Helpshift unveils AI designed for customer service

Artificial intelligence is being employed by many chatbots, but Helpshift is now out with what it says is the first AI specifically built and optimized for digital customer service.

The San Francisco-based firm’s new SensAI is being used to power three new offerings for its conversational platform, which is centered around a knowledge base of brand info plus text-based messaging communications with customers.

Founded in 2011, Helpshift provides B2C customer support for mobile web, apps and website chat. Although the platform has previously used AI on a limited basis, this is its first widespread use.

A new feature called Predict enables the auto-routing of textually-communicated issues to the right agent, which might be guided by such additional info as whether the customer is high-value. This is the first time Helpshift has employed AI for this purpose, as its previous solution involved manual tagging of issues.

There are also new custom bots that utilize SensAI to handle routine inquiries, which Product Marketing Leader Ajit Ghuman told me accounted for an estimated 30 to 40 percent of all customer service communications. Brands can create their own custom bots, each for a specific purpose, and then direct users to a particular bot via a menu of text links on a welcoming bot. For instance, “click here for shipping issues” might lead to a custom bot about shipping.

And there are new SensAI-driven insights that can generalize about trends, inventory shortages and other global takeaways.

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About The Author

Barry Levine

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.