Many larger accounting departments handle a significant volume of requests for information from both employees and business partners. For example, employees may have trouble using the corporate payroll self-service portal to update payroll information or access pension balances. Similarly, suppliers may struggle to enter invoices into the company’s web-based system. Usually, a company has the choice of using an on-line knowledge base (which is difficult to browse) or of using expensive employees to respond to calls about these issues.
A possible solution is to use an automated service agent (ASA), such as the system marketed by Conversagent (www.conversagent.com). This system essentially links the corporate knowledge base to a natural language processor that talks to employees and business partners through a pop-up instant message program on the corporate web site. It understands questions posed in a normal written format, and can even prompt users for more information in order to provide a more accurate response. The system can walk users through complex transactions, thereby leaving actual support staff to handle only the most difficult issues. Thus, the value of this system is in bringing the knowledge base to the user, rather than forcing the user to scour the knowledge base. By shifting work away from the support staff, the labor savings can be startling.
The system is customized to the needs of a local system, whether it be a packaged or legacy system, using a scripting language called BuddyScript. It can also be linked to a variety of instant messaging systems, including AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger.
System pricing is based on session volume, with a minimum charge of $5,000/month (assume about $0.20 per call). Consequently, using an ASA can make sense if it offsets the need for at least two customer support positions.