ITSM chatbots: what it is and why they are needed
According to the Deloitte report , AI platforms will allow government organizations to save 1.2 billion hours and 41.1 billion dollars a year on the Service Desk and service management by automating routine tasks. At the same time, analysts say that chatbots will help to use the capabilities of AI systems to automate business processes.
In this material, we talk about the benefits of chatbots for enterprises and ITSM processes, as well as what AI solutions offer in ServiceNow.
/ Flickr / simon / cc
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ServiceNow surveyed the leaders of IT companies: 87% of them say that automating business processes saves time, money and human resources. As stated by the respondents, the benefit is manifested in an increase in the speed of decision-making (in the opinion of 83% of the respondents). Another 69% of respondents find the benefits of automation in revenue growth, and 64% - in improving the competitiveness of the organization.
For example, Navistar International Corporation, a North American bus and truck manufacturer, is confident that software based on machine learning will be able to promptly recommend buyers which truck is better to choose based on an analysis of their needs.
Through the use of artificial intelligence systems, Navistar could, for example, replace its fleet with unmanned trucks and gain an advantage in the market. And adding security features and better service to drones will create additional cash flow.
Gartner and ServiceNow say that chatbots will help to use the capabilities of AI systems at the level of business processes and interaction with the audience or customers. Gartner estimates that by 2020, 25% of customer support and customer service services will integrate “virtual assistants.” Experts say that chatbots will reduce the waiting time for page loads and reduce the amount of resources needed to perform basic queries.
ITSM and ITAM expert Marcel Shaw (Marcel Shaw) identifies three areas in which chatbots can completely change the way IT management works.
In one of the previous posts, we wrote that it’s difficult for IT staff to distinguish between an incident and a problem due to confusion in ITIL terms. However, chatbots are not afraid of this confusion: they automatically distinguish between incidents and problems based on previous processing scenarios.
In addition, chatbots can analyze the behavior of users who often contact support service and automatically find solutions to their problems. A staff of the AI ​​system will help fill in the gaps in knowledge through the provision of recommendations based on an analysis of their work.
The Vice-President and General Manager of the ServiceNow HR Division, Deepak R. Bharadwaj, believes that “soon virtual agents will help employees find the information they need.” This is confirmed by a survey of managers and employees of HR departments: 92% of personnel management specialists said that virtual assistants can simplify the search for the necessary data. At the same time, two thirds of executives surveyed believe that their employees will not have difficulty working with AI systems.
And Stephen Mann (Stephen Mann), the chief analyst at ITSM.tools, believes that chatbots allow employees to spend more time on solving interesting and complex, rather than routine tasks. Mann calls the chatbots themselves “low-cost team members who never sleep and provide technical support in 24/7 format”.
If we talk about working with back-end-processes based on ITSM, chatbots with machine learning modules will be able to recognize patterns of problems and eliminate failures based on past experience. Therefore, information about previous problems (for example, server outages, cyber attacks), along with integrated technological solutions (security tools and system status monitoring tools) allow you to automate the processes of back-end troubleshooting.
Integrating ITSM chatbot with other development or service management solutions will allow you to recognize potential problems and solve them more quickly using existing cases. If the chatbot is integrated with the security solution, the AI ​​systems will be able to detect non-standard activity, for example, frequent crashes in the browser. When the chatbot logs data about browser malfunctions in the log, it makes forecasts for the development of this problem and recommendations for its resolution. Further, a chatbot, based on past experience, determines what caused the malfunctions: network problems, cyber attack or something else.
In addition, chatbots can be integrated with other services and applications of the company. Rajesh Ganesan, product manager for ManageEngine, says that through chatbots, “the organization can combine its tools with applications such as WhatsApp. This allows IT departments to provide customers with better services. ”
If you provide AI systems with access to knowledge bases, they will learn the patterns of problem solving that are used by employees of the organization. Chatbots will be able to answer questions related to IT systems, train users and give them recommendations. The final goal is to help users independently find the necessary information without contacting technical support. In addition, AI-systems will help to regularly update the knowledge base and supplement it with new scenarios and ways to solve problems.
/ Flickr / kuhnmi / CC
Together with the release of Kingston (about the features of which you can read in our blog) ServiceNow released ITSM chatbot, which combines the services of ServiceNow Connect and IBM Watson Conversation.
