#trying to reach customer services by email and phone and it's all AI

[youreorangeyoumoron]

I long to live in a world in which sending and receiving packages is nice and easy and not a fucking nightmare

[no-code-chatbot-builder]

Trends in Conversational Customer Service with Botbuz : Navigating the Future.

Customer service has always been a key pillar of any successful business. Whether you're running a startup or a large enterprise, how you handle customer interactions can make or break your brand. That’s something I learned early on in my career. I used to spend countless hours fielding customer inquiries, trying to offer the best service possible. But as my business grew, so did the volume of customer interactions, and I quickly realized I needed a more efficient way to handle them without sacrificing the quality of those engagements.

This was the turning point where I discovered the magic of conversational customer service—specifically, Botbuz Conversational Customer Service. What I found wasn’t just a tool, but a strategy, one that aligns perfectly with the emerging trends we see today in customer support. Let me walk you through this journey.

The Beginning : When Traditional Methods Hit a Roadblock

When I first started out, my customer service strategy was purely traditional. We had phone lines, email support, and the occasional face-to-face interaction. These methods worked well in the early days when the scale of my operations was manageable. But as I expanded my business, the cracks started to show. Delayed responses, missed inquiries, and an overwhelmed support team—it was clear that traditional methods couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced world we live in today.

Enter conversational customer service.

I had been hearing a lot about this concept, where businesses use chatbots and AI-powered solutions to engage customers in real-time, simulating a natural conversation. The more I read about it, the more I realized that this was the future of customer support. And that’s when I stumbled upon Botbuz Conversational Customer Service, a tool that revolutionized the way I managed customer interactions.

The Shift to Conversational Customer Service

One of the key trends in customer service today is the move from reactive to proactive engagement. Traditional methods wait for customers to reach out with issues, while conversational service actively engages with customers, often solving problems before they even arise. I was fascinated by how Botbuz leveraged AI and machine learning to anticipate customer needs and provide solutions in real-time.

For example, Botbuz helped me create personalized experiences for each customer. Through automated chat systems, we were able to address customer queries, guide them through purchasing decisions, and even follow up with them after their transactions. And all of this was done through natural, flowing conversations that felt more like a human interaction than a rigid Q&A format.

Key Trends in Conversational Customer Service

Now that I’ve seen the power of this tool first hand, it’s easier to spot the trends driving the future of customer service. Let me break down a few of the most compelling trends :

1. AI-Powered Chatbots

This was, without a doubt, the game-changer for me. AI chatbots, like those offered by Botbuz Conversational Customer Service, are becoming smarter and more intuitive by the day. These bots can handle basic inquiries, but they can also dig deeper, providing real-time solutions to more complex customer problems.

AI-powered chatbots use natural language processing (NLP) to understand the intent behind customer queries, making the conversation feel smooth and natural. This ability to interpret intent means that even if a customer doesn’t phrase their question perfectly, the bot can still provide a useful response. For example, a customer could ask, "I want to return my order," and the bot would instantly provide the right information or process the return without further intervention.

2. Omnichannel Support

Customers today expect seamless service across all platforms, whether it’s social media, email, or a company’s website. One of the most powerful features of Botbuz Conversational Customer Service was its ability to integrate across multiple channels. I could connect the chatbot to my website, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and even SMS.

The best part? Customers experienced consistent and unified service regardless of where they were engaging from. This is a critical trend—offering omnichannel support not only ensures customers can reach you anywhere, but it also allows for more flexible and dynamic conversations.

3. Personalization

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all responses. Customers now expect personalized experiences tailored to their specific needs and preferences. Botbuz allowed me to create customer profiles by collecting insights from previous conversations, purchase history, and browsing behavior.

For instance, if a repeat customer was looking for product recommendations, the chatbot could suggest items based on their past purchases, making the conversation feel highly personalized. This level of service is no longer a luxury; it’s becoming an expectation and businesses that can’t offer this level of customization risk falling behind.

4. Real-Time Assistance

Speed is everything in today’s world, and customers expect quick resolutions to their problems. With Botbuz Conversational Customer Service, I was able to offer real-time assistance through automated responses and live chat options. This not only reduced response times but also increased customer satisfaction levels.

Real-time assistance is now a cornerstone of effective customer service. Customers want their issues resolved as quickly as possible, and having a chatbot available 24/7 can make that happen. With Botbuz, even when my human agents weren’t available, the chatbot was always ready to step in, ensuring that customers never felt neglected.

What I Learned Along the Way

My journey with conversational customer service has been nothing short of transformative. The experience has taught me several important lessons :

Customers Want Efficiency : The faster you can solve a problem, the happier your customer will be. Tools like Botbuz make it possible to resolve issues in minutes rather than hours or days.

Automation Doesn’t Mean Impersonal : One of the myths I had to overcome was the idea that automation equaled impersonal service. On the contrary, I found that customers appreciated the quick, efficient service that felt personalized thanks to the smart features offered by Botbuz.

Data is Gold : Conversational customer service tools like Botbuz collect a wealth of data that can be used to improve future interactions. By analysing chat logs and understanding customer behaviour, I was able to refine my approach to customer service, making it even more effective.

Customer Service is Constantly Evolving : As I look to the future, it’s clear that conversational customer service is just the beginning. With advances in AI, machine learning and NLP, we’re only scratching the surface of what’s possible. Businesses that adopt these technologies now will be ahead of the curve, prepared for whatever comes next.

The Future of Conversational Customer Service

As I continue to implement and evolve Botbuz Conversational Customer Service, I can’t help but feel excited about the future. The trends we see today—AI chatbots, omnichannel support, personalization and real-time assistance—are only going to become more prevalent as customer expectations continue to rise.

Looking ahead, I see more businesses embracing automation, not as a way to replace human agents but to enhance their abilities. AI and conversational service platforms like Botbuz will continue to evolve, becoming more sophisticated and capable of handling even more complex customer interactions. And for businesses, this means one thing: an opportunity to offer exceptional customer experiences, scale efficiently, and remain competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace.

[xtruss]

Welcome to the Golden Age of Scams

— By Alana Semuels | September 18, 2024

Illustration By Dan Page For Time Magazine

Not Long Ago, Monica Cotelingham found herself stuffing cash into a Bitcoin machine at a gas station in suburban Maryland and weeping.

Earlier that day, she had received a call from a phone number with the same area code as Cotelingham’s father in Louisiana. When she answered, someone identifying themselves as a U.S. customs officer said the government had found a package addressed to Cotelingham that contained stolen passports and driver’s licenses. She was in a lot of trouble; law enforcement was going to call her back. When Cotelingham’s phone rang next, the number that came up was from local police, who told her the FBI would be in touch. Minutes later, she got a call from a number that matched the bureau’s. The person on the line told Cotelingham that she could get out of the mess by depositing $18,000 into a Bitcoin machine.

In retrospect, Cotelingham says, she should have known it was a scam. The game of law-enforcement telephone made no sense. All the callers had heavy accents. Each instructed her not to tell anyone what she was doing. The bank teller at Truist, where she withdrew the $18,000, asked if Cotelingham was OK, and warned her of scams. Even the Bitcoin machine where she deposited the money had a warning, in big red letters, to beware of scams and fraud.

But Cotelingham, who received the calls on her first day of a medical leave of absence from her job as a psychiatrist, believed at the time that they were legitimate. And so, sobbing in distress, she stuffed $10,000 into the machine until she asked the clerk for help to stop. “Even then, I think part of me knew,” she says. “It was incredibly traumatic.”

Cotelingham’s experience is increasingly common. We are living in the golden age of scams. U.S. consumers lost a record $10 billion to fraud in 2023, according to the Federal Trade Commission, a 14% increase over 2022. That tally is almost certainly an undercount. More than three-­quarters of victims, including Cotelingham, don’t report to authorities that they’ve been defrauded. We are constantly baited by scammers—by text, by email, by phone. The average smartphone owner in the U.S. gets an estimated 42 spam texts and 28 spam calls per month, according to RoboKiller, an app for screening calls.

The scams themselves are more sophisticated than ever before, capable of duping the most skeptical consumers. There are romance scams, investment scams, and fake-job scams. Scammers target everyone from pharmacists in Wisconsin (trying to persuade them to send money because their credentials have supposedly expired) to employees of specific companies (sending emails or texts that say they’re from the CEO and instructing employees to buy gift cards). “We are at an epidemic level of fraud,” says Kathy Stokes, director of fraud-­prevention programs with AARP.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one reason. It made people lonelier and more isolated, which research shows makes them more susceptible to fraud, and it pushed more transactions online, where we can more easily fall victim. One in 3 Americans experiences feelings of loneliness at least once a week, according to a recent poll from the American Psychiatric Association. Members of Gen Z are more anxious and depressed than previous ­generations—and three times as likely to fall for scams as baby boomers.

