These tools often allow teams to pre-program questions to gather information (such as "What is your name?"), as well as branching decision trees to help direct users to the proper channels ("Is it a problem with your phone or computer?"). While a pre-programmed chatbot may display an error message if a user inputs an unknown command, a bot that utilizes NLP can be "trained" over the course of multiple interactions to understand context and respond with more organic answers. Over time, these bots can learn to have almost human-like conversations as they direct chatters to the information they're looking for -- and as technology continues to improve, their response capabilities are growing more and more sophisticated. Even for large-scale teams with dozens or hundreds of agents, AI can help handle those first few steps of gathering basic information from users before routing them to a human being who can take care of their problem. These tools often allow teams to pre-program questions to gather information (such as "What is your name?"), as well as branching decision trees to help direct users to the proper channels ("Is it a problem with your phone or computer?").

Help and service desk teams are often stretched thin as they handle tech problems, manage company assets, repair hardware, and more. Artificial intelligence in the form of chatbots and virtual support agents can offload some of that strain and stress, giving precious time back to staff members and automating key parts of the support process so end users can get help more quickly. Even for large-scale teams with dozens or hundreds of agents, AI can help handle those first few steps of gathering basic information from users before routing them to a human being who can take care of their problem. The technology will never replace the expertise and experience of a real human agent, but when used in the right way, it can certainly be a powerful assistant.