Many of us have experience interacting with customer support agents in various contexts, from streaming service subscriptions and car rental bookings, to online clothing purchases. For businesses worldwide, offering timely support across multiple channels and touchpoints is critical in today’s highly competitive and digital-first world. A strong customer experience strategy is a defining feature that sets companies apart – yet what do customer service and customer support truly mean?

We are living in an information age, with instant access to information and knowledge available at the click of a button. Yet, many spend a large majority of their time combing through a cluttered market of content, as there is just so much out there.

As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many industries worldwide, customer experience proved to be more important than ever. From introducing cryptocurrency to the Latin America market, to offering a free learning online platform for students and playing a key role in the digital transformation of health services, these leaders are making waves in the CX space, and inspiring others along the way.

It is no secret that, worldwide, interest in cryptocurrency is skyrocketing. Research from the University of Chicago research group NORC revealed that, within the past 12 months, 13% of Americans bought or traded cryptocurrency. In comparison, 24% of Americans invested in stocks over that same time period. Major companies are now accepting cryptocurrency as payment, and, in a “milestone for the cryptocurrency industry,” the first U.S.

The digitalization of businesses is growing at a rapid pace. Customers demand that products and services be available 24/7 throughout the year. Because of this demand, customer service chatbots are becoming increasingly popular among businesses. A chatbot is a software program that uses Artificial Intelligence and Machine language to operate. A customer service chatbot is being used in the e-commerce business for improved customer service.

In Netomi’s latest “Support Superheroes” webinar, Netomi’s Can Ozdoruk sat down for a virtual chat with Alexandra da Silva Rodrigues, Radisson Hotel Group’s Strategical Advisor for Global Contact Centers. The two discussed emerging customer service trends in the travel & hospitality industry, managing the ticket surge during COVID-19, and the ‘human’ touch in digital support.

For the modern customer service representative, a day in the life can be pretty rough. Nonprofit newsroom ProPublica interviewed numerous customer service reps, uncovering some shocking insights into the day in the life. ​​For instance, afraid to call in sick after being warned of getting in trouble for doing so, one worker paused her calls to throw up.

Business adoption of AI has accelerated tenfold as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a handful of conversational AI platforms have emerged as the leaders in the space. We set out to see how Netomi’s Natural Language Understanding (NLU) performs against the most prominent conversational AI platforms: Google Dialogflow, IBM Watson, Microsoft LUIS and RASA.

Not all chatbots are created equal. In this post, we’ll cover a step-by-step chatbot demo guide of what to look for, including the key questions to ask, to make sure that you adopt the best AI for your business. Before we get into the questions you should ask during your chatbot demo, let’s quickly cover why now is a good time to explore chatbots.

Today’s businesses are looking to provide customers with improved experiences while decreasing service costs—and they’re quickly learning that chatbots and conversational AI can facilitate these goals. By 2024, experts say the global chatbot market will reach $9.4 million. What customer service leaders may not understand, however, is which of the two technologies could have the most impact on their buyers and their bottom line.