Startup
How AI-driven RCS business messaging can enhance customer engagement
Rich Communication Services (RCS) business messaging has emerged as an attractive communication channel for companies because of its advanced features and reach—available through the native mobile app.
The popularity of RCS among brands lies in its combined advantage of offering low-cost messaging along with media-sharing capabilities. It offers the potential to deliver a superior customer experience cost-effectively.
Further, Apple’s announcement to offer RCS on iPhone with Apple iOS 18 updates would lead to a major shift in its demand. As a result, RCS business messaging is expected to register exponential growth in the near future.
Additionally, RCS business messaging is set to evolve further with the integration of AI-powered chatbots. Generative AI (Gen AI) is revolutionising all industries alike. We have seen how the use of AI and chatbots in communication channels like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger has enhanced customer engagement by enabling automated customer services, marketing messages, and sales support.
RCS already supports chatbots and offers much more than SMS chatbots. With RCS, chatbots can incorporate interactive features such as structured conversation flows, images and carousels, GIFs, suggested replies and actions, and the ability to seamlessly transfer the chat to human support when needed.
Benefits of AI-powered RCS business messaging
AI or machine-learning chatbots can engage in conversations that feel human-like because of their capabilities to recognise speech and text inputs. By leveraging technologies such as speech recognition, natural language processing (NLP), sentiment analysis, and machine learning, chatbots understand the user’s intent and respond appropriately.
Here’s how AI chatbots in RCS would benefit businesses:
Enhanced customer experience
Through chatbots on RCS, businesses can offer 24/7 support, personalised interactions, and streamlined processes like product discovery and order placement, leading to higher customer satisfaction.
With rich media features on RCS, AI can be used to deliver relevant educational videos in response to customer queries. Whether it’s for product registration, setup, technical support, or onboarding—these videos help speed up resolution times and provide a dynamic, engaging way for customers to get the required support.
AI is also invaluable for quickly providing customers with up-to-date information. For instance, if a customer wants to check their remaining data on a phone plan, they can simply message your AI chatbot on the RCS business messaging channel, which will retrieve the correct information from your databases and promptly update the customer with minimal wait time.
Lower operational costs
AI-powered RCS business messaging chatbots can manage a large volume of routine customer inquiries, allowing human agents to concentrate on more complex issues. It enables businesses to reduce operational costs while enhancing customer engagement services—all without sacrificing service quality.
Enhanced sales opportunities
Proactive product recommendations, special offers, and a streamlined purchase process directly within the messaging conversation can significantly boost sales. Customer service chatbots also aid in lead generation by collecting valuable behavioural data from customers.
For instance, if a customer seeks help with purchasing a specific product, the chatbot can guide them through the entire sales journey and offer recommendations based on their interests. The data collected helps businesses route leads to the appropriate sales team and reduce shopping cart abandonment.
Data-driven insights
Chatbots gather valuable insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and pain points by interacting with customers. When this data is integrated with a customer data platform and paired with a contact centre solution that presents this information to the agents, it enables businesses to deliver contextual customer service. It also empowers the chatbot to offer a more personalised experience, leading to faster resolution times and increased agent productivity.
Types of chatbots in RCS
With its flexible and extensive built-in features, RCS business messaging can support a wide range of chatbots—from simple, menu-based bots that help users find information to more advanced conversational chatbots, trained to understand natural language.
For each type of chatbot, RCS’s unique features can be used to develop an effective and engaging user journey. Businesses can also leverage advanced machine learning capabilities to offer customers controlled access to vast resources of information and services directly through the RCS interface on their mobile devices.
Conclusion
As AI becomes more prevalent in RCS, we anticipate that brands will integrate various kinds of chatbots to trigger actions at optimal moments throughout the customer journey.
This approach is expected to gain widespread traction in customer service, marketing, and sales automation for operational tasks, such as scheduling deliveries or managing payments. However, as the use of AI in RCS expands, it is essential to monitor these tools for potential sensitivity issues continuously.
Harsha Solanki, is the VP, GM – Asia at Infobip.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)
Startup
Thesys secures $4M funding led by Together Fund
AI startup Thesys bags $4 million funding in a round led by Together Fund. The round also saw participation from 8VC, the company said in a statement.
The startup will use the funding to bridge the gap of user experience with AI agents. As a visual collaboration tool, the company will also provide a platform that will enable businesses to ideate, visualise, and ship intelligent experiences at scale.
“The way we engage with technology is changing faster than ever. Static interfaces simply don’t meet the demands of today’s AI-capabilities…At Thesys, we’re building tools that make it possible for businesses to adapt and thrive in this new era,” said Parikshit Deshmukh, Co-founder, Thesys.
