noHold’s AI Integrates with Facebook’s Messenger Platform

Connecting the Social Media Network’s 900 Million Users to their Own Virtual Assistants

November 10, 2016, MILPITAS, CA – noHold, creators of AI-powered virtual assistants for enterprise and beyond, today launched a connector to Facebook’s Messenger platform, enabling users to interact with noHold Virtual Assistants directly from the social giant’s Messaging app. 

According to a report from Business Insider’s Intelligence division, at the beginning of 2015, the number of messaging app users surpassed social media users. Since Virtual Assistants closely resemble the messaging app paradigm, this user shift opened the door for businesses to utilize Virtual Assistants to provide a scalable way to engage with their customers 24/7 on these types of platforms. 

Diego Ventura, CEO and founder of noHold adds, “Our objective is to make it simple for non-programmers to create a Virtual Assistant. It is also important to make sure that same Virtual Assistant is reachable from any channel an end user prefers. The popularity of Facebook, as well as the large business presence, made it an obvious choice for us to connect to.”

noHold has been able to embed our clients’ Virtual Assistants to their company Facebook page for some time. This difference with this connector is its ability to live directly within Facebook’s Messaging interface. A user simply types the name of the Virtual Assistant for the company they are inquiring within Facebook Messenger’s search bar, clicks on the associated icon and the chat window will appear. It has the same look and feel as chatting with a human, but the interaction is powered by Artificial Intelligence. 

Take for example a company that already has a Virtual Assistant on their website, such as Dell. If I was chatting with my friend on Facebook Messenger about the recent sale on Dell laptops, wouldn’t it be convenient if from the same messaging platform I could chat with a Virtual Assistant that knew everything about Dell products. This new connector makes that possible. 

While bots are not new to Facebook Messenger, the current bots are not always helpful. It is inspiring to see people trying to create bots, but it is important that the platform used to create them is easy to use by everyone. There are a few key differentiators that make this connector unique:

• It can connect to an entire platform that can handle creating thousands of bots.
• The technology powering these bots is familiar, enabling an intuitive and interactive end user experience. 
• Allows you to develop one bot and repurpose that same bot throughout different channels (social media, collaboration platforms, etc).

For more from Diego on this topic, click here to watch a short clip about this integration.

About noHold, Inc.

noHold is a privately held company established in 1999 and is headquartered in Milpitas, CA, USA (Silicon Valley). noHold is the acknowledged leader in Web based Self-service solutions with a mission to deliver real answers to real questions – real fast. Simple to use, easy to implement and as close to human as you can get, noHold turns automated customer support into cognitive customer interactions. noHold customers include Cisco, Dell, Intel and a host of industry leaders. More information can be found at http://www.nohold.com or subscribe to noHold’s vlog to hear more from CEO, Diego Ventura.

 

Press Contact

Veronica Cech

Marketing Associate

vcech@nohold.com    

408.946.9200 ext. 356

All other product and service names are the property of their respective owners.

The 'Bot' Controversy: Revolutionary or Sham?

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Thanks to Facebook's Messenger platform, the term bot has exploded. Many big names are investing in this type of technology, but there seems to be a bit of a debate surrounding the topic of bots. 

When they were first announced on Facebook, it was an exciting new thing for people to try. But that excitement quickly dwindled when users were receiving more error messages than answers. This caused some major frustration, and put a lot of doubt in peoples' minds on whether this would really stick. Even Facebook Messenger chief, David Marcus spoke about how bots have been over hyped, and under delivered, "...bots have suffered from a perception that they are not nearly as useful as they were advertised to be earlier this year by tech giants including Facebook, Google, and Microsoft" (The Verge).So, the question remains, are bots (aka Virtual Assistants) going to revolutionize consumer lives and businesses, or is it a dying trend. 

From our perspective, Virtual Assistants have been improving businesses for a while now (since 1999 in our case), and consumers have already been growing accustomed to using AI for a few years (primarily when Siri came out, followed by other Virtual Personal Assistants). It is apparent that the market has continued to grow tremendously over the past decade or so. 

