Small and Medium Enterprises Also Embrace 'Chatbot' Service Trend

Utilizing Gitturami and Aju Industry... Ministry of SMEs Expands Services

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] 'Chatbot' services aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies are becoming more active. By utilizing artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot technology to increase satisfaction, the user base is also expanding.

According to the industry on the 28th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups aims to increase users to 200,000 this year by expanding the 'SME Support Project Informer Chatbot' service. In cooperation with software development company 'Persona,' the service, which has been in full operation since June last year, recently expanded its scope to include information on the 'Noranwoosan' mutual aid program. This is because satisfaction with the chatbot service is high, leading to a continuous increase in users.

The number of users of the SME Support Project Informer Chatbot service has currently exceeded 48,000. The chatbot's automated consultations have recorded over 310,000 cases. To increase the utilization of the chatbot service, this year, in collaboration with the Korea Federation of SMEs, there are plans to actively promote it through regular emails and text messages targeting Noranwoosan subscribers. The number of Noranwoosan mutual aid subscribers reaches approximately 1.22 million.

A chatbot is a computer program that performs purposes such as information search and customer support through text or voice conversation functions. Chatbot consultations are optimized to provide customized answers to various user inquiries through an automatic response function linked to an information database and search engine.

Boiler specialist company Gidulami also improved customer satisfaction by introducing chatbot services. Users utilizing the boiler one-stop mobile after-service (AS) reception service via chatbot have surpassed 235,000 to date. The advantage is that AS reception can be completed simply by writing and sending details such as customer name, phone number, address, product used, desired visit time, and malfunction symptoms through the chat window.

The reception details are transmitted to the service technician in charge of the relevant area through Gidulami's headquarters server. Customers receive real-time confirmation notices of the reception details and information about the assigned AS technician. After receiving AS, customers can evaluate service satisfaction using the 'Evaluate Engineer' function. The customer evaluation results are sent to headquarters and used to improve service quality.

A Gidulami official said, "We are improving services by reducing the reception process from 18 steps to 10 steps," adding, "We are developing various customer services that can be utilized through the chatbot."

Ajou Group is also managing ready-mixed concrete shipment information using chatbots. Through the commercialization of a self-developed application service, shipment information that was previously confirmed via phone calls with the shipping office can now be accessed through messenger in everyday language conversations.

The advantage is that shipment details can be checked in real-time without restrictions of time and place, and frequently used key terms such as delivery specifications, order quantity/number of orders, and vehicle dispatch intervals are buttonized to easily receive shipment orders. Seven ready-mixed concrete business sites of Ajou Industrial, an affiliate of the group, are utilizing this service.

An Ajou Group official said, "We are striving to develop more diverse customer-tailored services by building our own app utilizing chatbot functions."