The chatbot is preconfigured for several ITSM processes: from creating incidents and checking their status to searching for configuration items via CMDB . Using the ServiceNow web interface, you can create your ITSM chat cases for chatbot.
ITSM chatbot is equipped with widgets of the service portal, as well as a control panel that allows you to track usage efficiency and view chat logs.
The technology has already been tested at the University of Alberta. 2 weeks after the integration, the chatbot correctly processed 30% of the received requests. And after 2 months the chatbot was able to manage 30 IT services. IT specialists of the University intend to unleash the potential of the tool and bring the accuracy of request processing to 80%.
You can see how the solution works at the university in this video.
A detailed video review of the solution from ServiceNow and IBM can be found at this link.
Another ServiceNow product, Qlue, is still being prepared for release. In May 2017, ServiceNow announced the acquisition of Qlue, a company that deals with AI systems. The purchase will allow ServiceNow customers to use the Intelligent Automation Engine to solve everyday tasks using chatbots features. Rahim Yaseen, co-founder and chief technical officer of Qlue, explains: "Chatbots will be able to perform simple, repetitive tasks and provide individual interactive service to ServiceNow customers."
Qlue can “answer” frequently asked questions (for example, “What is the status of my order?”) Or solve problems like a slow Internet connection. ServiceNow plan to adapt Qlue for the tasks of different departments: from IT to HR and customer service.
The exact release date for Qlue has not yet been reported, but the creators are already working on implementing the solution in Now Platform.
In addition, ServiceNow announced their investment in a startup BuildOnMe, which is developing applications based on AI for Now Platform. As reported in Business Wire, BuildOnMe-chatbot Bob (BuildOn Bot) became the first HR-assistant integrated into Now Platform. Bob is able to help HR staff to work with the knowledge base. In this case, chatbot can communicate in human language.
For example, if an employee writes him the phrase “I recently had a child,” then Bob will display documents with information about the length of the leave to care for a child and the amount of benefits that apply to this company. Bob can also handle employee requests for vacations, time off, and other similar cases.
In addition, BuildOnMe offers the BuildOn Claims AI system for managing claims and the self-service portal of insurance and legal organizations. Among the tasks that BuildOn Claims can solve are : automatic routing of requests, detection of fake documents and interaction with customers using chatbots.
Other materials about working with ServiceNow from the Guild IT corporate blog:
In this material, we talk about the benefits of chatbots for enterprises and ITSM processes, as well as what AI solutions offer in ServiceNow.
/ Flickr / simon / cc
')
ServiceNow surveyed the leaders of IT companies: 87% of them say that automating business processes saves time, money and human resources. As stated by the respondents, the benefit is manifested in an increase in the speed of decision-making (in the opinion of 83% of the respondents). Another 69% of respondents find the benefits of automation in revenue growth, and 64% - in improving the competitiveness of the organization.
For example, Navistar International Corporation, a North American bus and truck manufacturer, is confident that software based on machine learning will be able to promptly recommend buyers which truck is better to choose based on an analysis of their needs.
Through the use of artificial intelligence systems, Navistar could, for example, replace its fleet with unmanned trucks and gain an advantage in the market. And adding security features and better service to drones will create additional cash flow.
What are chatbots useful for?
Gartner and ServiceNow say that chatbots will help to use the capabilities of AI systems at the level of business processes and interaction with the audience or customers. Gartner estimates that by 2020, 25% of customer support and customer service services will integrate “virtual assistants.” Experts say that chatbots will reduce the waiting time for page loads and reduce the amount of resources needed to perform basic queries.
ITSM and ITAM expert Marcel Shaw (Marcel Shaw) identifies three areas in which chatbots can completely change the way IT management works.
Help in solving problems of workers
In one of the previous posts, we wrote that it’s difficult for IT staff to distinguish between an incident and a problem due to confusion in ITIL terms. However, chatbots are not afraid of this confusion: they automatically distinguish between incidents and problems based on previous processing scenarios.
In addition, chatbots can analyze the behavior of users who often contact support service and automatically find solutions to their problems. A staff of the AI ​​system will help fill in the gaps in knowledge through the provision of recommendations based on an analysis of their work.
The Vice-President and General Manager of the ServiceNow HR Division, Deepak R. Bharadwaj, believes that “soon virtual agents will help employees find the information they need.” This is confirmed by a survey of managers and employees of HR departments: 92% of personnel management specialists said that virtual assistants can simplify the search for the necessary data. At the same time, two thirds of executives surveyed believe that their employees will not have difficulty working with AI systems.
