Month: April 2022

8 Types of Web Applications

Posted on by Sivakumar R

What is a Web Application?

Most people often confuse web applications and websites. Well, a web application is a program or software, provided by a third party, stored on a remote server, and can be accessed from any web browser with any device. Simply put, this refers to any website that does some work for its users. Contrary to this, Websites are mainly informative. You can access a lot of documents on websites over the Internet using a web browser. It also consists of web applications, which help the users to finish various online tasks such as searching, viewing, and paying.  

Nowadays most popular brands Facebook, Coca-Cola, and many other giants have multiple ranges of web applications created for various purposes and reasons. In that case, can you imagine the number of web applications that are created for different reasons? Now, this takes the discussion to the different types of web applications.  

Types of web applications 

Let’s classify web applications based on their types and their functionalities. 

Static web application  

The very first type of web application available on the Internet is the static web application, which is built using HTML and CSS to facilitate exhibiting significant content and information. This is usually the simplest web application as it exhibits only limited content and is not flexible. Normally these apps have no personalization and will make changes after the page is fully loaded. Although it allows animated objects such as GIFs, videos, etc., modifying the content of a static web application is not easy, as it requires downloading, modifying, and returning HTML code. Therefore, this app is best suited for software development companies and professional webmasters. Some of the best examples include digital resumes and lead capture pages in marketing. 

Dynamic web application  

Dynamic web application delivers live data based on the requests of the users and is therefore considered one of the best web application types. They have improved technical sophistication when compared to static web applications. There are multiple elements of interactions and methods to draw the attention of the client to the services and products provided by the web app. Such web applications use databases to store all private and public data displayed on the Website. They usually have an admin panel to control the backend and front-end portions and allow the administrator to modify the content and include different interactive components to the web app. The dynamic web app is built using various programming languages such as PHP, and ASP.NET.  

E-Commerce web application  

When your web application promotes products or services directly to your potential customers, you can call it an e-commerce web application which is no different from an online shopping store. Many of the basic features of the e-commerce web app include the addition of new products, removal of outdated and old products, managing payments, facilitating electronic payments, and a user-friendly interface. An effective management panel is very necessary to look at all these tasks. Professional website developers can customize such applications to make them user-friendly. Some of the most common examples of e-commerce web apps include Flipkart, Amazon, Ajio, and the list goes on.  

Single-page web application  

Single-Page Applications, otherwise known as SPA, are a type of dynamic web application that does not require browser reloads and functions as a single unit of a website application. These web applications are fast and dynamic as they implement all business and technological strategies in the client-side browser. The development and implementation process of SPA is simple and faster. Since communication takes place in asynchronous navigation, the process of dealing with the user’s request and response is faster. Moreover, a SPA web application of any type can be reconfigured to achieve the desired results. However, the main problem with SPAs is that they do not comply with SEO guidelines. The best examples of single-page web apps are Netflix, Twitter, and Gmail. 

Portal web application  

A portal web application offers a single access point to important data to a particular type of user. It is a web application that is capable of accessing different sections on the home page. Portals are the best option for organizations and businesses that prefer to build customized interfaces to suit the needs of their target audience. Only registered users are allowed to access and the user’s activities can be monitored by the service provider, once the user logs in.  

Content management system web application  

A content Management System (CMS) is a type of website application in which the owner can modify the content without any help from the technical team. The content can be modified using the admin panel without any knowledge of the programming language. In general, there are a number of CMS variations with various specifications and designs, some of which are: 

  • WordPress – This is the most widely used platform by major enterprise owners who have changed their business online. In WordPress, you may find various features like themes, plugins, and tutorials that will help you to make your website look attractive and distinctive. Moreover, it does not require any kind of technical assistance from outside.  
  • Joomla – This comes after WordPress and is considered the second most popular choice by users. Though it does not have many active users who have incorporated this platform into their businesses, it does have a good community and an intuitive cost for the old but advanced web application. 
  • Drupal – Drupal is an open-source and free web application that is flexible enough to create your own website. It is specifically suggested for building big community portals. 

