exchange rate bot can deliver answers quickly.”
Developers
One hurdle to Chatbots ,and one BlackBerry knows too well, is developers. Chatbots require a number of hurdles to be overcome (UI, UX, and more), with AI potentially stepping in to resolve these issues. Developers understand this. According to VisionMobile’s survey of nearly 8,500 developers, most developers are aware of Chatbots, yet remain unimpressed. In fact, just 14% remain ignorant of the Chatbot hype, while the remaining 86% are swimming in Chatbot hype and, by the looks of it, are ready to abandon it.
Additionally, according to the VisionMobile developer survey, 4% of developers are actively building Chatbots today. That number jumps to 20% of developers indicating they plan to develop Chatbots within the next 12 months.
To get developers interested, the early chatbot developers, and particularly the biggest ones—Facebook and Microsoft—must demonstrate considerable interest from users. That, in turn, depends upon AI that makes talking with a bot worthwhile for consumers. Useful AI will require a heck of a lot more investment and time.
BlackBerry are not a company that likes to be early to the party but the company state that they will open up their bot API early in 2017.
