Customer service is an integral part of all businesses irrespective of the type of product or service a company manufacturers, retails or provides. Customer service is an ongoing part of a consumer’s decision making process, and is required at each step accordingly. Whenever the customer has a query or feedback about the company’s products and services, they are likely to contact the company through its customer service channels.

A growing trend in the field of customer service is the rise of usage of AI chatbots, that do the same work as customer service representatives, in a more quick, smooth and cost-efficient manner. The following are a few reasons that underline and detail why customer service AI chatbots like ADA are the future for all businesses:

1. Customer service AI chatbots are cost-efficient

While the initial cost of  purchasing and training an AI chatbot can be considerably high, in the long run, AI chatbots prove to be very cost efficient. One chatbot can replace multiple customer service representatives and save the company thousands of dollars annually in human resource costs. Additionally, humans risk the event of  making a mistake in guiding customers about certain topics, which in worst cases can lead to high legal penalties if the customer files a complaint in court. AI chatbots are self-learning, and do have the same bone as humans to make errors.

2. Customer service AI chatbots can interact through voice and text

Earlier, chatbots could communicate with humans only and mostly through text. However, with research and development and the application of Natural Language Processing techniques, it has been made possible for chatbots to communicate through chat and voice both, hence giving customers a well rounded experience in terms of service quality. Additionally, devices that are voice-driven, such as Siri and Alexa, are becoming increasingly popular amongst individuals and people are used to that sort of service by customer service AI chatbots as well.

3. Customer service AI chatbots can also be used for internal communication

Other than being of use for customers, such chatbots can also help employees search for answers to their issues. Employees would be able to save up on time and effort by using AI chatbots for getting their queries solved. AI chatbots are also incredibly useful in setting up training sessions for employees which would incredibly help in lowering training costs for the employers.

4. Customer service AI chatbots can do much more than solve basic problems

Other than answering generic customer queries along the lines of what a product does, what are its uses, how do finalize payment, if there are any warranties, etc. a AI service chatbot would be able to solve other problems as well. AI chatbots would be able to search through any product manuals and look for information they did not previously know. They would be able to become smarter by the day by learning and storing new information themselves with experience and time. They would be able to work and get data fed into them two ways – from the admin side and from their own experiential side. 

Humans are constantly evolving and so are their preferences. They require 24/7, on the spot service and want what they want and whenever they want. AI service chatbots are able to do just that – something that is unachievable and impractical for humans to do. Human resources can be directed towards other productive tasks such as training the AI chatbot or saving their services for queries that are too complex for a chatbot to handle, or would be better handled by an individual if a customer demands it so. Either way, customer services are likely to transform in the near future completely with the help of AI chatbots.

Napatech™ (OSLO: NAPA.OL), the leading provider of programmable SmartNICs, today announced that Lenovo, a tier-1 global server manufacturer, has partnered with Napatech to deliver 25- and 100-gigabit Ethernet programmable SmartNICs to data centers.

The Lenovo SmartNICs are powered by field-programmable gate arrays (FGPAs), the most widely deployed acceleration technology for programmable SmartNICs. The Lenovo product line includes the TRXFP50V04 (half-height, 2-port, 25 GbE) and the TRXFP200V02 (full-height, 2-port, 100 GbE). The programmable SmartNICs include production-grade FPGA software that delivers line-rate throughput, ultra-low latency and is packed with networking, security and virtualization features including open virtual switch (OVS) offload, live migration, hardware quality of service, telemetry, service chaining and OpenStack orchestration.

Starting with 5G telecom and cloud data center operators in the Greater China market, Lenovo together with Napatech plans to extend the SmartNIC solutions globally to the world’s top network operators. Napatech estimates the revenue potential of the design win to exceed US $10 million over the life of the product, with customer orders ramping up in the second half of 2021.

Tong Li, distinguished researcher and executive director, Converged Network Business Unit, Lenovo, said: “Leading operators of large-scale data centers routinely choose Lenovo. Extending our solutions to include programmable SmartNICs gives our customers greater performance, better server utilization and a programmable acceleration engine to continually enhance their networks.”

Manoj Sukumaran, senior analyst, datacenter compute, Omdia, said: “Customers across market segments are adopting programmable Ethernet adapters, and we expect one in three Ethernet adapters shipped will be a programmable NIC by 2024. These new programmable SmartNICs and software tools would allow Lenovo to offer a compelling server connectivity option to its customers.”

Ray Smets, chief executive officer, Napatech, said: “Cloud and 5G telecommunications service providers are gearing up to handle a massive increase in mobile users, devices and applications in an increasingly always-on, connected, mobile world. They must achieve this challenge while improving operational simplicity, efficiency and total cost of ownership. Lenovo’s programmable SmartNICs offer network operators an easy way to meet all of these challenges with a powerful platform to grow and differentiate their products and services.”

About Napatech

Napatech helps companies to reimagine their business by bringing hyperscale computing benefits to IT organizations of every size. We enhance open and standard virtualized servers to boost innovation and release valuable computing resources that improve services and increase revenue. Our programmable SmartNICs are based on a broad set of FPGA software for leading IT compute, network and security applications that are supported on a wide array of FPGA hardware designs.

About Lenovo

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$50 billion Fortune Global 500 company, with 63,000 employees and operating in 180 markets around the world.  Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, we are developing world-changing technologies that create a more inclusive, trustworthy and sustainable digital society. By designing, engineering and building the world’s most complete portfolio of smart devices and infrastructure, we are also leading an Intelligent Transformation – to create better experiences and opportunities for millions of customers around the world. To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Weibo and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.

No Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements which are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to, business conditions, trends in the industry and markets, global economic and geopolitical conditions, macro-economic factors, and other risks and uncertainties set forth in Napatech’s reports. The matter discussed in this release is based on current expectations and maybe subject to change. Napatech will not necessarily update this information.

GameChange Solar today announced BifacialReflector™, a patent-pending new technology which dramatically increases power production for the GameChange Solar Genius Tracker™ with bifacial modules. The technology is a highly reflective (.95 albedo), permanent solid surface up to 4m wide, which reflects light from just above ground level to the back of the bifacial modules. This technology is a significant improvement over other ideas since it is not a ground cover which has a limited life and requires constant maintenance. BifacialReflector™ is a self-cleaning, long-term (40-year life) solution. The reflectors can boost the gain by up to an estimated total of 15-20% when using bifacial modules, which is approximately 5-8% extra gain versus other bifacial trackers which do not have BifacialReflector™ technology.

Andrew Worden, CEO of GameChange Solar, stated: “Solar power plant owners globally have been asking for a cost-effective, long life, maintenance-free, high reflectivity (.95 albedo) ground cover to place under trackers with bifacial modules. We are excited to have been able to provide a unique and superior solution, the BifacialReflector™ technology. Our technology has a significant power boost for bifacial modules and has a life of 40 years with no maintenance, making it a meaningful breakthrough for the industry.”