Animated web applications  

These apps allow you to display your content along with animation effects. These application types offer creativity and design which cannot be found in any other web application types. The problem here is that it is not very suitable for web positioning and SEO, as the data obtained by search engines is unreadable. 

Rich Internet web applications  

Rich Internet applications (RIAs) are primarily applications that have the functionality of many desktop applications. They are designed to fix browser restrictions and rely on plugins on the customer side. These web app has been created with more efficient and visually attractive resources with a more interactive user interface and better understanding than older desktop applications. Some RIA web applications can work offline as well. The two main issues of the RIA are the risks and inconveniences they cause. For example, if the plugin is out of date, many parts of the app or the whole app may not work properly. 

Wrap Up 

Different businesses need different types of web applications. There is no single web app that is apt for all types of businesses. Choosing the right web application for your business should be based on the requirements of your target audience and the future goals you aim at. Each web app has its own business advantages, such as grabbing the customer’s attention and earning more monthly revenue from your active users. 

Disruptive Technology Examples That’ll Shape The Future

Posted on by Mubarak Musthafa

Although the term disruptive technology may represent pictures of high-tech progress in the field of technology, there are many examples of disruptive technology which are used every day by us without even having thought of it. As we know, human progress has evolved over time with the emergence of new disruptive technologies. With endless information at our fingertips and unlimited ways to link and interact instantly, you cannot help but wonder about the future. This article aims to provide a piece of in-depth information about disruptive technologies – defining what the term actually means and examples of disruptive technologies. 

What is disruptive technology? 

The simplest definition of disruptive technology is a technological advancement that drastically changes the way consumers, businesses, or enterprises function on a regular basis. The already existing models are replaced with disruptive technology due to its improved features. However, it should be noted that in certain cases, disruptive technologies do not fully eliminate the technologies they replace. For example, the television has replaced radio as a source of information and entertainment but it did not eliminate the existence of radio. Later, after a point in time, another disruptive technology will replace television as well. Over time, those disruptive inventions that are successful become the norm, and in due course, these disruptive technologies are replaced by new ones. 

Disruptive Technologies – Examples 

There are a lot of examples of disruptive technology. We have already pointed out disruptive technologies like the radio and television. Now we are going to discuss some of the examples of disruptive technology that are shaping the current world.  

Cloud computing  

One of the best examples of disruptive technologies is Cloud which has become very common in our day-to-day lives. Cloud computing businesses not just store and analyze a huge quantity of data, but also support videos, music, and video games streaming to consumers. Moreover, users can access strong computer systems to finish complex tasks through the Internet. Cloud computing has also contributed to many pristine opportunities that provide services that are unique to businesses with the help of cloud delivery models like SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. Netflix, Google Docs, and Spotify are some of the platforms that take advantage of the cloud. 

Blockchain  

Blockchain technology has received massive attention as it is at the heart of cryptocurrency. Anyhow, blockchain technology has a lot of potential and has started to disrupt the financial services sector. Blockchain uses a decentralized network as a ledger that distributes across numerous devices. Bitcoin, the first application of Blockchain, has developed to disrupt the banking industry, where ledgers are highly consolidated in a particular bank or consortium of banks. The 3 key attributes of blockchain include: 

  • Decentralization 
  • Transparency 
  • Security 

These three features aim to minimize the fees imposed by banks while making secure financial transactions. The main objective was to facilitate speedy transactions free from restrictions and the risks of a single authority. Though blockchain is in its early phase of infancy and needs more control, there is no doubt that this technology will continue to develop, playing an important role in changing obsolete and inefficient business practices while delivering wealth and rights back to the people. 

Internet of Things  

IoT or the Internet of Things refers to everything that is connected to the Internet, which facilitates sending and receiving data (intercommunication) over Wi-Fi, cellular data, or Local Area Network (LAN). IoT will witness new relationships developing between objects and other objects, people and objects, and people and other people – all results in making our smoother, efficient, and effective. While IoT relies largely on the cloud, it is also disruptive in its own way. IoT will change our cities to smart cities, which are more efficient, cheap, and safer to reside in – all with the help of sensors. Further developments may see alarms turning off in the morning, a coffee maker brewing coffee, or our refrigerator ordering food whenever there is a shortage of food items. 

