AI-Based Chatbots in Higher Education: Transform Your Student Support Services Now!
Today’s students are used to having technology at their fingertips. From ordering food to booking flight tickets, or gathering information about anything in this world, they are used to having it all in the blink of an eye! They want answers to their questions, and they want them now.
With that context, imagine a prospective student browsing your website in the middle of the night and suddenly have questions. If you miss the opportunity to correctly answer these questions, you might end up losing that student. So how do you ensure steady support that can satisfy the varied needs of students at any time and all the time?
The answer lies in AI-Powered Chatbots.
As the name suggests, Chatbots are chatting applications that hold the ability to carry out a full conversation with a human. They communicate with users, in this case, students and assist them with their different queries 24X7X365. They can provide information quickly and add a personalised touch to their interaction. AI-enabled chatbots intelligently recognise the problem statement, access it and respond to it in a satisfactory manner.
Institutions can leverage AI-powered chatbots to:
- Improve students access to information
Chatbots possess the ability to immediately respond to students’ queries at any time of the day or night. It doesn’t matter if the student query revolves around admissions, finance, courses selection, schedule, or anything else, chatbots provide immediate access to information, making self-serving more streamlined and appealing.
- Enhance student engagement and experience
Not only do chatbots provide instant access to information, but they also open new doors for student engagement. They add a personalised touch to the entire communication and some of the best AI chatbots even allow students to select their preferred language for interaction. It is the constant communication, and relevant answers, that can put students at ease and improve their campus life. Students don’t have to wait ages, standing in line for information.
- Gather valuable data
AI bots serve another purpose too. Over the duration of their interactions with candidates and students, they gather large amounts of data. Institutions can leverage data points to improve their services. Examples of some types of data that chatbots can gather include:
– Demographic & psychographic data: Institutions can get a better idea about who is applying to and attending their schools. Their conversations allow institutions to gather and analyse data such as ages, learning goals and backgrounds of prospective students as well as gather insight into individual interests and hobbies.
– Student pain points: Chatbot conversations allow institutions to examine questions or concerns that commonly surface through the messaging tool. Institutions can use this information to develop and deliver better experiences.
It is important to note here that the use of chatbot for higher education does not replace the existing staff but saves them from the mundane task of answering the same questions again and again. This opens new opportunities for the exiting staff to focus on critical matters that require their physical attention. In short, institutions can benefit from them in many unique ways.