Isn’t that amazing how even chatbots can benefit from therapy?
After all, in the digital world, chatbots are becoming more human and real for emotional support too! They offer 24/7 availability, and personalized responses, and can even connect users to human experts when needed. Maybe chatbots don’t need therapy as much as a good API partner!
Since businesses are moving beyond traditional customer service, it’s become so obvious that customer support is beyond transactions, towards connections!
So, it’s all set, you decided to build your intelligent chatbot, and here comes next, how to choose the best chatbot API among the cluster of API chatbots?
We’ll help you find the best chatbot API by saving time and searching. Let’s find the top 5 AI chatbot APIs in 2024 for your website and products.
What is Chatbot API?
A chatbot API (Application Programming Interface) is a protocol layer that allows communication between chatbots and other software. Like other APIs, Chatbot APIs act as the bridge to enable communication between different software. It enables you to incorporate the chatbot into other messaging apps, social media, and your website.
“74% of internet users prefer interacting with chatbots for simple questions”
● PSFK
How Does a ChatBot API Work?
First things first, let’s understand the real purpose of conversational API chatbots and how it actually works (help). A general medium of bot API acts as a barrier that requests data access from the database of any other software and delivers it back to the chatbot. Let’s find out how chatbot API works in simple steps.
1. Message Processing: Decoding humans as step one
Message processing is the step where the API chatbot receives input from the user. Later process the acquired input or message using NLP (Natural Language Processing) techniques to understand user intent. Moreover, NLP helps chatbot APIs extract information and determine the desired response.
2. Intent Recognition: From words to goals as step two
Intent recognition is the most interesting and interactive step in the chatbot APIs. This is where machine learning algorithms and NLU come into play. Chatbot APIs use those two to understand
what the user is trying to say. Comprises with advanced computing, chatbot API analyzes the input and identifies keywords, which it then directs to predefined intents.
3. Generating Response: From understanding to engaging as step three
After the recognition, the chatbot API then generates a response based on the underlying logic and data. This response can be collected from an existing knowledge base or external API calls.
4. Deliver Response: Ended as AI to human as step four
The chatbot API returns the generated response to the user’s application via the response endpoints of the API. The response could be in plain text, XML, JSON, or another format entirely, depending on how the API is built.
Who Uses ChatBot APIs?
Was it too techy after being transported to the chatbot API process?! Let’s go through the industries that can benefit from chatbot APIs.
1. Developers & Engineers
A chatbot API is used by any developer creating a website, application, or other software that requires contextual responses. This eliminates the need for human interaction and allows consumers to communicate with chatbots directly and receive responses.
2. Enterprises
Next, the most common industry that uses chatbot API is Enterprise, both large and small. Businesses in enterprises can integrate chatbots into their websites or CRM systems to offer automated and personalized experiences by handling customer inquiries.
3. Messaging Platforms & Social Media Platforms
Chatbot APIs can be integrated into popular messaging apps like Facebook and WhatsApp, enabling users and companies to create chatbot-personalized experiences on those platforms.
4. Healthcare Industry
One of the best and most innovative applications of API chatbots is in the hospital and healthcare industry. Since it is convenient for the patient, virtual assistance, and answering the patient queries, the usage of chatbot API is unimaginable. Still, it depends on how you choose the API; let’s see!
Benefits of ChatBot API
1. Seamless Customer Experience
Chatbots APIs that care with emotional intelligence. You can experience the data flow smoothly between your CRM, helpdesk or database to where you want to explore. Moreover, with the help of API, you can be able to connect with your entire customer support software or application. This will let you share the right information with your leads during a chatbot conversation.
2. Helps Build Smarter Chatbots
Building intelligence with emotions. With every new interaction they have with users, bots process enormous amounts of data. Your CRM, HRMS, ERP, or helpdesk software can provide you with massive amounts of data for your chatbots, which you can use to train them on various kinds of discussions. APIs can help with this.
3. Improves Productivity
Focus on the human touch. Consumer service representatives are the best people to realize that collecting consumer information while providing them with assistance is a challenging undertaking. Finding the appropriate information and carrying on the conversation usually takes agents a long time.
This lowers the quality of the client experience overall and slows the agent’s response. However, you can utilize internal bots to retrieve that data for your agents with the use of a bot API, providing them with vital information while they handle user inquiries.
5 Best Chatbot APIs in 2024
Here we come to the most existing section of the article to determine the top and best five chatbot APIs in 2024, which can literally help you build a better bot rich in personalization and interaction.
1. Google Chat API
You can bring a realistic communication experience with customers over the chat. With the major advantage of Google’s other ecosystems like Gmail, Maps, and YouTube, you can get powerful functionality from Google Chat API. It allows your chatbot to generate quick answers with data-backed resources.
Free Usage
● You can create and manage Chat apps at no cost. ● You can call a limited number of Chat API methods without incurring charges.
Potential Costs
● Per-space Query ● Cloud Functions ● Google Workspace editions
2. ChatBot API
Using a foundation for natural language comprehension, ChatBot assists you in building intelligent bots that connect with your chat apps. These bots can respond to queries, hold discussions, and interact with rich text and pictures.
The bots become smarter (and more useful) as you teach them more. Additionally, you may monitor your bot’s actions to help it learn and grow more intelligent over time. Additionally, ChatBot functions well with Facebook, LiveChat, and Slack.
Free Usage
● You can get 14 days free trial
Paid Model
● Monthly packages start from a minimum of $52 per month ● Price scale as high as $424 per month
3. Facebook Messenger API
Facebook offers a free API for its Messenger software, which allows users to communicate with each other in chat rooms or groups. These bots can respond to specific requests, leave comments in groups, and notify users in chat.
Your Facebook Messenger chatbot can be set up to respond to queries in real time and carry out tasks that users leave in the comment section. To find out more about how to begin using NLP on Facebook, consult its bot API documentation.
Free Usage
● Basic interactions like sending and receiving messages. ● Simple user management ● Integrating your Messenger conversations with Instagram DMs.
Paid Model
● Per-message charges ● Engagement features ● Third-party integration ● Cloud functions
4. Slack Bot API
You may create chatbots to interact with consumers and do simple activities using Slack’s bot API. These can do a wide range of tasks, including conversation, to-do list management, and user onboarding.
Your bot can have a name, picture, and directory profile assigned to it. After that, let users communicate with them directly or through designated channels and chats to address their needs. Additionally, you can program your bot to add interactive elements to your messages, such as buttons, polls, and links, and to post messages and reminders to Slack members automatically.
● Freemium model: Slack offers a free plan with limited features, and paid plans with additional features and usage allowances. ● Per-user costs: Some paid plans charge per active user interacting with your bot. ● API call costs: Certain premium features and exceeding usage limits can incur additional charges per API call.
5. Freshchat API
Support, marketing, sales, and even bots can conduct smooth, large-scale discussions with customers thanks to Freshchat, an integrated and contextual conversational engagement platform.
Customers and partners can create unique integrations and processes using the Freshchat APIs. APIs facilitate the customization of pre-existing workflows to specific business structures, the integration of bot flows into messaging, the synchronization and transfer of data from external systems, and other related issues.
Plans
● Starts from $29 as Growth Plan ● Starts from $69 as Pro ● Starts from $79 as Enterprise
Conclusion
“Remember the days when customer service reps were human? Don’t worry, neither do they. Thanks, Chatbot APIs!”
Plan to offer personalized solutions for your customers and build intelligent chatbots with a more customizable and flexible chatbot API model. Hope this article helps you find the best 5 chatbot APIs for your website or CRM; stay tuned and subscribe to Contus Tech for more personalized articles and guides.