Robotic Process Automation  

Nowadays, all types of organizations use different types of automation to increase efficiency, save time, and reduce process costs. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) services use software bots that collect data on how we communicate with different applications and imitate the same behavior with the least human intervention. While not all business processes are RPA-compliant, high-volume, monotonous tasks that follow a set of consistent rules are most suitable for RPA. With the constant evolution of technology, one thing to be sure is that RPA will play a major role in disrupting many of the processes that are widely used and accepted today. 

Artificial Intelligence  

Artificial Intelligence development has already been a part of our lives for decades. It is currently implemented in areas such as the detection of fraudulent activities, spam filtering in emails, video games, and many more applications. Along with improvising the lives of individuals and increasing the efficacy of business operations, it is growing faster than ever with numerous applications. This AI also needs to gather data from the customer’s search histories, previously purchased products, or conversations to identify their preferences in order to provide customized products and experiences. For example, virtual assistants like Google’s Home and Apple’s Siri perform according to the user’s command. They obtain data according to user preferences and the companies use such data to provide customized services to the user.

Similarly, AI-powered autonomous vehicles are designed to provide certain benefits like minimized road accidents, more efficient fuel consumption, and less traffic congestion. While it is hoped that future applications of AI will shape our lives in an easier and more efficient way, there are some who are wary not only of this technology but also of the number of manual jobs that may get replaced. However, not everyone attributes the growth of this industry to ‘humans vs. AI’, but as a combination of the two to build a better world for us. 

Wrap Up 

We have only experienced a small part of what is yet to come. However, one thing is for sure, these five technologies will definitely play a major role in changing society and the world itself as we already know. 

How To Build A Chatbot: Introductory Guide

Posted on by Shruti Sawant

What is a chatbot?

A chatbot is a computer program that communicates with humans through different mediums such as text, voice, gesture, etc over the internet, just as any human being speaks in natural language and emotions.  A powerful chatbot, supported by artificial intelligence domains like Natural Language Processing (NLP) facilitates natural communication between users and technology. Chatbots offer customer services through automated messages and guidance. The main benefit of using chatbots is that they provide improved customer satisfaction and increase business efficiency. The chatbots we find in Facebook and WhatsApp messengers, Telegram, virtual assistants like Alexa, Apple’s Siri – all fall under chatbots. Today, chatbots have been implemented in many relevant fields of education, hospital, travel and tourism, and all kinds of assisting services.  

Things to consider before building a chatbot 

Before you build a chatbot, you have to focus on certain factors that should be used in the building of chatbot.  

Define the use and purpose of a chatbot

The purpose of building a chatbot should be defined – the issue the chatbot is going to address, the service it is going to offer to the users.  

The type of chatbot

there are three types of chatbots – rule-based chatbot, AI-powered chatbot, and intelligently independent chatbot. You have to opt for the one which is suitable for your business purposes. 

Choosing the platform

Selecting the platform for building the chatbot is based on your budget, time, and knowledge. 

Selecting the framework

You have to determine the technology to build your chatbot which is purely based on professional experience and knowledge in programming. This decides the complexity of the chatbot. 

Types of chatbots  

There are mainly 3 different types of chatbots. 

Rule-based chatbots  

Rule-based chatbots are designed to give responses to the user systematically. They are programmed to use rules like IF conditions. The chatbots give paired responses to user input on the basis of such rules. This chatbot does not process any question, interaction, or situation outside the rules and the user will be provided with a common statement. Rule-based chatbots are the standard type of chatbots and are mostly used when the customer inputs are ideal, use cases are fewer, and are static. 

Intelligently independent chatbots  

These chatbots are embedded with a little amount of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) that enable users to engage in interactive conversations. These users have extensive rules that allow them to have personal conversations with the help of AI, which makes them far better than rule-based chatbots. 

AI-powered chatbots  

When it comes to the scale of chatbots, AI-powered chatbots stand at the dominant position based on their potential. The AI and ML features allow the chatbots to understand every interaction with the users and become proficient in human-like conversations. The naturality in their conversation makes it difficult for someone to tell if it is a bot or a human being at the next end of the conversation. 

