ChannelVision Magazine

EMERGENT There’s good news for agents investing in smart contact center services. According to a May 2018 survey of U.S. internet us- ers by Helpshift, 76% of respondents said chat-based messaging would be a preferred means to contact cus- tomer service if they knew they would get an immediate response. Full disclosure: Help- shift is a messaging- based platform in- vested in texting for customer service.  Still, not everyone is enamored by chat- bots. According to the study, 51% of respon- dents said dealing with chatbots prevents them from connecting with a human, while 48% said they lead to too many unhelpful responses. Above are some ways chatbots must improve moving forward. The economics are tough for resi- dential IT channel sales and support, but at some point the home becomes too connected for the average home owner to keep it all up and run- ning smoothly without pro- fessional help. Consider all-important home health care alone. A Park Associ- ates survey found that 46% of U.S. broadband house- holds now own a con- nected health device, while nearly 60% are interested in remotely interacting with medical professionals un- der certain circumstances. Yes, someday, the whole world becomes plug and play, but we are certainly not there yet as Parks estimates that more than 50% of smart home device users experienced problems setting up their devices. California Property Sold on Blockchain A historic move for both real estate and cryptocurrencies, Propy, a global real estate store with a decentralized title registry, an- nounced this summer the execution of the first comprehensive blockchain-recorded property deal in California. The Bitcoin-to- Bitcoin sale of 10 acres of land in Southern California was processed through Propy’s Transaction Platform. Since every step of the conveyance was executed via Ethereum smart contracts, this marks not only the first fully recorded blockchain transaction in Cali- fornia but in the entire U.S as well. “We believe that blockchain technol- ogy can truly revolutionize the real estate purchasing process and the management of public records,” said Natalia Karaya- neva, CEO of Propy. “Propy streamlines a complicated process into a simple online transaction, and we’ve seen significant traction in the industry already.” In September and October 2017, Propy partnered with the government of Ukraine to facilitate the first online international real estate purchase in the world via the blockchain. Chatbot Customer Service Concerns Healthy Home Market? Source: IHS Markit Challenges of Using Chatbots According to US Internet Users, May 2018 Source: Helpshift; eMarketer Blade Rack Tower Open Compute Keeps me from a live person % of respondents Too many unhelpful responses Redirects to self-serve FAQs Bad suggestions Pop-up chatbot prompts Unnecessary pleasantries Takes too long to respond They never have enough data about me Other None of these 50.7% 47.5% 39.5% 28.2% 25.0% 24.9% 24.2% 19.7% 2.8% 8.4% 0% 0% 30% 30% 60% 60% Q3/2015 Q2/2016 Q2/2017 Q2/2018 At least one listed circumstance Follow-up care following an illness or hospitalization Ongoing treatment of a chronic health condition When a sudden but non-life- threatening condition occurs Routine checkups Overall Adoption of Connected Health Devices Interest in Remotely Interacting with Medical Professionals Under Specified Circumstances Very interested U.S. Broadband Households U.S. Broadband Households Interested Source: Parks Associates Channel Vision | July - August, 2018 8

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