But there are other factors. Technology enables scammers to reach more marks, robo-­dialing many more numbers in a day or using AI to send carefully crafted emails and text messages. It’s also given rise to online marketplaces selling hacker services, scam scripts, and other tools of deception. Social media helps scammers find information about individuals and use it against them. And fraudsters have more of that information because of increasingly common data breaches, and can use it to trick us into thinking they’re someone they’re not.

That specific kind of grift is known as an impostor scam. A perpetrator reaches out, pretending to be a government official, a bank representative, or a law-­enforcement agent. Impostor scams like the one Cotelingham fell victim to were responsible for nearly half of all frauds reported to the FTC in 2023, with about 490,000 people reporting them. Americans said they lost $1.1 billion to impostor scams last year, three times what they lost in 2020. The success of the impostor scam ­illuminates ­another reason criminals are able to bilk Americans today. Our trust in institutions has collapsed, making it easier for scammers to pose as authority figures, says Stacey Wood, a fraud expert and professor at Scripps College in California. “Authority can look very different now,” Wood says. “If someone is skeptical of the U.S. government, they often trust someone else—who can scam them.”

Americans may not believe in the government or the media, but we want to believe in ­something—and sometimes that’s a stranger who says they can solve our problems, or love us, or give us our dream job, or take our money in exchange for a better life.

Doug Shadel, a Fraud Expert and Consultant who recently directed AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, has fought scammers since the 1990s. Back then, employed by the Washington State attorney general’s office, he used to bust so-called boiler rooms—places where dozens of people made scam calls, reading from prewritten scripts and dialing numbers one by one. The scammers might reach a few hundred people in a day, Shadel says, and would have to pay long-­distance charges for the phone lines. Now, Shadel says, voice over internet protocol (VOIP) technology allows scammers anywhere to dial hundreds of thousands of phones in a day for free—what Shadel calls “spray and pray” dialing. They can “spoof” phone numbers, making it look like they’re calling from a government ­number. And they know much more about who they’re calling than ever before.

There were 3,205 reported data breaches impacting around 353 million people in 2023, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. As a result, many of our Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, or affinity-­group memberships are available to resourceful scammers. One California family, who requested anonymity for fear of being bilked again, lost $400,000 when a scammer, armed with one of their Social Security numbers, called Bank of America 16 different times to try to change the password and information on an account, according to the family’s lawyer, Nick Barthel. Fifteen bank representatives refused, but the 16th was duped, according to Barthel, who says the scammer wired the family’s savings out of the account. The bank has not refunded the family, Barthel says. (Bank of America says it cannot comment on pending litigation. Police eventually found the perpetrator, but he was deceased and the money was nowhere to be found.) “This could happen to anybody,” says Barthel. “All the guy needed was the basic information you would get from a data breach.”

This data often finds its way onto messaging apps like Telegram, says Frank McKenna, co-founder of PointPredictive, an AI firm that detects frauds. Cybercriminals can buy and sell tutorials and scripts for scamming people, as well as victims’ personal information. For $500, you can purchase a live scamming class, 25,000 U.S. phone numbers, and instructions for sending spam links, according to a report from the security firm Guard.Io. “Social media platforms like Telegram began to emerge as these hubs of scam knowledge and transfer,” McKenna says. (Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was taken into custody in Paris on Aug. 24 and faces charges stemming from the platform’s alleged role in enabling criminal activity; Durov calls the charges “misguided.”)

Scam syndicates exist all over the world, from Southeast Asia to Mexico to the Middle East, says Marti DeLiema, a professor who studies scams at the University of Minnesota’s School of Social Work. “This is the new mafia,” DeLiema says. The work can be lucrative. A 2024 report by the U.S. Institute of Peace found that transnational criminal networks based in Southeast Asia steal $64 billion annually through scams. In Myanmar, according to the report, there are “scam compounds” where people who have been lured by fake online job ads are held prisoner and forced to make calls to try to swindle Americans.

The rise of artificial intelligence has been a boon for these scammers. A decade ago, you might have been the target of a poorly written email from someone claiming to be a Nigerian prince and asking for money to help them regain access to their wealth. Today, AI helps non-English speakers write more convincing missives. The technology can also be used to copy voices and likenesses to convince people that their family members are in danger. That’s what happened to Fauzia Vandermeer.

Vandermeer, a 51-year-old radiologist who lives in Baltimore, received a call earlier this year from a number she didn’t recognize. She ignored it, but the person called again, so Vandermeer picked up, worried that something had happened to a family member. She heard the sound of her sister’s voice, sobbing and asking for help.

“I was totally freaking out,” Vandermeer remembers. The voice that resembled her sister’s told Vandermeer that she was at a Walmart and had gotten into an accident. Then a man came on the line. He said that Vandermeer’s sister had hit his van, which had kilos of drugs in it, and that he needed to be compensated. Vandermeer was in her car, ready to drive to the Walmart, when the man told her that the matter needed to be dealt with “sensitively,” she says. Suspicious, Vandermeer asked one of her children to try to locate her sister, which they did with the Find My Friend function on their iPhone. Vandermeer’s sister was at home. Vandermeer sidestepped the scam, but says she easily could have been victimized. “To hear a loved one on the phone, crying for help,” she says, “immediately you are kicked into this stress response.”

People are more likely to fall prey to scams when they are in a heightened emotional state. That’s why scammers try to target your emotions, telling you that you’ve won some sort of prize or money, or that something terrible has happened. It’s a big reason people get duped by frauds that strike observers as obvious. A 2021 AARP study found that scam victims reported experiencing twice as many stressful life events in the past year as nonvictims.

The Department of Justice says it has stepped up efforts to catch and prosecute scammers who target Americans, even when those criminals are in other countries. From July 2022 through June 2023, the department says it pursued 300 criminal and civil actions against more than 650 defendants who collectively stole more than $1.5 billion from over 2.4 million victims. U.S. authorities also partner with foreign law-­enforcement offices. One such collaboration last year led Indian police to raid call centers, arresting 26 people and seizing equipment used in scamming, according to a senior DOJ official, who says a similar effort is under way in Ghana.

Some people, frustrated with the government’s inability to combat scammers, have taken on the task themselves. They’re known as scam baiters, and they embrace a kind of vigilante justice—working to lure the scammers into targeting them and then hacking into their computers or collecting evidence they can turn over to authorities.

One such scam baiter is Jim Browning. He’s an IT specialist in Ireland who got frustrated by the bombardment of scam calls and emails he was receiving. Browning, who uses a pseudonym, tries to catch scammers and turn them over to authorities, as well as to educate viewers on his YouTube channel, which has 4.3 million subscribers. His technological prowess offers him—and his ­viewers—­insight into who the perpetrators are and how their operations work. In one of his most-­watched videos, Browning accesses CCTV camera footage to watch Indian scammers run the same grift that duped Monica Cotelingham. The footage shows young men sitting in cubicles in a call center, dialing potential victims until eventually one finds a mark. The scammer instructs the target to deposit money into a Bitcoin machine before passing the phone to his superior—a “closer,” Browning explains, someone with better English and more experience.

Browning’s channel illustrates how hard it is to stop people from being scammed, even when they’re made aware that a crime is unfolding. In the video, Browning hears where the scammers tell the victim to deposit the money, calls the location—a store in Michigan—and reaches a clerk. Browning tells the clerk that the woman stuffing money into the store’s Bitcoin machine is being scammed. The clerk acts quickly, passing the information on to the woman. But she can’t be deterred. “She’s not budging on thinking that it’s real,” the clerk tells Browning. It’s also why Browning, who has worked as a scam baiter for a decade, is skeptical about law enforcement’s ability to counter fraudsters. “I have encountered thousands of scam operations,” he says, “and the percentage of people who actually get arrested is tiny.”

Another scam baiter, an American who uses the alias Kitboga, tries to torment or prank the scammers as a form of payback. Kitboga, who has 3.6 million subscribers on YouTube, will give scammers access to his computer and then go into theirs to delete files. He says he takes these steps because law enforcement isn’t equipped to deal with all the scammers out there and he wants to educate people about the risks. “This is,” he says, “a pandemic-­type situation.”

Pierogi, the nom de guerre of a popular YouTuber who runs a scam-­baiting channel called Scammer Payback, says he has started feeding federal authorities information about scam rings. “All different sorts of agencies have knocked on my door,” says Pierogi, a onetime cyber­security expert who adopted the pseudonym because his wife is Russian. (Yes, he knows pierogi are ­Polish.) Yet even when police get involved, it can be hard to put scammers away. A conviction can require law-enforcement cooperation across multiple countries and victims willing to testify. Scammers sometimes still escape with just a slap on the wrist. “We’re making it harder for the scammers, but they’re also getting smarter,” Pierogi says. “It’s this cat-and-mouse game.”

