The new service, called Ask Harrisdirect, is a self-service technology that will be offered within the customer service section at Harrisdirect’s web site. The program provides trading and account management information and other general investment questions.
Ask Harrisdirect, according to Conversagent, replicates the contact center agent to engage the customer in two-way natural language text chat and to deliver immediate responses to customer queries.
The new Automated Service Agent (ASA) System, the company added, also provides Harrisdirect with secure web-based reporting and analytics. The ASA Management Console includes a knowledge management interface which allows non-technical customer service representatives to add, edit and publish content within the Ask Harrisdirect application.
Our research has shown that online customer self-service solutions that support natural language interactions can be more effective than traditional search and browse models, stated Allen Bonde, president of strategic advisory firm ABG. Conversagent’s ASA addresses this need by engaging customers in natural language conversation and providing answers to queries based on context and meaning. This capability is particularly important in industries like financial services, where relationship building is critical and the context for questions may be as important as the questions themselves.
The Conversagent ASA System aims to enhance self-service deployments from vendors including RightNow, Siebel, PeopleSoft and SupportSoft. It can be deployed as a managed service or installed on company premises.