While this market is strengthening, it is obvious that AI and Virtual Assistants are not at their peak, and there is plenty of work to be done from a technology vantage point, but we believe, and leading analyst firms agree, that Virtual Assistants are here to stay. In fact, a few years ago, Gartner made a prediction that "Virtual personal assistant usage in business grows more quickly in 2017 and 2018 than iPad usage did in 2010 and 2011" (Gartner Reveals Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users for 2014 and Beyond).

noHold has been creating Virtual Assistants for over 15 years, so it is exciting to see the progression AI has made from the beginning, and the potential for the future. As for the present, it is important for companies to produce quality bots that provide interactive and diagnostic conversations, instead of creating static experiences that causes customers to come out unsatisfied. Here are 3 elements to keep in mind to make sure your bot delivers:

• Provide a great end user experience
• Easy to create and maintain by administrators
• Connects to multiple channels

These are just a few, for more information/tips on how to implement a quality bot please contact us here.

What is your opinion on the bot revolution? How can they improve? And where do you see them going in the future?
Have a wonderful weekend!
www.nohold.com

noHold AI Integrates with Top Collaboration Platform, Cisco Spark

Becoming Another Channel People can Access noHold Virtual Assistants 

August 31, 2016, MILPITAS, CA – noHold Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform now supports Cisco Spark, making it possible for Spark users to leverage a Virtual Assistant directly from within a room.

Spark is a leading collaboration platform designed to “create secure, virtual rooms where teams work together from anywhere.” (newsroom.cisco.com) Using Spark’s open APIs, noHold was able to build a connector that enables users to find answers to their questions directly from the room interface. For example, if a user has a question while working in a room that already has a Virtual Assistant added, all they have to do is mention (@) the Virtual Assistants handle name in the text box along with the question. The Virtual Assistant will appear within that same chat window, and respond accordingly. Adding a Virtual Assistant to a room is as easy as adding a human. Simply look up the name of the Virtual Assistant and click add.

Integrating Virtual Assistants (chat bots) into collaboration rooms to intelligently answer user queries adds value for the platform. Customer problems vary and often require different skills to resolve different issues. The power of collaboration platforms is that all the appropriate resources to fix those issues can be found within the same room. Virtual Assistants are an important resource to provide because they are available 24/7, users can access a tremendous amount of information and answer questions on their own terms.

Moving forward, the process to create a Virtual Assistant with noHold’s platform will become more and more intuitive. Diego Ventura, CEO and founder of noHold says, “It is noHold’s objective to make sure that our Virtual Assistants work through as many pertinent channels as possible such as voice, SMS, Facebook, Alexa and certain collaboration platforms like Cisco Spark.”

To hear more of what Diego has to say on Virtual Assistants, he will be speaking at the Peggy Smedley Institute on Sept. 9^th in San Diego, CA. To register, click here and use the code IoTD for half off the price.

All other product and service names are the property of their respective owners.

How to Reach 900 Million Users

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One of the most important aspects of creating a successful Virtual Assistant is making sure it is readily available for end users. Its evident that people are embracing Artificial Intelligence in their everyday lives, and companies are investing into it at an exponential rate. Last year alone, $8.5 billion was spent on enhance AI, four times the amount spent in 2010 (economist.com). With the demand for AI continuing to grow, and the technology only becoming more advanced, it is important to strategically place Virtual Assistant to reach the most number of users. 

Before, company websites and mobile devices were the primary way to access a Virtual Assistant. Now, with these large companies adopting A.I. practices and the user base they have, Virtual Assistants can be accessed through a wide array of platforms, reaching a broader range of users, and ultimately, potential customers. 

For example, the latest Facebook Messenger announcement, allowing end users to interact with Artificial Intelligence (they refer to it as chatbots). Using API connectors, Virtual Assistants can plug into Facebook's Messenger Platform, connecting to their audience of over 900 million users world wide.

