Technology is built to make our lives easier and it’s no exception when it comes to chatbots. Simply put, chatbots are computer programs that are powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to carry out online conversations. Rather than speaking to an employee, your customers chat with an intelligent robot who is able to answer all their questions and book their appointments. Chatbots are simply a new way of communicating with your consumers.Chatbots are increasingly popular amongst dental marketers and thanks to the computer technology company, Oracle, you can now integrate this digital marketing trend into your business marketing strategy.https://www.oracle.com/au/But you’re probably wondering why chatbots are so important and how they can contribute to your overall business success, especially for dental practices.

Chatbots go where the consumers go

Possibly the most important gadget for a society that is constantly on-the-go is their mobile phone. Finding a new way to communicate through their mobile is simply a necessity to “keep up.”According to Niko Bonatos, Managing Director at General Catalyst, “90% of our time on mobile is spent on email and messaging platforms,” and it was reported that messaging apps overtook social media apps for having the largest number of active users.To accommodate to these statistics, Oracle allows you to integrate chatbots to a range of messaging platforms, including Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Kik. This makes this method of communication even easier for your patients as they can chat with your dental practice using apps that they’ve most likely already downloaded.

Chatbots maximise productivity

Chatbots are highly efficient and beneficial to both your dental practice and your patients, by acting as a massive time saver.For patients, they allow for your calendar to be accessible and provide instant responses. This saves them time going back and forth on the phone to book a vacant appointment.For employees, they shift responsibility and lighten the workload. This allows your employees to put more effort into their other work and increases the overall productivity of the dental practice.

Chatbots ensure that you don’t lose patients

Perhaps the most significant benefit to your business, chatbots make it impossible for you to lose patients. That’s because they’re available when your patients need them to be. Chatbots offer convenience by ensuring that you’re always attending to them.Sure, you have a receptionist who takes care of your appointment bookings, but what about when your clients get put on hold because the phone line is busy? And what happens if that’s the only time they’re free to call you? Chatbots can talk to multiple patients at once.They’re also especially useful for patients who can’t reach you via telephone. Some patients may not get a quiet time to call you in their busy schedule and need an alternative way to contact you. Some patients may simply hesitate to ring and prefer to communicate via text (which is especially popular amongst millennials). Some patients don’t have time to contact you at all during your practice’s business hours. Most chatbots are programmed to work after hours to accommodate to this.

Chatbots can answer tricky questions too

Interacting with AI is a notion that technology professionals are continuously working on to perfect. We call them intelligent bots for a reason - they’re a natural language processor that ensures the conversation flows almost as naturally as it would with a human.As well as understanding simple interactions, chatbots also have the ability to respond to complex questions (and it’s far easier than you may think to program them to do so).Oracle's chatbots are documented to reduce labour tasks such as booking a dental appointment by 47% and at the same time making easier for patients to shuffle appointments around.In simple terms, you’re able to program synonyms so that the chatbot understands your question no matter how you phrase it. The chatbot is also intelligent enough to ask for additional information to process your request. For example, if you type “Can I reschedule my appointment?” the chatbot will ask something along the lines of what your name is and when the current appointment is scheduled for. It’s intended for your patient to feel as if they’re communicating with something as capable as a real person.360 Dental Marketing is working in collaboration with Oracle to offer the integration of chatbots into your dental practice. To enquire, book your 30-minute FREE consultation at https://bit.ly/2Iw14Wv.For More Dental Chatbots Blogs and Ideas: https://dentalchatbots.com.au/#blogs