Every minute of every day, universities are fielding the same old questions. “Can you send me a prospectus?” “Where can I get information on financial aid” “How do I change the password to my university email account”. The hours clocked up by staff answering questions, querying databases and taking appropriate actions are significant.
Conversational technology has been a game changer when it comes to this particular challenge. HigherEd institutions can deploy chatbots across all their digital channels, such as website, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or text messaging, and use them to not only answer students’ questions immediately, but do it in a much more personalized, more meaningful way. By integrating chatbot technology with back-end systems such as your CRM, you can draw on rich data to inform conversations and take appropriate, tailored actions.
For example, a prospective student from Beijing might message you asking if they can be connected with existing Chinese students. By automatically querying the CRM, the chatbot can figure out what degree the student is interested in and send them options to register with an existing student from Beijing who is doing the same course. Chatbots can do this immediately and around the clock, meaning greater convenience for your students and, ultimately, delivering a better and more valuable experience.