Should a small business use an AI chatbot or live chat with a person?
Live chat is a person answering in real time. An AI chatbot is an assistant answering from facts you approved. Live chat needs someone free to answer during the hours it shows as open. An assistant needs checking and a hand-off to a person. A common mix is the assistant out of hours and a person during hours. If neither beats a form and a fast reply, skip both.
Side by side
| Live chat with a person | AI chatbot | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | A person, in real time | An assistant, from the facts you approved |
| What it needs | Someone free to answer during the hours the chat shows as open | Approved answers, written limits, a hand-off to a person and someone who reads its conversations |
| Often strong at | Judgment, tone and unusual or upset visitors | Replying at once, at any hour, to simple repeat questions |
| Can go wrong when | Nobody is free, so visitors wait or get no reply | It states something wrong in your name, or cannot hand off |
| Out of hours | Usually offline, so it needs a way to leave a message | Can take details and answer basics, if set up to |
The common mix
A common mix is the assistant out of hours and a person during hours. The hand-off depends on the hour. In hours, a person takes over when the assistant is unsure or the visitor asks. Out of hours, the assistant says when a person will reply. Promise only a time you can keep; the related answer on after-hours inquiries covers it.
Either way, each inquiry should reach your lead list with its source, not stay inside the chat.
Questions that decide it
- Is anyone free to answer during the hours the chat shows? A chat that says online and goes unanswered can be worse than having none.
- The related answer on whether to use a chatbot at all covers the rest: repeat questions, visitors out of hours and who reads the conversations.
When neither beats a form and a fast reply
If few visitors would use chat, nobody can watch it, or most questions need judgment, a short form and a fast reply may do the job. The related answer on whether to use a chatbot at all covers when a form and a fast reply are often enough and what to settle before adding a chatbot. The related answer on stopping an AI assistant from making things up covers testing one. Call or text a visitor back only with the person's consent.
Ascent Vision builds AI assistants, so read this comparison with that in mind.
Related answers
- Should a small business use a chatbot on its website?
- How should a small business handle inquiries that arrive after hours?
- How do you stop an AI assistant from making things up?
AI assistants and chatbots
A good assistant answers the question a customer asks at nine at night, in your words, from your information, and brings in a person when it should. We build that, and we test it on your real questions before a customer sees it.