Many people are not very fond of customer service chatbots, and some really dislike them. A recent survey by Gartner found that 64% of consumers would rather companies not use any kind of AI, including chatbots, for customer service. Additionally, 53% said they would think about switching to a different company if they heard that a business was planning to replace its human customer service agents with AI.
Alex Levin, who used to work at Thomson Reuters and Handy, thinks the dislike for chatbots comes from people having poor experiences with them in the past. He explained that contact centers often focus mainly on cutting costs, which leads to using low-quality bots that don’t work well. During his time at Handy, he found the old contact center software frustrating because it was outdated and required lots of technical support.
However, Levin believes that chatbots can work effectively if they are built with the right technology. He teamed up with Rebecca Greene, a former coworker at Handy, to create Regal, a company that develops AI-powered customer service solutions.
Regal offers chatbots that can handle common customer inquiries via phone and text. These chatbots are designed to manage interruptions in conversations smoothly and can change their responses based on how a customer is feeling. For instance, they might apologize if a customer seems upset. Businesses can customize how these chatbots communicate and have them access customer information like names and previous conversations to make interactions more personal.
The technology also allows Regal’s chatbots to perform tasks such as sending follow-up messages, scheduling calls, and even transferring customers to human agents if needed.
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With the demand for AI in call centers expected to grow significantly in the coming years, Regal faces competition from companies like Got It AI, which is creating fully autonomous call centers, and Cognigy, which helps businesses automate their call center workflows.
Despite the competition, Levin is happy with Regal’s progress. He mentioned that millions of people connect with popular brands through Regal’s technology every month. He believes that in the next decade, many customer service interactions will be handled by AI.
Regal claims to have hundreds of clients and recently secured $40 million in funding, bringing its total funding to $83 million. This money will be used to improve their products and expand their team of 100 employees based in New York.