And Stephen Mann (Stephen Mann), the chief analyst at ITSM.tools, believes that chatbots allow employees to spend more time on solving interesting and complex, rather than routine tasks. Mann calls the chatbots themselves “low-cost team members who never sleep and provide technical support in 24/7 format”.
Automation back-end
If we talk about working with back-end-processes based on ITSM, chatbots with machine learning modules will be able to recognize patterns of problems and eliminate failures based on past experience. Therefore, information about previous problems (for example, server outages, cyber attacks), along with integrated technological solutions (security tools and system status monitoring tools) allow you to automate the processes of back-end troubleshooting.
Integrating ITSM chatbot with other development or service management solutions will allow you to recognize potential problems and solve them more quickly using existing cases. If the chatbot is integrated with the security solution, the AI ​​systems will be able to detect non-standard activity, for example, frequent crashes in the browser. When the chatbot logs data about browser malfunctions in the log, it makes forecasts for the development of this problem and recommendations for its resolution. Further, a chatbot, based on past experience, determines what caused the malfunctions: network problems, cyber attack or something else.
In addition, chatbots can be integrated with other services and applications of the company. Rajesh Ganesan, product manager for ManageEngine, says that through chatbots, “the organization can combine its tools with applications such as WhatsApp. This allows IT departments to provide customers with better services. ”
Knowledge Base Management
If you provide AI systems with access to knowledge bases, they will learn the patterns of problem solving that are used by employees of the organization. Chatbots will be able to answer questions related to IT systems, train users and give them recommendations. The final goal is to help users independently find the necessary information without contacting technical support. In addition, AI-systems will help to regularly update the knowledge base and supplement it with new scenarios and ways to solve problems.
/ Flickr / kuhnmi / CC
What are the solutions for ServiceNow
Together with the release of Kingston (about the features of which you can read in our blog) ServiceNow released ITSM chatbot, which combines the services of ServiceNow Connect and IBM Watson Conversation.
The chatbot is preconfigured for several ITSM processes: from creating incidents and checking their status to searching for configuration items via CMDB . Using the ServiceNow web interface, you can create your ITSM chat cases for chatbot.
ITSM chatbot is equipped with widgets of the service portal, as well as a control panel that allows you to track usage efficiency and view chat logs.
The technology has already been tested at the University of Alberta. 2 weeks after the integration, the chatbot correctly processed 30% of the received requests. And after 2 months the chatbot was able to manage 30 IT services. IT specialists of the University intend to unleash the potential of the tool and bring the accuracy of request processing to 80%.
You can see how the solution works at the university in this video.
A detailed video review of the solution from ServiceNow and IBM can be found at this link.
Another ServiceNow product, Qlue, is still being prepared for release. In May 2017, ServiceNow announced the acquisition of Qlue, a company that deals with AI systems. The purchase will allow ServiceNow customers to use the Intelligent Automation Engine to solve everyday tasks using chatbots features. Rahim Yaseen, co-founder and chief technical officer of Qlue, explains: "Chatbots will be able to perform simple, repetitive tasks and provide individual interactive service to ServiceNow customers."
Qlue can “answer” frequently asked questions (for example, “What is the status of my order?”) Or solve problems like a slow Internet connection. ServiceNow plan to adapt Qlue for the tasks of different departments: from IT to HR and customer service.
The exact release date for Qlue has not yet been reported, but the creators are already working on implementing the solution in Now Platform.
In addition, ServiceNow announced their investment in a startup BuildOnMe, which is developing applications based on AI for Now Platform. As reported in Business Wire, BuildOnMe-chatbot Bob (BuildOn Bot) became the first HR-assistant integrated into Now Platform. Bob is able to help HR staff to work with the knowledge base. In this case, chatbot can communicate in human language.
For example, if an employee writes him the phrase “I recently had a child,” then Bob will display documents with information about the length of the leave to care for a child and the amount of benefits that apply to this company. Bob can also handle employee requests for vacations, time off, and other similar cases.
In addition, BuildOnMe offers the BuildOn Claims AI system for managing claims and the self-service portal of insurance and legal organizations. Among the tasks that BuildOn Claims can solve are : automatic routing of requests, detection of fake documents and interaction with customers using chatbots.
Other materials about working with ServiceNow from the Guild IT corporate blog:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/350378/
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