The true toll of these scams goes far beyond the financial losses. In the age of scams, consumers are stuck in a vicious cycle: a lack of faith in institutions makes us fall victim to fraud, which in turn makes us even less trusting of institutions. Monica Cotelingham is still reeling from the scam that targeted her in 2022. She says she’s less trusting and never answers her phone if it’s not someone in her contacts. “I’m very careful about what information I reveal,” she says. She was too trusting just once, she says—and now she finds it difficult to believe in anyone at all.

[tsreviews]

LeadPro AI Review: Find Top-Quality Leads & Boost Connections Fast!

Key Features of LeadPro AI

Advanced Lead Generation Tools

Prospecting Tool: The lead generation component that comes with LeadPro AI helps in sourcing leads by letting you search through a huge database of companies and people. If you prefer, a list of companies or domains may interact with the most focused prospective clients.

Data Enrichment: This feature allows you to enrich any lead data by displaying supplementary information including but not limited to, contact details, positioning, and company activities.

Email and Social Media Extractor

Email Finder: Add names and company details into a CSV file and upload this file and with the help of LeadPro AI the email addresses corresponding to this information will be provided.

Social Media Extractor: Obtain emails, social media URLs, and phone numbers from a website list.

Automated Email Campaigns

Cold Email Campaigns: Deploy cold email campaigns and send as many emails as you’d like per day. Open, click, bounce, and reply tracking is available through an easy-to-use editor and reports in real-time.

Sales Sequences: Create simple emails or HTML-based email campaigns which are fully scalable.

LinkedIn Integration

Lead Sourcing: Reach out and obtain leads and their contact info directly from LinkedIn in the course of need. Such a feature is best suited for B2B lead generation.

Automated Messaging: Automatizing the practice of reaching out to your connections on LinkedIn saves time and energy.

Dashboard and Analytics

User-Friendly Dashboard: Lead management becomes easier with a modern dashboard that gives you a clearer picture of all potential customers and how they are generated.

Analytics and Reporting: Monitor your campaigns' success and try to find new ways to make more money without any additional costs.

Benefits of Using LeadPro AI

Efficiency and Time-Saving

LeadPro AI focuses on lead generation and marketing on its own, enabling you to allocate your attention elsewhere. Specifically, the functions for automated email campaigns and LinkedIn outreach boast time and labor efficiency rates so that more leads can be converted faster.

High-Quality Leads

Advanced targeting and data enhancement technologies facilitate focusing on only the most conversion-friendly high-prospect leads. Thus, the marketing resources are more effective and the return on investment (ROI) is higher.

Capacity

Leadpro AI is built with the capability of growing in accordance with the growth of that unique company. You could be a growing small business or even a full blown one and the lead generation platform will birth any of them and expand along their growth.

Comprehensive Solution

LeadPro AI is a full package for all the tools and services needed in lead generation and marketing. Be it the search for leads, their management or their conversion, it’s all done by LeadPro AI.

Integration with Existing Tools

LeadPro AI integrates with most CRM and through Zapier so you can get it hooked up to your existing workflow.

>>Get More Info

[jcmarchi]

Customer Service Needs a Facelift. AI Can Help

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/customer-service-needs-a-facelift-ai-can-help/

Customer Service Needs a Facelift. AI Can Help

Customer service is vital to business growth and consumer loyalty. But since the advent of social media, which has endured multiple large market disruptions, there are those who posit whether the Golden Age of customer service is dead, as so many companies have offshored these departments, leaving consumers less satisfied than ever.

One way companies can provide better CS and satisfy customer needs, while reining in costs, is through advanced technologies, including generative AI. CS-oriented generative AI systems can help agents cut time spent on e-mail and chat responses, help customers quickly narrow down their issues to ensure quicker action, and power chatbots to make them more responsive and humanlike. All that can add up to big savings for businesses, while increasing satisfaction levels for CS representatives as well as customers.

On the consumer side, surveys show that some 4 out of 5 customers consider shying away from doing business with companies that have a poor CS reputation. But on the other hand a comprehensive consumer survey shows, nearly 100% of customers say that pleasant exchanges with customer service make them feel valued and more likely to remain loyal to a company.

So fostering a good CS approach – and hiring top quality CS staff – should be a no-brainer for companies. But in many companies, CS costs can reach as high as 10% or even 15% of revenues, with high turnover and constantly training new agents a big part of this burden. The temptation to cut costs on such a high-priced component of business is too great for many companies to resist. Thus many companies offshore their CS to save money – to the chagrin of many customers, who complain about language issues, a script-driven conversation process that often leads nowhere, a lack of knowledge and resources on the part of agents, seemingly limitless nested phone menus until they reach a live person, and interminable waiting periods. And while studies consistently show that bad CS hurts a company’s reputation – and future sales – the savings they can realize from offshoring CS can cushion those losses.

Thus the dilemma: High costs for good CS, versus customer dissatisfaction and potential sales losses for poor CS. For years, consultants, advisory companies, and industry experts have provided suggestions on how to improve CS, yet dissatisfaction levels among customers remain high. Perhaps it’s time to try something new – in the form of advanced technology, featuring generative artificial intelligence.

Using machine learning and AI-based analytics, companies can quickly produce appropriate scripts that their staff can utilize in response to specific situations. These scripts, based on AI-compiled and analyzed results of millions of calls about the same and similar issues, provide talking points that utilize the most effective presentation and the most relevant answers to questions and issues. Thus agents are able to respond effectively, directly – and quickly – to customer concerns, significantly increasing efficiency, as well as customer satisfaction.

Responding to emails is also a major component of a CS agent’s workday, and generative AI tools can help here as well. The average email contains about 10 sentences. Out of these, anywhere from 50–80% are rewritten in the course of responding to a customer. AI can help agents get the message right the first time – again, utilizing a large database of previously written messages, with algorithms analyzing which elements of messages were most effective. Of course, the algorithms will also ensure proper spelling, grammar, syntax, etc. – ensuring that the message is professionally written, to the point, and effective. Our data from Wordtune users shows that agents can save over 2 hours per day using an AI writing tool. That translates to 10 additional tickets per day or a 25% increase in efficiency.

Generative AI is also remaking chatbots. For years, chatbots have relied on very basic data sets and language models, enabling them to answer only the most basic questions, usually the kind of questions customers can figure out on their own. Anything more complicated often proved to be a challenge for chatbots. Now, advanced generative AI can provide companies with top-flight scripts for their chatbots, enabling them to handle incoming requests, while helping customers quickly and efficiently drill down to their specific issues. AI technology has improved to the point where algorithms can effectively decide how to handle a discussion with a customer. The generative AI algorithms used in these advanced chatbots are much more accurate than their predecessors, and utilize databases that include millions of chatbot conversations. This produces much more sophisticated scripts, increasing efficiency and customer satisfaction – and enabling companies to get the most benefit out of their chatbots.

With advanced AI technology, companies can save a significant amount of time – translating to a significant amount of money, as much as $5,700 per agent per year – on their CS costs, according to our data. And with those savings, they will be able to afford to hire the top-flight human CS agents they need, the ones who are intelligent, are able to understand and relate to customers, and can provide solutions to problems that are “off-script” – the ones that actually require human intervention.

Generative AI can thus help companies boost their CS reputations, with all the attendant benefits. No longer just a necessary evil, CS can actually become a centerpiece of a company’s persona, fostering a better reputation among customers, encouraging more return business, and providing opportunities for higher profits.

[leafbabaplants]

 What are the Latest Digital Marketing Trends in 2023

Before you entirely understand the previous digital marketing trends and strategies, the latest trend will come. So, businesses need to know the current trends and adapt to them quickly as soon as possible.

Every company relies on digital means to connect with customers. So, let us now focus on the top digital marketing trends for 2023 to buckle up for the future ride in business.

Privacy and cookies

Google is continuously on a mission and trying to remove third-party cookies from the website. It means that it will not track cookies on the website when onsite and banner ads are running.

All thanks to Google and other platforms, who are working on algorithm replacement to improve privacy.

Voice SEO

According to 2021 data, voice-based internet searches are 20%. Customers are focusing on making their life easier by using the top digital assistants that are trending.

Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana, and Google's digital assistant have features that help people to search without even using their phones.

Push notifications

Push notifications help you create customized messages to remind customers of upcoming events with instant pop-ups.

According to 2021 data, 7.1 billion people used mobile devices, So it's clear that most customers are using mobile devices to make a sale, which can also help you reach your target audiences.

SMS marketing

Digital marketing works not only with email marketing and push notifications, which engages customers. But, it works with sms marketing also; that connect with customers directly through texts.

It allows sending messages to customers, most likely for coupons, promotions, or customized once they opt-in.