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It doesn't just apply to Facebook's platform though.There are so many platforms like Facebook's M that Virtual Assistants can integrate with such as: Siri, Cortana, Google Now, Amazon Echo's Alexa, Cisco's Spark, Microsoft Skype and more. By moving beyond the web and mobile, companies are able to reach a greater amount of people that already exist on these platforms.  
www.nohold.com

Tech Giants Continue to Acquire A.I. Companies at Rapid Rates

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We have never seen technology progress as fast as it does in today's world. 

Within the last three years, it's no secret that corporate giants are extremely interested in Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Major players such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, Salesforce, and Yahoo have all started acquiring A.I. companies looking to advance their technology. 

Just in 2016 alone, 4 major acquisitions have already been made. This rapid growth in AI acquisitions is further validation that society is embracing AI, and top tech companies are constantly trying to improve this technology for their consumers.

With almost 2 decades of experience under our belt, we have always seen the A.I. market on a steady incline. It is great to see this spike in the market with everyone jumping on board this A.I. train. 

For more information about noHold, please visit www.nohold.com

What's Trending at this Year's F8 Conference

Facebook's F8 Conference was held earlier this week in San Francisco, CA. This is an annual conference for developers to discuss new integrations, open source technologies and the latest immersive experiences.

One of the biggest product announcements at this year's conference was the Messenger Platform. "The new service is a framework powered by artificial intelligence, allowing developers to build chat bots that can communicate one on one with users in a conversational tone. The more use, the more personalized a bot can be in serving a user" (ABCNews). "If you look at every technological advance," said Libin, "the big jumps forward were when something becomes easier, has less friction, becomes more natural than whatever it replaced - so email from normal mail, chat from email, smartphone apps from desktop apps, I think bots are the next evolution of making something more natural." (Marketplace)

Click the picture below to watch a short introduction to what the Messenger Platform can accomplish. 

For a more in depth session on how to build your messenger bot, watch this video of engineers explaining how Messenger is reinventing online communication. It is about an hour long, but gives great details about how the Messenger bots work and a live demo.

This is an exciting time for Artificial Intelligence. As more and more companies are acquiring AI companies and expanding their research and development, the more validation is shown that the world is ready for a more advanced and interactive experience with Virtual Agents. They are becoming the preferred way for companies to communicate with their customers and vice versa.
www.nohold.com

Virtual Agent Tips and Tricks: Virtual Agents For Your Community Forum

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This week's Tuesday tip: Virtual Agents are a great asset to social media pages, community forums, or blogs.

Community forums are a typical form of support for many companies. It is a simple, and collaborative way to find answers to questions. One way to amplify these forums is by implementing a Virtual Agent that can live on the page and act as either a virtual moderator or simply 'sit' on the sidelines as a brand expert. A virtual moderator works as an active force to answer questions posted on the forum. If the Virtual Agent can answer a question with a high degree of certainty, it will post the answer automatically. The other option is to have the Virtual host as an additional resource to the community forum. Instead of users posting a question and waiting for a human response, they can ask the Virtual Agent first. By doing so, they can get an immediate answer. 

Virtual Agents can extend across Social Media (i.e. Facebook, etc). Many companies leverage Virtual Agents on social media for more than just answering support questions, though. The Virtual Agent allows your audience to access your knowledge base for information on products, services, deals, and events. As you can see, the Virtual Agent can do more than just provide excellent support, it can help create an entire experience. 

Social media is increasingly becoming one of the most popular channels your customers are going to for all their needs. Is your company staying connected? How does your company manage unanswered forum posts? 

www.nohold.com

noHold Virtual Agent Recognized by Satisfied Customer

Take a look at these statistics.

