Chatbots driving down costs in customer service

Chatbots will redefine the customer service industry, with healthcare and banking sectors set to benefit the most, according to a study by Juniper Research.

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The new research forecasts that chatbots will be responsible for cost savings of more than $8 billion per year by 2022, up from $20 million this year. Juniper expects dramatic cost savings to be made in the healthcare and banking sectors, as issue resolution times are reduced and cost savings boosted.

“We believe that healthcare and banking providers using bots can expect average time savings of just over four minutes per enquiry, equating to average cost savings in the range of [50 cents to 70 cents] per interaction,” said Lauren Foye, research author at Juniper.

Juniper found that many bots are suited to tasks such as queries about healthcare diagnosis, where users can select predefined answers that allow bots to assess health issues and provide a recommended course of action. However, as artificial intelligence capabilities advance, bots will be able to aid in more sophisticated healthcare diagnostics, such as monitoring and analysis of mental health.

Juniper forecast that the success rate of bot interactions in the healthcare sector will move from 12 percent currently, to over 75 percent in 2022. In the banking sector, Juniper expects this to reach over 90 percent in 2022.

This story originally appeared in Information Management.
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