Video Marketing

The average person watches online videos 100 minutes a day. You can create video ads targeting your niche audiences if you want to engage with your customers.

Interactive content

Interactive social media content helps customers follow you in real-time.

Instagram and Facebook have a live chat features that let customers know about you. Using these features, you can engage with customers or host a Q&A round on your stories to understand the customer's preferences.

Conversational marketing

It refers to using chatbots, AI, and other tools to engage with customers. This includes generating leads, answering questions, and improving customer service.

With this marketing, customers can ask relevant questions 24/7 to solve their queries.

Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a popular marketing strategy that lets people give free products to a celebrity or pay the amount to promote the products.

Various social media platforms can help you promote your brand with the known influencer today.

Once you understand the evolving digital marketing trends in 2023, you can rule the internet world like a pro! Digitalearn in Lucknow is the best digital marketing academy to give you in-depth knowledge of digital marketing trends. Enroll now to enjoy the best experience today.

[softboywriting]

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back | Nathan Bateman | Ex Machina

Summary: You and Nathan hit it off at a tech expo. One thing leads to another and the two of you pull a stunt, claiming you’re married. Things get out of hand, and you end up going to stay with Nathan at his home to avoid people trying to harass you about Nathan’s work. The time you spend together will allow for a real relationship to bloom. [Swearing] [Fake Marriage Trope] [Soft!Nathan] [F!ReaderxNathan]

Word Count: 3.3k

|Masterlist In Bio|

One day you realize Kyoko is missing. You're not sure when she stopped appearing, in fact you can't remember the last time you actually saw her. Last week? No. A month ago? Wait,have you been here that long? Time seems to have lapsed here in the facility with Nathan. You worried about this when you arrived. Or maybe when you took the job. Was it really a job? Everything is a little fuzzy in terms of what you are. An assistant one might think, a housekeeper perhaps? No. You took the job as Nathan Bateman's wife. Yes. Job....well...sort of. Let’s go back to the beginning shall we?

Three months ago you met Nathan at the biggest tech expo in Las Vegas. You weren't exactly there for the inventions and hottest tech on the market. You were a handler, an escort of sorts for the creators and investors from companies attending. Your job was simple. Make things as smooth as possible while the people with disgusting amounts of money make big decisions. It was a great gig. It paid incredibly well for being temporary. But Nathan didn't think it suited you.

The second he laid eyes on you it was all over. You had been nervous for days after learning you were assigned to Nathan Bateman for Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the expo. The Nathan Bateman, creator of Blue Book and the AI Project. You may not be a tech genius or even understand most of the things on display at the expo, but you would have to be living under a rock not to know who this man is and what he has done. He is illusive, handsome, sought after by many people the world over. Nathan is the definition of a sugar daddy if you ever did see one. Notoriously single, generous with his money, beyond genius intellect. He is the whole package.

One thing lead to another after you met Nathan at the expo and before you knew it he had your collar bones a mess with hickies and you were dressed in his sweater to attempt to cover them up. It hadn’t taken long before he was all over you, hands in your hair, on your butt, lips on your neck. You and Nathan had just sparked the moment you got close and you let that fire burn as hot as it could.

Of course all things in life have consequences, good or bad, and as you were leaving the rest area for creators, where the little hands on session had gone down, some press junkie saw you together. Photos were taken. Nathan had not been seen with anyone privately in years. He was never seen with a woman, let alone a woman wearing his sweater and looking a proper mess. It was a scandal to be had.

By the end of Friday Nathan was introducing you as his wife, a plan he had come up with on the fly. He had even procured a huge diamond ring for you too. Somehow you were playing along with all of this. Nathan offered to pay you, just for the appearance because it would be good for the company that he was seen as a man like any other, nothing more needed to come of your relations. It was fine. You were getting paid more than you could hope to make in your lifetime and getting to hang out with Nathan Bateman who you actually clicked with and liked to be around. Win win. You had it made. In less than 24 hours you were to be done with all of this and have cash in pocket to do whatever you wanted with.

Until.

A week after you had your crazy weekend with Nathan you were being followed. People kept showing up at your part time job in the travel agency downtown. They asked questions about Nathan, about his work. You didn't know anything. You were half tempted to tell everyone it was fake, that he never even properly kissed you, but Nathan paid you to be quiet, to play along. You signed his NDA. After a man followed you home from work and watched your apartment for two days, that's when you decided to reach out to Nathan. You could call the police and have the man removed, but there would just be others. This wasn’t a matter for the police, it was a matter for Nathan to handle.

Reaching a man like Nathan wasn't easy. He had left you a business card. A number that went to Blue Book human resources. It wasn't a way of contacting him directly, but it was. On the card was scribbled a word. "REQUIEM" You called the number and listened to the prompts. None reached an operator or customer service line. It seemed that no matter what you did it sent you to an automated system. Eventually you got so annoyed you just said the word requiem as if it were a prompt. Sure enough the phone started ringing, connecting to a line.

"Hello?"

"Nathan?"

"How did you get this number?"

"You gave it to me. At the expo." You tell him that it's you and he sighs heavily in relief. "I need your help."

"My help? With what?"

"I'm being harassed because of the expo." Your voice trembles and you realize how much of a toll this is taking on you. "People have followed me to my home."

"Fuck. Can you get to an airport first thing in the morning?"

"Yes."

"Perfect, give me your email. I'll send you everything you need to get away. Pack your bags for a few months. I'll bring you to my facility as a guest until this blows over or we decide what to do next. It's the least I could do."

And that's how you ended up in his home in the middle of nowhere Alaska for the last month and a half. Your whole world uprooted because you decided that a few hundred thousand dollars was worth playing fake wife to the country's richest and most sought after man for two nights. It was so stupid at hindesight, but here you are actually the happiest you've ever been and connecting with Nathan on a deeper level than you thought possible. The two of you just understand each other, it's as if you're two sides to one coin.

______________________

"So, where is Kyoko?"

Nathan looks over from his desk, peering at you over his glasses. You're leaning against the door frame in a nightgown you know he likes. "She's in storage."

"Why?"

"Because I decommissioned her." He turns his attention back to the computer and begins typing.

You step in and he lets out a little warning hum. You know better than to bother him while he's toiling away on code. Being here for this long has been a learning experience with his reclusiveness, but also a lesson on reading his moods. He's not irritated, yet. "Why did you do that?"

"Kitten, you are distracting me."

Kitten. The nickname he picked out day one. Who gives a guest a nickname?

"I'm curious."

"I'm working. You know the rules."

You lean against the desk and he flicks his gaze to you for a moment as your nightgown rides up your thighs. His rules were simple. Don’t bother him while he works, no kissing, no sex. Really you thought the rules were ridiculous. You were meant to be a guest, hiding while the world forgets about your fake relationship. But things don’t go as planned do they? The two of you have been pushing the boundaries of entering a relationship, though it has never been discussed.

"We haven't talked in days."

Nathan sighs irritably. "I am on to something that could be the greatest breakthrough in AI history." He pushes his chair back and pats his lap. "Come sit."

You do as told and plop down onto his lap.

"Now, if I promise to go to bed in two hours will you stop asking questions?" He runs a hand up your back, fingertips dancing against your skin delicately and making you shiver.

"That's a long time. It's already late."

"My patience is wearing thin."

"Alright deal."

"Good girl." He swats your butt gently and you slide off his lap. "Go make that bed nice and warm for me."

You take one last look back and he's already returned to typing. "One more thing."

"Nope. Get out."

"But-"

"Out, Kitten."

"Nathan, come on."

He stops typing and even in the dim light you can tell he is tense and irritated. This is the time to stop pushing his rules. "Go, or I won't be nice."

You cross the room quickly to kiss his cheek and then hurry from the room. You know he is probably going to do something to get back at you for disrupting him amid a coding session. But that's fine. You like seeing him break his own rules just for you.

__________________

Nathan comes to bed some time late in the night. You just recently began sleeping in his room, it’s what really started to blur the lines of what you were to each other. He had invited you to sleep with him after you found that your brain seemed to wander when you were alone in your cold windowless room in the inner workings of the complex and sleep never came easy. Nathan's room is upstairs, with a view out to the forest should you wish to set the windows to day mode. His bed is huge, elevated on a platform, covered in blankets and plush pillows. One may think Nathan's bed would be neat and clean like the rest of the house but no. It's like a nest of comfort, a bog of pillows that you could get lost in.

"Hey, I can tell you're awake."

"Just woke up."

"Everything is okay, you can sleep."

You arch back against him, butt pressed into his legs. "I still wanna know about Kyoko."

"Don't worry about it."

You yawn and he wraps arm arm around your chest. "It's weird. You said she was fine."

"Hush." He kisses your ear. "Sleep."