1.    A dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience. Around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people. –White House Office of Consumer Affairs

2.    Happy customers who get their issue resolved tell about 4-6 people about their experience. –White House Office of Consumer Affair

Source: 15 Statistics That Should Change the Business World—But Haven’t

Knowing this, it is gratifying to hear positive feedback from users. Recently, a woman ran into an issue with her laptop battery. She used a Virtual Agent to troubleshoot her problem and shared her experience on Facebook…

As we mentioned before in this slideshare, sometimes happy customers become your best sales people. We'd love to hear about the experiences you have had with a Virtual Agent. Let us know by leaving a comment below. Cheers!

www.nohold.com

Creating an Excellent Customer Experience with Virtual Reality Technology

There has been a lot of talk circulating the media about Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR, the company that developed the virtual reality headset called Oculus Rift. Most people consider virtual reality technology to be specifically for gamers only, so there is a lot of confusion as to why Facebook wanted to invest into this company. According to an article from nojitter.com, Oculus Rift: The Future of Customer Experience, “The clues to why Facebook made this investment lie in what else Zuckerberg had to say in his announcement. Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the Internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. Is this what the acquisition was all about--chasing a dream? Is it possible that this $2 billion bet is not about ‘science fiction,’ but will instead be part of bringing the ‘future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us,’ as Zuckerberg concluded?”

It is apparent that as time progresses we are adopting new, more immersive technologies every day. For example, holographic images are becoming more wide spread. Holographic avatars are used as “greeters” in airports or retail stores, providing individuals with a warm welcome and pertinent information to their visit. Holographic keyboards for your smartphone are also gaining popularity. We can bet it is not going to stop there, though; Facebook, along with trusted analysts, envision a future that completely immerses reality with virtual reality. Here is a video from CORNING, the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics, demonstrating what such a world would look like.

This idea posed in the video above of an interactive world does not seem too far off. In fact, for many years companies have already been using “virtual” technology to enhance their customer’s experiences. Virtual Agents(VA's) are a great example of such technologies that provide the desired interaction the consumer wants, while keeping costs down, and increasing satisfaction. Not only do VA’s offer exceptional customer support, but they are also used to augment ecommerce sales. For more information on Virtual Agents for Sales, please click here.

Our reality is continually being enhanced with technology. Do you think Facebook has validity in investing in what is considered to be a “niche” market? How do you feel about blurring the lines between virtual reality and actuality? 

Throwback Thursday: The Evolution and Future of Social Media

prohibitionpr.co.uk

When we think of social media, Facebook,Twitter, and the most 'popular' social media sites come to mind.  There are dozens of sites similar to these, and your audience could be on any one of them, at any time. In fact, the number of people on social media continues to increase daily.

To the right, is an infographic about the evolution of social media (Prohibition). As time progresses, more and more social media sites are appearing and each one has its own unique functionality. One way to enhance social media sites is to integrate Virtual Agents (VAs). Here are just a few reason for doing so...

1. They can answer questions on Blogs/Facebook. Consumers look towards social media to get quick answers to their support and sales questions. Implementing a Virtual Agent onto your blog or Facebook profile will give consumers a fast, reliable option while getting great customer service; and as we know, customer satisfaction via social networks is critical. If one person is unhappy, they often blast negative remarks about your company to their network, discouraging potential customers to shop with your brand. On the flip side, if they are happy with your products/services, they could post a positive recommendation. According to an article in Yahoo! Small Business Advisor, "50% of shoppers have made a purchase based on a recommendation through a social media network" (15 Social Media Statistics That Every Business Needs to Know).
2. Sharing is another popular function on social media. When you find a solution or cool new product from the Virtual Agent, you have the capability to share that information easily with your network. 
3. Virtual Agents can be applied to community forum pages as well. For example, when a member posts a question, the Virtual Agent will assess the question and depending on the degree of confidence, it can post the appropriate response automatically. Similarly, the Virtual Agent can be a more passive option, by simply being available to answer questions if engaged by your audience. In both examples, a Virtual chat is beneficial because most community forum pages don't provide immediate solutions. Users can get an immediate response and have confidence that it is the right solution. 