This evolution is about unlocking the full potential of AI-driven interactions and delivering unparalleled user experiences, he added.
“The future of AI relies as much on intuitive, adaptive interfaces as it does on backend capabilities. Thesys’ vision for Generative UI aligns perfectly with Together Fund’s commitment to enabling founders who are redefining the user experience,” said Manav Garg, Co-founder and managing partner of Together Fund.
“By empowering teams to create real-time, personalized interactions, Thesys is setting a new standard for AI-driven interfaces. We’re excited to support their journey in transforming the role of design and development tools for the next generation of AI applications,” he added.
The company, founded by Rabi Shanker Guha and Parikshit Deshmukh this year, emerged from the understanding of the need to provide support in the shift towards AI-driven interfaces, it said.
“Thesys envisions a future where all interfaces dynamically adjust to each user’s behavior, preferences, and needs—driven by what the company calls “Generative UI”. Unlike traditional static interfaces that rely on predefined paths, Generative UI uses AI to create unique, adaptive user interfaces on-the-fly, allowing businesses to provide truly personalized digital experiences,” the company added.
The company plans to launch a UI SDK that is set to enable developers to seamlessly integrate Generative UI into their applications. Additionally, post its closed beta launch, the company plans a general availability (GA) with its product within the next quarter positioning itself as the go-to product toolkit for businesses looking to stay ahead in the AI revolution.
“Thesys is pioneering a transformative shift in UI design workflows by integrating AI-driven adaptability… Their Generative UI approach aligns with our commitment to investing in technologies that drive innovation in user experiences,” said Bhaskar Ghosh, partner at 8VC.
Startup
BrowserStack launches AI-driven Low Code Automation tool
Software testing platform
has rolled out Low Code Automation, a solution to simplify test automation for quality assurance teams, developers, and non-technical users.The newly launched solution will address challenges faced by software teams, including manual testing delays and complex automation frameworks, BrowserStack said in a statement.
While traditional test automation requires coding expertise by often limiting non-technical testers to contribute, this tool allows user—irrespective of their technical background—to create and manage AI-driven automated tests without writing code. Users can also use BrowserStack’s cloud infrastructure for reliable test execution.
“(The AI-powered Low-Code Automation (LCA) simplifies the process of building and maintaining test automation suites compared to traditional tools like Selenium. It reduces the steep learning curve and complexity often associated with automation projects, leading to a quicker return on investment (ROI),” Chintan Doshi, Director of Product Management at BrowserStack, told YourStory.
To support development teams worldwide, Low Code Automation speeds up testing cycles, boosts product quality, and enhances user experience by reducing technical barriers.
“Citizen testers—such as business analysts, product managers, and customer support teams—can easily add validations and create automated tests with the test recorder, without requiring coding skills. This reduces their dependency on developers and QAs and empowers them to actively contribute to testing efforts,” Doshi explained.
Founded in 2011 by Ritesh Arora and Nakul Aggarwal, BrowserStack provides a cloud-based platform for developers to test websites and mobile apps across devices, operating systems, and browsers on demand.
With headquarters in San Francisco and Mumbai, the company has expanded its product line to include over 15 products, of which 10 were launched in the past 18 months.
In August, the Accel-backed firm acquired Berlin-based Bird Eats Bug, an advanced bug-reporting tool. The acquisition aims to address the existing gaps in bug reporting and streamline fragmented testing workflows.
Startup
Flipkart’s delivery arm Instakart reports widening losses, lower revenue in FY24
Flipkart’s delivery service arm Instakart’s FY24 losses increased multifold to Rs 1718.4 crore, from Rs 324.6 crore in the previous year, hurt by higher expenses and marginally lower revenues.
The company, which is in the logistics, warehouse, courier and allied services business, clocked an operating revenue of Rs 12,115.3 crore in FY24, 5% lower than Rs 12,787.4 crore it posted a year ago, according to filings made with Toefler.
During the period, the company’s total expenses increased 6% to Rs 14,149.4 crore, mainly driven by employee benefit and other expenses.
Logistics services accounted for the majority (about 78%) of Instakart’s total operating revenues, with Rs 9,429.8 crore, marginally lower than what it collected in the previous year.
Warehousing services, which accounted for about 10% of total operating revenues, witnessed a 28.4% drop in revenue, while collection services, which accounted for 12%, remained stable.
Just a week ago, Flipkart Internet reported a 21% rise in FY24 revenue at Rs 17,907.3 crore helped by rising income from its advertising services.
Flipkart India Ltd, which is Flipkart’s business-to-business (B2B) arm, reported a 26.4% rise in revenue from operations at Rs 70,541.9 crore in FY24.
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