ChatBots – A Win Win for Students and Staff

ChatBots – A Win Win for Students and Staff

Dozens of staff sitting in a call centre or on help desks, dealing with hundreds of confused students, but essentially answering the same handful of questions every day – that’s the reality for most third level institutions. 

And now in this uncertain time of Covid 19, the only thing we do know for certain is that come this autumn there will be more students asking more questions. 

Even at the best of times setting out on college life can be an intensely confusing affair. Huge campuses to navigate, filled with thousands of people, timetables to negotiate and classes to register for. It’s a whole new unfamiliar world. 

But what if students could get the answers to their most frequently asked questions and advice on where to go for the specific information they are looking for, through the thing that is most constant in their lives – their smartphones? And better still, through the channels they are already most familiar and comfortable with – WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, SMS etc. 

For instance, by simply adding a number to their contacts list, clicking on a WhatsApp button or scanning a QR code, students can instantly WhatsApp a specially trained chatbot who will be able to answer a surprisingly significant number of their queries – saving time and money. 

Based on our experience from working with educational institutions, we have learned that some of the top questions directed towards colleges and universities at the start of each new term include: queries about the registration process, how to pay fees, how to get letters of proof from the college and requesting information about the college itself. The same questions come up over and over again.

And we’ve seen these exacts results reflected in our work with third level institutions in the UK, the US and Israel – where 86% of ‘customer intents’ (the reason they’re interacting with them) relate to the application or admissions process and of this 86% more than half of their queries can be dealt with by a trained chatbot.  

Our bespoke designed AI powered ChatBot can answer all of these questions, dramatically cutting down on the labour costs usually required to man a helpline or helpdesk, while students get their information without having to trawl through a website, fill out or webform or send an email.

Best of all, they can avoid having to phone a helpline, unless they need or want to, and they can even request that through the Chatbot service. 

It’s the next step in the digital transformation of campus life, one that’s already been proven to work for students and staff alike. For one of our clients, a distance learning university, we developed a specifically designed Enrolment Bot, and since its implementation 76% of users have had their query answered after their first interaction. 

It’s a no brainer, Chatbots in educational settings are already providing the answers for students and staff. And this is just the beginning…

Automation

Integrate a third-party bot you already have, or create new dialogues with little to no coding required.

We can make a start on your ChatBot, or you can use LivePerson’s Conversation Builder templates to get started.

Check out our video on automating conversations!