Today, human interaction is still necessary. By realizing the popularity of social media, and considering the benefits of a Virtual Agent, the two go hand in hand. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already everywhere (Siri, Watson, Google Now, etc.) - Can you imagine a future where Virtual Agents become the 'MVPs' for interacting with your clients in community forums? What about on Facebook/ Blogs?

www.nohold.com

Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and More are Validating the Artificial Intelligence Market

Here is a short clip from "What's the Big Deal?" talking about Google's plan to move toward Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Google is not the only one interested in A.I., though. Big name companies including IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Nuance, and Facebook are also making an investment into A.I. business units. With this sudden spike of interest in A.I., the future is looking bright for intelligent super computers! 

What do you think about these major companies investing in A.I.? 

Enhance Your Social Media Platform by Adding a Virtual Agent

Social media is a great way to connect with your consumers and hear what they have to say about your products or services. Here is a video explaining how social media to enhance your business.

With nearly one in four people around the world connected to social media today (eMarketer), your company’s social channels are where a lot of people refer to when faced with support questions or to talk about a complaint. To handle some of the questions, companies opt to implement a Virtual Agent on their social sites (e.g. Facebook), so customers have the option to answer their own questions, on their own time. Companies are still engaging the customer via social media, but doing so in a more time efficient manner.

Tell Us About Your Experience With a Virtual Agent/Virtual Assistant and Win a Free T-Shirt!

I hope everyone is having a great start to their week so far! Since Halloween just passed and the season of giving is upon us, we have decided it is time for another free giveaway contest! 

We want to know what your most memorable Virtual Agent experience is! This experience could be from a virtual personal assistants like Siri, or a company Virtual Agent geared towards customer service, support, or sales. It can be a funny moment or you can share about a time that you had exceptionally GREAT customer service via a Virtual Agent. For example, "I asked_______and the Virtual Agent answered _______."

Leave a comment with your most memorable moment on any of our social media channels...including this blog! Anyone can join 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noHold

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noHoldAI 

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/nohold-inc.

The contest will start today (11/4) and end the following Sunday (11/10) at 11:59 PM. Winners will be chosen at random and receive a complementary "Albert is Okay" t-shirt! The winners will be announced and receive a message declaring their victory by end of day Monday (11/11). We have only three t-shirts to give away, but since the winners are picked randomly, it is worth it to post something to try and win! 

Remember to like us on Facebook//follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn!  

Good Luck!

*Rules and Regulations do apply, only ships to US and Canada*
*T-shirt sizes include Medium, Large, and X-Large*

Throwback Thursday: Customer Service via Facebook

Throwback Thursday!

     Forrester believes that Facebook matters to customer service. With such a vast audience on Facebook, and really all social media channels, it is important for companies to give their consumers what they really want...GREAT customer service! Back in 2011, Forrester analyst, Diane Clarkson, wrote a blog emphasizing the benefits of utilizing Facebook as another way to give great customer service, and in turn improve customer satisfaction. noHold was mentioned in this blog for promoting customer service on Facebook via our Virtual Agents. Diane's blog applied then, and with the Facebook audience only continuing to grow at rapid rates, it applies just as much now. 

     

     We have the same opinion, Facebook is an excellent way to promote online customer service and we provide innovative ways to implement these practices. In May of 2011, noHold became one of the first Virtual Agent providers to offer Facebook integration. Having the ability to implement your company’s Virtual Agent on Facebook not only offers more customer support to your consumers (who can complain about that?), but also allows you to analyze metrics in a way you could not do before. With this large audience, it is important to understand what types of questions are being asked. Knowing the answers to these questions gives you the power to create better products/services for your patrons. 

     "Since the very beginning, noHold has been all about empowering people to get the information they need, when they need it, and on their own terms. We share this goal with Facebook, so being able to integrate with their platform is a natural result of our strategy." - Diego Ventura, CEO, noHold, Inc.

Happy Throwback Thursday!