Interactive Virtual Agents and Avatars
>>>>> BUSINESS PROBLEM: You need to find a new way to engage and retain customers, but at a reasonable cost.
>>>>> TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION: Interactive Virtual Agents, Avatars
>>>>> PRICE RANGE:Depending on the solution, features, sophistication, and scale required, solutions can begin anywhere from $9.95 per month to tens of thousands of dollars a year.
Product: H-care’s Human Digital Assistant (HDA)
Delivery Method: Software.
Functionality: HDA is a multichannel environment available via the Internet, mobile devices, TV, and kiosks. It combines real-time animation and 3D rendering with voice synthesis, and integrates seamlessly with an existing infrastructure to deliver a human-like dynamic assistant. The solution allows for multiple connections between the assistant and external systems, like relational databases, knowledge management repositories, CRM, portals, and other enterprise systems. A Java-based software development kit is provided to build and customize existing and new data connectors.
Business Benefits: HDA can reduce the burden on human-based channels by helping users dynamically find information, provide explanations, and solve problems in real time. The solution is enterprise-ready, carrier-grade, and scalable to meet the demands of thousands of individual customers simultaneously.
Contact: H-care at 011-39-0422-789-613; www.h-care.eu.
Product: Next IT’s ActiveAgent
Delivery Method: Software.
Functionality: ActiveAgent harnesses natural language dialogue to create a virtual employee that interacts with end users and has its own enterprise-specific, unique personality. Users can interact with agents over multiple channels, including the phone, the Web, contact centers, kiosks, and mobile devices. They can also draw information and interact with a variety of back-end databases and utilities.
Business Benefits: The virtual agent never strays from branding, always has the most current information available on the back end, and is at work for an enterprise 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ActiveAgent can ascertain customer intent and tailor issue resolutions and marketing suggestions to those needs. It can also, at appropriate times, upsell and cross-sell across product lines.
Contact: Next IT at 1-509-242-0767; www.nextit.com.
Product: Oddcast’s SitePal
Delivery Method: Web-based or software.
Functionality: Virtual agents can be customized from base models according to a user’s liking. A variety of add-on model options are also available for enhanced customization. Audio can be recorded over the phone or PC, uploaded from a file, recorded by professional talent, or generated through text-to-speech. SitePal automatically generates HTML code to display the avatar on a Web site.
Business Benefits: SitePal provides easy-to-use and affordable speaking avatar solutions to small businesses. The solution can enhance a company’s Web presence and improve business results with engaging, virtual speaking characters. SitePal boasts a track record of increasing site traffic, conversions, loyalty, and sales.
Contact: Oddcast at 1-212-375-6290; www.sitepal.com.