You fall silent, stewing in your thoughts. What purpose could he have for decommissioning Kyoko? She seemed fine. He said she had been working for years seamlessly. It just didn't make sense.

_____________________

Morning comes and the bed is empty. Nothing new. You wonder what it would be like to wake up to a sleepy eyed Nathan. Bet he'd look so cute. He's so hot without his glasses on. Well, he is hot with them on too but there is just something different about it you can’t describe.

"You wanna go for a walk?"

You look to the doorway and Nathan has his cargo pants and a jacket on. "I'm not awake yet."

"Suit yourself sweetheart. Call if you need me."

"Yep."

You throw your arm over your face. Your dream is coming back to you. It makes you shiver. You had been riding Nathan, hips rolling down into him desperately, his cock filling you so full. God you couldn't wait to do everything with him, if you ever do. You haven't even kissed yet. Even at the expo, he kept his mouth away froms yours, letting his lips travel elsewhere.

Nathan made his rules very clear at the expo and again when you arrived at the facility. No sex. No kissing. You suppose it has to do with attachments for him. You're just supposed to be staying with him until everything settles down around your fake marriage stunt. It's not supposed to be a real thing, but like you mentioned, everything has become blurry and unclear around your relationship with each other. Of course you both know that you have feelings for each other. Head kisses, throat, shoulder and back kisses are now allowed. Bed sharing is allowed. Cuddling. Snuggling. Talking and sharing memories is allowed. You think it's a matter of time before one of you fucks up and throws caution to the wind. What kind of host shares their bed with their guest? What are you doing here?

You crawl out of bed and grab some sweatpants on the floor along with a hoodie. If you hurry you can catch up with Nathan on the trail. Assuming he took the trail.  

The air is crisp, a typical fall morning for Alaska. It's beautiful, so clean, so easy to breathe. Nothing like back home. You jog along the trail that leads away from the back porch and sure enough you find Nathan walking with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Nathan turns and stops, smiling softly at you. "Thought you were too tired."

"I changed my mind."

"Uh huh." He plucks at your hoodie. "This is mine."

"Yeah I just grabbed something in a hurry." You stuff your hands in the front pocket.

He runs a hand through your hair, fingertips lingering along the ends. "I like it on you."

"Thanks? It's just a hoodie."

Nathan pulls his gloves from his pocket and passes them to you. "Take these. I don't need you to lose a finger to the cold."

"You won't make me a cool robot one if I do?"

He pulls the gloves back teasingly. "Mmm, on second thought let's see if I can actually do that."

"No!" You giggle and he allows you to take them.

The two of you walk along in silence just enjoying the outdoors and everything it has to offer. Eventually you end up at the bottom of a waterfall. It's loud, beautiful, almost icy when you touch the water at the edge where it pools.  

"Do you want to know why I decommissioned Kyoko?" His sudden choice of topic startles you but it’s nothing new. He was always jumping on subjects randomly.

"Yes."

"Because of you."

"What?" You turn away from the water and walk to where he's leaning against a tree. "What did I do?"

"You took her place."

"What? She was your housekeeper and like an assistant or whatever. I'm neither, I'm just a house guest aren't I?"

“Just a house guest...” Nathan chuckles. "Kyoko was everything for me while I was here alone. A friend, a helper, my lover."

Your eyebrows shoot up. "She could fuck?"

"Of course she could fuck." He waves his hand dismissively. "When I say you took her place I mean in my life. I felt that she was unfair to you, that once you moved into my bed she didn't belong anymore. Kyoko is a great distraction but she isn't human, she doesn't think for herself, or feel for me. She doesn't connect like you and I do. It felt wrong to have her keep me company when you are here."

"But when I leave you'll bring her back out."

"No." He purses his lips and looks down. "Actually I wanted to ask you about that."

"Leaving? Have I overstayed my welcome?"

"Quite the opposite actually."

"The opposite? I haven't stayed long enough?"

Nathan pulls his hands from his pockets and gestures for you to come closer. You do as he asks and he cradles your face. "If you're interested, I'd like to actually start a relationship with you."

"Does that mean we can stop dancing around the edges of whatever this is between us? Because I don't think house guests normally sleep in their host's bed, or wear his clothes, or get neck kisses and give shoulder massages."

He smiles and licks his lips. "I wanted to see how far we could go until one of us broke down and drew a line."

"Nathan, I think we probably would have started showering together next if you hadn't said something by now." You laugh softly. "But yeah, I wanna see where this goes."

"So you'll stay with me a little longer?"

"As long as you'll have me."

"Don't say that." He puts his hands on your hips. "I might keep you forever. Might make you my wife for real."

"I'm not doing much for the rest of my life, so why not?"

Nathan laughs and it makes your heart swell. He rarely does so, it's such a treat to hear. "Never thought I'd meet someone I connect with so completely. Really I didn't think I'd ever meet anyone."

"Why not?"

"I'm not exactly social as you can tell by my living situation. But also I didn't think I deserved someone. Like I deserved to be alone, and be the way I am because I was gifted with such talent. I sort of accepted that it was a trade off for my intellect."

You lay your hand on his chest and his heart is pounding. "No one deserves to be alone. No one."

He smiles weakly. "When you called that day, saying you needed help because of the stunt we pulled, I knew it was you. I knew you were my chance at love in this life. There was no way I was going to let you slip through my fingers a second time."

"Second time?"

"I didn't want to leave you at the expo. I wanted to bring you home with me, I wanted to show you everything. But I knew I pushed it already with the wife stunt, and I knew you had a life and I couldn't be so selfish as to take you away from everything while chasing a high I got."

You smile softly and kiss his cheek. "I probably would have gone with you. That was the best weekend of my life and I didn't want it to end."

"I'm glad you let me play with you in that rest area and we got caught. If we hadn't I don't think we would be here right now."

"Don't make it sound so dirty."

"It was a little dirty." He kisses your cheek. "Hot too. You were so ready to just let me do whatever."

"Nathan!" You giggle and he presses his lips to yours. The sensation takes your breath away.

He cradles your face and slides a hand into your hair. He licks into your mouth and you let out a soft whimper. You grip his jacket and he turns you around so your back is against the tree. "Thought this would go a little differently."

"Yeah? How so?"

He presses another kiss to your lips. "Thought we'd be in the house, maybe curled up by the fire or in bed."

"Nathan Bateman a romantic? I'm shocked."

"I live to shock people." He chuckles. "I shocked my investors and my agent with our little marriage announcement."

"You didn't tell anyone it was fake? Not even your agent?"

"Not yet." He grins. "I like to make him sweat a little."

"You're mean."

"Sometimes."

"Well now we've established that this is happening, why don't we head back to the house? Are you free today?"

Nathan takes your hand in his and steps away from the tree. "I'm free every day."

"No you're not."

"I'm free every day you want me from now on." He threads your fingers together. "I promise."

"That's a big promise to make."

"I'll keep it." He brings your hand up and kisses it. "I'm a man of my word, you know that."

"Yes you are."

"Come on, I'm tired of waiting." He pulls you along the path and you walk quickly to keep his pace. "The last month and half have been torture."

You get ahead of him and pull your hand out of his. He raises an eyebrow. He knows what you're thinking. He knows you're going to run for the house and make him chase you.

"Don't you do it."

"Too late." You take off and he follows in hot pursuit. "You gotta catch me if you wanna keep me!"

His arm encircles your waist the moment you reach the porch and he tumbles you both down onto the sun warmed smooth wood. He rolls you under him and pins you by your arms. "You're mine now."

"I guess I am." You smile big and he captures your lips with his once more. “I wouldn’t be anyone else's.”

End .

-----------

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Thank you for reading! Please reblog if you read or enjoyed and support content creators like myself - A

*****Note: none of my works should be posted anywhere outside of my linked accounts. I do not give permission to repost with or without credit to my accounts. Please notify me of any reposted works.*****

[finlay31]

The Best CRM Software for 2020

What is CRM software? Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is more than contacting potential leads. This includes maintaining contacts and building loyalty while maintaining a dynamic repository of contact information and customer history. The logical next step is to make this information accessible to collaborative teams and make it accessible to other enterprise software software solutions through intelligent integration.

User experience (UX) is more important than ever, and managing customer relationships is an important consideration in the entire sales and after-sales process. Trying to simulate CRM functionality in a large and informal table for small and medium enterprises (SMBs) can also create a lot of confusion and redundancy. CRM solutions are easier to use than spreadsheets. They do more than just provide user and contact information as they can dynamically create calendar lender events and set reminders. CRM software software largely integrates messaging and phone capabilities gender capabilities, usually with recorded conversations that can be used to track and document customer sentiment and improved insights.

A good CRM solution records your customers' contact information and stores your relationship details and every conversation - whether it's over the phone or email, and nowadays on other channels like social media or your customer support.

