Chatbot and Live Chat

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Purpose of Chatbots and Live Chat

Chatbots are like virtual assistants on your website. They have a list of common questions and answers, so people can easily find information themselves. If someone needs more help, the chatbot can connect them to a real person through live chat, either with a State Reference Librarian or someone from your agency.

The main goals are to:

  • Give people quick answers: Help Iowans find information easily, any time of day.
  • Save money: Reduce the need for as many people answering phones and emails.
  • Make staff more efficient: Let staff focus on more important tasks instead of answering the same questions over and over.
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When to Use Chatbots and Live Chat

Chatbots and live chat are good choices for agencies that want to:

  • Improve customer service: Give people 24/7 support and fast answers to common questions.
  • Save money: Spend less on customer service staff.
  • Work more efficiently: Free up staff time for other work.
  • Learn what people are asking: Find out what questions people have so you can improve your services.
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Benefits of Chatbots and Live Chat

  • Better information for Iowans: Chatbots can give quick and correct answers to common questions, even when your office is closed.
  • More work gets done: With fewer calls coming in, your staff can do other important things.
  • Cost savings: Agencies that use chatbots have saved a good amount of money.
  • People like them: Users have given lots of positive feedback about using chatbots and live chat.
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Services Included

  • Dashboard: You can see all the questions people ask the chatbot.
  • Support: You'll get help adding and changing questions in the chatbot.
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Cost

  • IOWAccess is paying for agencies to use this.
  • To learn more about how your agency can use live chat or chatbots, send a Service Desk Catalog request for Citizen Engagement at https://go.iowa.gov/n6YN.
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