Chatbot platforms  

Chatbot platforms are just a platform for developing chatbots. These platforms are the best place to start for beginners as it does not require any knowledge or skills in coding. The platform supports the drag-and-drop feature which makes it simple and easy to use. All you have to do is create an algorithm for the working of the chatbot. There are two types of chatbot platforms: 

Development platforms

With development platforms, you can build a chatbot within minutes irrespective of the status of your coding knowledge, which means coding is not a barrier in creating chatbots. Here are some of the development platforms where you can design, build, examine, and implement chatbots: 

  • Botstar 
  • Manychat 
  • Chatfuel 
  • Bottr 
  • Motion.ai 

Publishing platforms

This is the platform that enables the user to access and use the chatbot. These are the most commonly used chatbots, especially in companies and businesses. They are also used in customer-friendly applications. Some of the best examples of publishing platforms include: 

  • Slack 
  • Skype 
  • Messenger 
  • WeChat 
  • Telegram 

Frameworks in building a chatbot  

Chatbot Frameworks are a type of software development kit used by developers that enable building chatbots using natural language processing and natural language understanding (NLP and NLU) and many other advanced technologies. The framework provides basic blocks for the construction of bots by coding, such as purpose, context, entities, and dialogue design as per the requirements of the developers. Unlike platforms, frameworks do not have drag-and-drop features or algorithms, or templates of any kind. Some of the popular frameworks include: 

  • Amazon’s Lex. 
  • IBM Watson 
  • Chatterbot 
  • Google’s Dialogflow 

Why build a chatbot? 

Chatbots can function more quickly, efficiently, and accurately than human agents. Plus, they can easily raise the bar to control a flood of customer queries without taking a break. Here are some of the reasons why you need to build a chatbot: 

24/7 functionality

Unlike human agents, chatbots do not need breaks or intervals. They are programmed to work 24/7 without any extra input or recess. They provide customer services irrespective of the time and region.  

Live responses

Automated chatbots give instantaneous responses to customers without wasting time. They do not take time to consult other agents or superiors, they just deliver the solution at the moment and therefore, a great relief for impatient and busy customers.  

Multi-lingual capability

Bots are fluent in more than 100+ languages. This makes it easy for the customers to find solutions to their problems without language being a barrier. No other human agent will be able to speak in more than 5 or 6 languages to the customers. 

Integrate with other applications

As a software program, chatbots can be incorporated with various other applications that can enhance their usability. For instance, a chatbot can be combined with helpdesk software and payment integration to make it a good medium for business engagement. 

Cost savings

For hiring and keeping a human agent, a company incurs a lot of costs. A chatbot is similar to a single-time implementation software. The cost of a chatbot is limited to one-time purchase and deployment costs. In addition, it does not require the compensation or benefits offered to human agents. Therefore, it is cost-effective and easy to use. 

Wrap Up 

Building a chatbot has become relevant for business owners and companies these days, especially with the advent of digitization and technological advancements. Over time, chatbots will become the driving force behind any business to grow, increase efficiency, enhance customer relationships, and minimize functional costs. It is quite easy to build and implement a chatbot when compared to hiring a human agent.  

Why Do You Need Contact Center Automation?

Posted on by Mevin

What is contact center automation? 

The Contact Center is an important part of the infrastructure of every huge organization that deals with a large number of external or internal customer service requests. The main purpose behind contact center automation is to successfully manage those interactions without the intervention of a human agent and by using intelligent algorithms.

Human operators are still part of the companies, assisting customers from different parts of the world, becoming a new customer service strategy. Customers mostly experience contact center automation in the form of voice and chatbots. There are also other contact center operations like customer service portals, virtual assistants, voice and chatbots that play significant roles in such operations.  

Characteristics of Contact Center Automation 

Powerful automation initiatives have many characteristics that drive customer call center expectations. Here are some of the characteristics of customer call center operations: 

Use of natural language  

As a key element of contact center automation, conversational AI allows customers to communicate any intention or query they have, through spoken or written means. This type of approach changes the model of self-service from running a user interface to engaging in a natural conversation with a partner. 