This information is an excellent opportunity to identify potential customers for up-cross-sales, convert existing customers into new products or services, do new marketing or track inventory access. Can. Software is also resilient and prevents sales representatives from moving in the same perspective. Choosing the right CRM software for your business can greatly improve your team's collaboration and productivity, increase sales, and increase customer satisfaction.

In its report "CRM Software Software Market Research Report - Global Forecast to 2023", market research firm Market Research Future predicts that the CRM market will reach 35 billion by 2023. In addition, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the CRM market. According to the report, between 2017 and 2023 it should be 6 percent. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be added to key CRM platforms as a key area for CRM growth in 2018 and 2019. Manufacturers such as Salesforce and Micro .ft are either building their own AI engines to enhance their CRM capabilities, or will work with IBM's Watson and Players to incorporate the benefits of AI into their ing fur. This has a significant impact on the ability to analyze data in any CRM and gain new insights from all types of customer interactions. This has a direct impact on CRM revenue, as market research firm Statista shows (see below).

Impacts of AI implementation in CRM on sales Statistics of sales impact of implementation of AI in CRM Such a revenue impact is possible because AI-enhanced CRM is indeed a quantum leap that many companies still call customer relationship management.

Already now, employees can use the table to provide information about previous sales via email thread. Or worse, such information is often left to chance, meaning that it often disappears or is completely forgotten when it is needed. CRM software keeps this information in one place, organizes it efficiently and enables immediate action. These options may include sending a gift card to a loyal customer on their birthday or offering an upsell opportunity on the platform that you know may benefit their business (based on previous conversations on it). This is a great way to pull back passive customers. The key is to choose the right software for your team. The last thing you want is for employees to fight new software instead of communicating with the customer.

CRM software is not about tracking and maintaining software contact information. While most CRM programs appear primarily as sales tools, they have gone beyond that. Marketing and customer service departments can significantly improve their inings and operations with CRM by reusing their data and more effectively dividing demographic and records, as well as customer event information. CRM software also helps coordinate software interdepartmental actions. For example, this could be a sale

[librajohn65-blog]

Truck Rental Dubai

Transportation marketplace from the Middle Eastern area and logistics is working in manners that are conventional. The sector is fragmented with plenty of inefficiencies that is.Large customers/shippers that have routine transport requirements are engaged together with all the fleet owners/transporters with long term contracts.

On the flip side, businesses which don't have continuous transport requirements struggle to discover the appropriate transporters to transfer their products.

Fleet Owners are connected with servicing their long-term clients and do not have a fantastic opinion on other project requirements (other firms, new businesses and ad-hoc requirements). Drivers that are independent have several tasks on not one or hand .

Their Jobs depend largely on the community and connections with intermediaries. Backhaul is just another challenge that transporters have to deal with. Have requirements that are one time and it is around the transporter to locate a dispatch he will take on his way back in the destination.

Clients and Fleet Owner are always on forecasts to trace prices' places and are constantly anxiously waiting the shipping of the where the dispatch is now and when could it be picked up and sent.

There are definitely inefficiencies in the present procedures which has to be dealt with.

You will find techno logistics firms like Trukkin appearing to fix these issues. Trukkin has produce a marketplace that brings into the transport processes in efficacy and covers the challenges. With exceptional operational experience which provides around-the-clock customer care, Trukkin works together with the available supply from the marketplace to meet customer needs in the cheapest manner.

Clients then take the deal that matches their cost and quality expectations. He arrives at the loading stage and A transporter is advised of the approval and begins the ceremony, reaches the destination stage and finishes the ceremony.Truck Rental Dubai

This is merely a beginning, technology will permit the transport business like its done in different sectors. As Trukkin intends to spend in these technologies in the future, ioT AI technology will enhance and simplify the transport procedures.

The everchanging face of Economy Place around the world has revolutionized manner of company and living throughout the past couple of decades magnanimously. Transport of also the logistics landscape as well as freight has seen great progress. Middle East has been alien to improvements and such developments. The UAE function as the heart concerning trade, governance and business, has witnessed a few development in each business. Players such as Careem and Uber along with the Roads and Transports Authority itself has set foundations for the next generation improvements. Hyperloop about the cards' talks is a testament to just how far we've come. 

However there Appears to Be a lag in Logistics landscape in the Middle East and terms of Cargo Movement and GCC in general. Firms are currently trying to attain and improve efficiency by implementing technology and business processes. Transport of products plays a part in our lives and for producers in specific. Achieving excellence is essential and critical and each truck on the streets is efficiency of the logistics ecosystem and a responsibility for its infrastructure. Together with the aggregation of transportation businesses that are small and motorists, it is going to be a lot easier to centralize the transporters that are traditional that are sprinkled. https://trukkin.com/

Because the transport is digitalized this aggregation is resulting in a trucking experience for shippers and procedures are automatic. Shippers are now able to monitor their shipments with programs like TRUKKIN in real time out of their phones. Actual Time Tracking, cross edge and SMS & email updates is currently making an ease of accessibility hauled. Standardization of transporters with platforms such as TRUKKIN burden on these types of transporters and is currently altering the form of the transport industry without. The decrease in lead time prices and shipments is currently creating ripples in the business. The ideal development within this business will result in automation in transport of products and documentation of freight motion across GCC.

[atereo]

The Importance of an Enterprise Communication System

Take a trip back in time to when small company phone systems were very simple. There are only a few phones, a few lines, and some notepads for taking messages. Things have unquestionably altered.

The cloud has arrived, or, to be more exact, the revolution has arrived. Cloud-based solutions vendors are upending the status quo with products and services that offer wide capability and flexible price structures. These trailblazers are encouraging organisations of all sizes and budgets to utilise affordable, cloud-based enterprise communications products as the year draws to a close.

Consider this: as your company expands, communication becomes increasingly vital to its success. However, it's all too easy to overlook enterprise-level communication tools and strategies for growth.

Practising What We Preach

When you talk about utilising cloud telephony improvements, you'll receive reliable and constant corporate communication for your company.

It's not just complex workflows and communications solutions that reputable enterprise-grade service providers are now providing; they're also providing a lot more. You name it, and it's available: auto attendants with speech recognition, integrated call handling systems, operator consoles, contact centres, IVRs, solutions for phone-based agents, call logging (on-premises, cloud, managed service), directory solutions, and database connectivity.

Personalisation

To stay in the game, businesses must give a highly personalised experience to clients, whether they are employees or customers. Users should be able to reach out to the company by phone, email, SMS, online chat, mobile app, or telepathy (OK, that last one isn't quite there yet). Cloud-based services are the answer. In 2022, there will be an even larger selection of collaboration tools and business apps than there are now, allowing for even more customisation. Maybe next year we'll try our hand at telepathy.

Contextual Communication

Nothing seems to be enough in today's environment. Customers today want not just a personalised but also a relevant experience, which is why contextual communications will be a trend in 2022.

Contextual communications enables businesses to better understand their customers' needs by using information such as their intent, physical location, and social presence. This reduces friction in the customer experience. After all, knowledge is power, and you can only make the best decisions if you have it.

Bots and Artificial Intelligence

According to popular belief, AI is becoming as necessary as AIR for survival. Chatbots and automated communication systems are already being used to deliver assistance to consumers on demand, via their chosen channels, and at any time of day or night, revolutionising workplace communications tools.

Our AI-enhanced collaborative future is swiftly approaching, bringing a slew of new possibilities for every company, including yours.

So, what are you still waiting for? Take a single step (click, call, or email) toward a more efficient and profitable business setup by contacting our communication professionals again. We will not let you down!

[kairostechinc]

Artificial Intelligence: ‘ethics are always relevant, just differentiated’

Ethics in AI

AI-enabled technology has many use cases.

In art, computer vision and machine learning help in the detection of fakes. In the military, the same type of technology is used to detect war crimes by analyzing the images taken in the field of banned ordnance prohibited by international conventions. Pictures and images can be taken with great details and then compared and analyzed.

But for individuals, the main question arising is: what happens with my data?

All these data don’t belong to those who collect them or process them. It belongs to someone else i.e. to the data subject from where it was obtained. That is where the Ethics questions come to light.

What happens with the data? Where does it end up? Who sees it? Who does what with it? Will it be kept forever? Or for a limited time? So many questions and no one to answer all incoherent, easy-to-understand ways.

It doesn’t apply equally to every single use case, of course. They are cases where it is critical – in the medical and legal field, for instance – and others where it is important but not that critical. For instance, if a company possesses your contact details but no financial information, it is still important but not that critical.

But the Ethics case is always relevant. It’s differentiated by case, but always relevant.

