Using Automation and Chatbots in Support

Use automation and chatbots in support to make common, predictable journeys easier, while preserving context, safe escalation and access to human help. The support centre is both a point of contact and a source of service intelligence, so automation should reduce consumer effort and feed insight into improvement rather than simply deflect contacts.

• Choose predictable, high-volume use cases. Automating unclear journeys is the first pitfall the article names, so test candidates with the people who use and deliver the service.
• Use trusted knowledge as the basis for automated answers, starting with one priority service and expanding only when the approach is credible.
• Design handoff with full context. In the article's example, a chatbot answers status questions but transfers complex cases with the conversation and verified identity intact. Trapping users in the bot is a key risk.
• Monitor containment and outcome quality together. Not every contained contact is a success; claiming otherwise is a named pitfall.
• Track successful self-service, human escalation quality and abandonment after bot use as a set, with agreed baselines and owners. Treat successful self-service as the starting signal, but compare it with escalation quality before deciding whether the change worked, and review results with delivery teams and consumers.