Omnichannel experience  

Contact center automation can extend to many touchpoints including phone, messenger, text messages, chatbots in websites, and more. Supporting omnichannel helps customers receive answers they want, where, when, and how they need them. The customers assume those experiences to be steady and uniform throughout all channels so that they do not need to repeat themselves when they snap between platforms and agents. Excellent in-class performance enables smooth swapping between channels. 

Quality assurance technology  

This makes it easier to monitor core Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which helps in improving sales, minimizing churn, and improvising the performance of agents. The potential to accentuate trends and identify patterns creates live insight that enhances decision making. 

Enables multi-experiences  

Consolidating visual components and point-and-click UI components with language-based communication makes human-machine interaction more effective and convenient for various tasks. 

High Discourse flexibility  

Contact center interaction is often unstructured and unpredictable and different from filling out a form. Interacting with a contact center involves different strategies, expressions, and accents because each customer is different. Contact center automation needs to address the ambiguity of human communication in order to increase the number of successful journeys and reduce stress.  

Data analytics and reporting  

This is significant for a well-functioning contact or call center. It allows using advanced and live analytics to set it up quickly and easily, rather than depending on supervisors to assess the customer experience and agent performance. 

Predictive analysis  

Predictive analysis allows managers to analyze customer-contact center interactions to understand what makes them thriving or unsuccessful from a customer perspective. In-depth reviews enable the creation of better processes and predict future requirements. For example, you can evaluate the volume of calls, average handling time, and customer satisfaction in the pre-holiday season to better expect the resources required for the upcoming season. 

Benefits of contact center automation 

Increase customer satisfaction  

Automation facilitates immediate engagement with qualified inquiries to recognize and authenticate the customer. In most cases, with the help of a virtual operator, customers can completely manage their requests within moments. Issues related to passwords, copies of statements, and other problems can be managed with the integration of natural language processing (either chat or phone) and smart processes that connect customers and data at the back-end. Contact center automation covers every important data (e.g. customer account data and query type) and redirects customers straight away to a qualified agent using intelligent routing. This not only reduces the waiting time for customers but also lessens the average handle time because of pre-qualified, authenticated customers who are sent to the most suitable agent. 

Boost in efficiency  

Reducing the average handle time (AHT) is one of the major benefits of bringing Contact Center to the automation list according to the business perspective. AHT explains how long it takes a human agent to ‘handle’ a contact on an average scale.  It is usually between 240 – 600 seconds depending on the usage situation and business area. Therefore, any reduction in AHT can have a significant impact on KPIs in a matter of seconds. Additionally, human agents filling reports, updating databases, sending out emails can cause errors. Automation removes these burdens from the human agents and allows them to move faster to the next customer. 

Obtaining revenue opportunities  

All contact centers need to balance appropriate service quality and labor costs. AI-powered automation will help you move the needle towards increased customer satisfaction and better returns without raising the contact center costs. There should also be a balance in conflicting goals: service level and cost of staffing. Simply put, reducing waiting time will help increase customer satisfaction (which will eventually lead to higher returns) – but a spike in labor costs can exceed profits easily. Conversely, reducing contact center costs by prolonging the waiting time can lead to loss of revenue and decreased customer satisfaction. Conversational AI allows businesses to harness the power of multiple digital channels and reach new customer segments without bringing a proportionate increase in the costs of the contact center. 

Employee satisfaction  

Though automation leads to a reduction in AHT, its main objective is not to eliminate and replace human operators. Instead, when automation grips, normal attrition is enough to narrow down the number of employees. Since virtual agents can only manage simple and well-defined issues, most Human Contact Center agents find more job satisfaction while dealing with intricate queries that require more training and expertise. Moreover, most employees are relieved from repetitive tasks: no agent likes to ask the same ID questions to a large number of customers during their shift. 

Wrap Up 

Automation is very helpful to a larger extent and will become an important component in every contact center. With AI and related technologies evolving and growing at a faster pace, call center automation will continue to stretch out across all possible industries. Call center automation is not the final option for businesses, but it is a way to assist agents to do a better job by saving money and time. Human workers are a necessary component for a growing number of interventions that go beyond simple requests.