For example, if we have a conversation as in consumer-to-business, I need to know if a record is kept of our interaction – be it a phone call, video conference, chat, email, text messages, etc. If on the other end of the line is an automated system through an automated system (like a bot – chatbot, voice bot, etc), I as a consumer should be informed about that. If I’m not talking to a human but to an automated system, I should be informed upfront before the start of the conversation.

This matters a lot. Especially in written contact as it’s almost impossible to figure out from the start that you are not talking to a human. Thus, customers should always be informed upfront that it is an automated system they are talking to, and if they are sent to a human adviser at some point. That is an ethical act and many businesses have implemented necessary mechanisms and abide by this principle.

So Ethics are always relevant. Just in a differentiated way from one context to another.

Ethical concerns with Artificial Intelligence

There are many ethical concerns with AI.

Human agency is starting to give away more and more power of decision, even if in limited, capacity, to automated systems. That’s not good.

It does depend on what the decision is. Sometimes it can be a low-level technical decision, with no real impact. But if the decision is life-impacting, then that’s not good. Same if it’s difficult to understand. Most people don’t understand why the output was generated i.e. why that and not something else – and they just apply it blindly because it’s “computer says so”. But in our connected and globalized world, there are unforeseen impacts that could be life-impacting.

For example, your loan has been denied. Why? The advisor will say ‘I looked into this and that and then I got that data’. Even if you try to challenge it by saying that it doesn’t look right, they still won’t be able to explain because there’s a lack of explainability of the output. The decision was made using your data but you, the data subject, are the one affected and you cannot know why it’s so.

So although you are the one impacted, you can’t know why. You can’t even challenge it in a court of law because they can’t explain it. Even if they want to explain it, they have to ask ‘who owns that input?’ A question that most times cannot be answered.

Who owns the output of the AI system? Is it the company that uses it, or the company that devises the system, or a third party like an external provider? Or is it somebody else?

The company that devises the AI system can be a software company and there are the service providers that actually use the output of the AI system and provides services to businesses. Then, there is the business you deal with as a customer. So, three different entities. Hence the ownership is not clear. Who are you going to sue if your consumer rights are breached?

Ownership is not clear because there are no standards, laws, and regulations.

At present, there are no laws, no regulations, no agreed standards. Work is in progress but we have some way to go before the first regulation is issued.

This makes possible life-impacting situations. For example, people ending up with criminal records because the judicial decision is based partly on the output of AI systems. However, the judge cannot explain the decision in full as the entity/company owning the AI system invokes IP rights. This is essentially a breach of human rights and is possible because of the absence of laws and regulations for AI systems.

But what standards to follow?

Do you see many companies apply their own ethics? It doesn’t really happen. You can run your internal audits but in the case of AI systems there is unforeseen, far-reaching impact and there’s should be independent audits of these systems.

If, for example, there is significant bias in a process, then introducing AI systems without having an Ethics framework will essentially automate the bias, even scale it. This is one of the major reasons why Ethics is important in every business and in every domain.

There are so many discussions around it but what comes of it?

Over the past two to three years, there were a lot of discussions about issuing standards so that you can actually measure and detect problems in a coherent way across jurisdictions. Some discussions end with practical actions but there are a lot of other discussions that don’t result in anything, unfortunately.

This Article Source is From : https://www.softwaretestingnews.co.uk/artificial-intelligence-ethics-are-always-relevant-just-differentiated/

[xebiausa]

Top 7 Benefits of Artificial Intelligence for Business

With so much hype around AI, it appears to be the cure to all of our concerns. This amazing technology can do anything and gives business owners a strategic strength. But how many true perks of AI can you think of? With so many different applications, it's extremely hard to enumerate all of the benefits.

Businesses should consider using a wide range of smart technologies, such as machine learning, natural language processing, and others, in their products and processes to reap the maximum advantages. However, even organizations that are new to AI can gain significant benefits.

Xebia, USA is one of the best companies that can help your business with Artificial Intelligence Services in the USA.

Let us try to highlight some of the major benefits that AI provides to business:

#1. Smarter Business Decisions

AI systems efficiently extract meaningful insights from huge datasets, which would otherwise be a complex and time-consuming process. Businesses can have comprehensive customer data and relevant insights by connecting their CRM with AI, allowing them to make smart and quick business decisions.

AI can be used to make business decisions such as “which clients to focus on” and “the best possible offers.” Furthermore, applying AI in business aids in finding the most promising leads and prospects.

#2. Increased Accuracy In Forecasting

The elimination of human mistakes is maybe the most significant business advantage of Artificial Intelligence. Forecasting cash flow is a time-consuming procedure that is prone to human error yet is crucial to business success.

AI technology can assist a firm in automating objective forecasting without the need for manual involvement. This provides businesses with greater visibility into their future finances, allowing them to make better decisions and take action to achieve their goals.

#3. Time-Saving

Time is an important factor in every business. In the corporate world, “Time is Money,” and one cannot afford to squander time on simple yet time-consuming activities such as data analytics.

Analyzing data using human intellect would take a long time, which is why people prefer to employ artificial intelligence. AI will aid in the entire process and save a significant amount of time.

Chatbots are in a similar predicament. One cannot spend their entire day in front of a computer, waiting for people to make inquiries. In this field as well, artificial intelligence will reduce unnecessary efforts and save time.

#4. Automated Customer Interactions

Most consumer contacts nowadays, including email, social media chats, and phone calls, require human involvement. Businesses can use AI to automate most of these interactions.

Computers can be trained to reply to clients and handle their inquiries properly by analyzing data from past conversations. Moreover, when AI and machine learning are integrated, the platforms interact, even more, becoming even better at interacting with the consumer.

#5. Business Process Automation

Artificial intelligence is capable of automating both manufacturing operations and service delivery. It can, for example, run factory robotic lines, regulate and maintain the appropriate environmental conditions for product storage, supervise warehouse balances, process payments, register and fulfill client requests, and much more.

It is also feasible to integrate AI features to speed up and optimize the work of employees who evaluate data using ERP systems and are in business intelligence departments.

#6. Improved Data Security

Artificial Intelligence can effectively recognize fraud attempts and illegal access to personal data in the finance system, banking services, and other sectors where data security is critical.

All of this is made possible by a smart combination of skills such as data processing automation, machine learning, speech recognition, and natural language processing.

#7. Gain Business Insights From Cloud Databases

The data in massive cloud databases is worthless unless it is extracted and analyzed for patterns and trends. By rapidly and efficiently analyzing billions of data points, artificial intelligence in business assists in the search for unique treasures hidden in large cloud databases. The best thing is that AI isn't static; it learns and adapts constantly.

Thus, by using AI for your business, you can gain useful business insights from massive cloud databases.

Conclusion

As you can see there are countless benefits of using artificial intelligence in business, including Smarter decision making, Increased accuracy in forecasting, Business process automation, Improved data security, Automated customer interactions, and so on. If your business has still not taken this approach but is interested in doing so, get in touch with Xebia USA, which is one of the best IT consultancy in USA, and discover how AI can help your business reach incredible new heights.

[digitalbhaavesh]

Best Email Marketing And Automation Tools

I’ve worked in hard core sales, including life insurance. I can assure you that every sales task necessitates follow-up. The more complicated the product, the greater the importance of follow-up.

The sale of a digital product, which is a very sophisticated sales procedure, necessitates follow-up. You must remind the prospect of the significance of your product, why he should buy it, and why it is the solution he seeks.

The primary reason for using an email marketing solution is to ensure that your prospects, who are brought into your list by using landing page, are followed up with. Trying to persuade them to buy the stuff you’re selling one more time.

There are numerous reasons why any digital marketer should use an email marketing platform. I’ve tried to compile a list of a handful that are based on my personal experience.

Emails: The most popular and non-ignorable notification method – You can poke your prospects through social media or any other means, but email correspondence is the most effective approach to capture their attention. Email has remained the most popular mode of communication since its inception, and it will continue to be so. As the saying goes, “old is gold.”

Email list : The most valuable asset you create – You can create your own list of prospects with their email addresses using an email marketing platform. I n exchange for a “Lead Magnet” or a subscription on your website or other platforms: will your prospects provide you these email IDs. Your business’s most valuable asset is the email list you create. Keep in mind that your Instagram followers are an Instagram asset, not yours. They can become 0 at any point. You’ve probably heard a lot about a specific social media being shut down in a country. The email marketing tool will provide you with the certainty that your asset is safe (email list).

Automation: actual use of AI – Most of email marketing tools provides email automation. If it’s not, it is not advisable.  Email automation allows you to get regular e-mail messages at a regular period, most crucially without any intervention, from the day you subscribe to your service. You must first feed in the email sequence. The more automation your email marketing platform has, the more efficient it will be.

Email communication, not spamming – You send email to prospects with their consent using email marketing tools. Most essential, emails are sent to the prospects with suitable interests (niche), so you give value to their company.

According to our study, following are best email marketing tools available. Our ranking is based on our study and experience and can be differed according to others’ views. Nevertheless, please find below our findings.

Getresponse

Getreponse is the most convenient online email marketing tool. Besides e-mail marketing and automation it has also the finest landing page builder inside it, which is not provided by every e-mail marketing tool. With their drag and drop builder, you can create campaigns, segment contacts, and send any number of emails designed for specific groups.

A lot of templates for emails, forms, landing page, etc. are available in Getresponse. It is offered with a specialized tool for making a sales funnel, making it a highly distinctive tool. Check out following video to know why this funnel builder tool is making Getresponse the best choice ever.

Getreponse is offered with a free trial for a month, followed by extremely reasonable price vis-à-vis its features.

GetResponse comes with beautiful responsive forms, landing pages, A/B testing, unsubscribe tracking, and autoresponders. It also integrates with third party lead generation software like OptinMonster, SalesForce, Google Docs, ZenDesk, etc.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is #2 on my list as it is also the best overall email marketing software due to its advanced automation features and deliverability.

As the smartest tool on this list, machine learning plays a key role. With Predictive Actions, ActiveCampaign answers tough questions about your customers to automatically take action for you and lead them down the sales funnel.

ActiveCampaign also integrates with 850+ other apps like Facebook, Shopify, WordPress, and a whole lot more.

Automating your list segments is intuitive, and you can build list triggers and move users based on dynamic email content, sales follow-ups, and more.

Email workflows are robust and easy to manage. All of this data syncs with their built-in CRM to provide sales teams with advanced lead scoring.

Their lead scoring system is flexible too. If you’re not familiar with lead scoring, it’s a way to award points to individual email subscribers based on the actions of your choosing. Then once they hit a point threshold, they either enter a new automation funnel or can be contacted by your sales team.

Mailchimp

MailChimp has millions of customers in over 175 countries and they use the data they collect off those customers to provide you with actionable insights to improve your email strategy. The tool is flexible enough for an enterprise company, yet simple enough for someone just getting started with their startup’s email marketing strategy.

Best of all, MailChimp has over 300 integrations that help you customize the tool to your business. By using these integrations to further personalize your marketing, you’ll get the most out of your email strategy.

Convertkit

ConvertKit is a robust email marketing platform for professional bloggers, authors, and marketers. It is extremely easy to use and incredibly powerful. ConvertKit’s unique feature is that allows you to easily offer content upgrades and incentives with email signup forms. It also comes with easy to manage auto-responders allowing you to send drip emails from their emailing service.

With ConvertKit, you can easily segment subscribers into those who are interested and those who have already purchased. This helps you increase conversions with automated emails that feel more personal. In marketing terms, this is called targeted email marketing. They have all the powerful features you’d expect from a top-notch email marketing service such as a/b testing, beautiful email templates, landing page builder, smart workflows, and more.

ConvertKit offers email based support and have extensive knowledge base with great learning material. A lot of ConvertKit features such as paid newsletters are specifically designed for creators and professional bloggers that’s why we rate them the best email marketing service for professional bloggers.

They even added the ability for you to sell digital products & subscriptions from the same platform.

Constant Contact

Constant Contact is one of the oldest and best names in the email marketing space, with a lot of interesting features to its credit. The email marketing software lets you create highly optimized emails fit for any device. One of the most interesting features is its seamless reporting. You have a variety of reporting metrics to enhance the real-time reporting and analytics of the email marketing software.

Constant Contact also offers over 100 email templates and promises email deliverability above 90%. However, you have fewer options for editing and the software also exhibits a steep learning curve.

Sendinblue

Sendinblue’s email marketing tools are packing modern features. These features enable you to take advantage of the latest trends in email marketing. Although some of the more advanced features are locked behind higher-tier plans, the free plan’s base features offer enough to get started with your email campaigns.

The main features that we want to emphasize are an unlimited number of contacts and details, intuitive drag & drop based design tool, email personalization, mobile-friendliness, customer segmentation options, and custom email automation rules. You also get a fully-functional CRM for building sales funnels, a live chat plugin, and access to modify Facebook ads directly in Sendinblue’s campaign management tool.

Sendinblue’s customer support is accessible over the email by default. You can also reach them through phone and live chat, but only starting from the Premium plan. They do have an extensive knowledge base with useful articles you can browse for information.

Aweber

AWeber is one of oldest and most popular email marketing service providers in the world. They offer a wide-range of tools for small and medium sized businesses to manage their email marketing. Getting started with AWeber is easy. It connects seamlessly to most platforms including WordPress. For detailed instructions, see our ultimate guide on how to connect AWeber to WordPress. You get access to ready to use html email templates, list management, autoresponders, a/b testing, and email tracking with detailed insights.

AWeber also has other powerful email marketing features such as AMP emails, automatic RSS-to-email for bloggers, and tag based subscriber segmentation. Support options include live chat, phone support, email support, live webinars, and a vast library of how-tos and tutorials.

Related Article : Best Landing Page Builder

[rysunlabs]

How can the Hi-Tech industry evolve in 2021?

If you have been following news on modern technology trends such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, etc. then you might be aware of these technologies are transforming the way we work and interact with others. In fact, machine learning and touch commerce are becoming more and more popular across various industries like healthcare, technology is upgrading the way we manage and run business and making Hi-Tech approaches an integral part of our lives.  

Keeping the manufacturing costs as low as possible is one of the top priorities for all manufacturers. Hi-Tech manufacturing enterprises are making various multifarious and micro products along with increasing their production capacity. The changing customer needs have also influenced far-reaching changes in how hi-tech companies functions. Earlier, the applications of semiconductors were limited to smartphones and personal computer systems. This means semiconductors manufacturing companies were selling their products to mobile phones and computer-making enterprises. Today, semiconductors are used in varied industries right from automotive to manufacturing to energy and home automation. 

Semiconductors are used in robotics, sensors, cloud computing, connectivity, etc. They are used in tools that are powered by technologies like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. According to a survey, it was found that the Hi-Tech industry is one of the leading sectors in the adoption of artificial intelligence with a 37% share, followed by professional services at 18.2% and financial services at 16.6%. Another study by Deloitte states that 51% of hi-tech companies say that they increased their artificial intelligence investment by 10% at the beginning of 2020.   

Here are some of the top technologies that will play an integral part in revolutionizing the Hi-Tech industry.  

1. Blockchain: 

Earlier, blockchain was generally used in cryptocurrency only. However, many enterprises are constantly finding new ways to use this technology. Other concepts like validating product authenticity and securing transactions are suitable for blockchain technology. In this digital world, privacy and security are the most important factor. There are significant predictions that 2021 will be the year where blockchain will also be used in food safety, intellectual property, and real estate management.  

2. 5G connectivity: 

At the beginning of 2020, a lot of telecommunication enterprises have announced the 5G network to the world. These companies have also demonstrated a lot of benefits of this network, some of them are faster connectivity at lower latencies, and low power consumption. Therefore, 5G connectivity will boost many technological advancements right from media to cloud services and augmented reality. All the industries will be transformed and 5G will not be limited to mobile phones. Opportunities for enterprises will be significant and also the value in various business areas. 

3. Virtual, augment, and mixed reality: 

Till now, virtual reality (VR) was not used beyond several narrow niches. Hi-tech enterprises were not trying to concentrate on VR as much as they did on augmented reality (AR). They believed that VR will not be that profitable and useful. However, in the middle of 2020, there was a sudden rise in the usage of VR and mixed reality among Hi-tech companies. Mixed reality, which is the combination of both virtual and mixed reality, can be used by large businesses. Also, AR should not lose its popularity. Because of this technology, organizations can present their products artistically. It offers excellent rendered images with realistic effects, especially lighting.  

4. Artificial intelligence and data-driven decisions: 

Hi-Tech enterprises these days are heading towards data reliable processes in real-time. Logically, you cannot make a data-driven decision if your data is incomplete or outdated. Organizations are developing the concept of data-driven decisions, the only trustworthy option in the technological world. They are establishing infrastructure and software which deliver reliable data. This the best and the only way to enhance efficiency and make smarter choices. In addition, AI is more than just chatbots and automated emails. In 2021 and beyond, we will see more enterprises strengthening their AI and machine learning.  

Conclusion 

Technological innovations will continue to disrupt the Hi-Tech industry. How companies adapt to these advancements determines their success in this digital environment. Hi-Tech organizations that will differentiate themselves are the ones that develop their products and solutions, digitalize their channels, and simplify their business processes according to the requirements of their end customers and partners. KCS helps you bring scalability and agility in order to speed up the processes, allowing you to embrace your goals with powerful solutions and principal technologies. Our Hi-Tech solutions provide you with tools to penetrate niche industries and drive products swiftly to reach your core users for better results.