BotEngine combines the reliability of LiveChat with the functionality of a bot.

BotEngine by LiveChat gave me the performance, reliability, and integration I needed from a bot application.

Pros

What I like most about BotEngine is it's reliability. BotEngine was developed by LiveChat (the most reliable chat application in the business) which means that it is a feature-packed application with solid reliability, dependable integration, and robust reporting. When I first became a LiveChat customer, I was looking for a platform that provided both manned and bot chat solutions. At the time LiveChat didn't have bots, because BotEngine was still in development. I was so impressed with LiveChat's product that I chose them anyway and used a variety of other applications for bots. When BotEngine was released, I was an instant customer. I built and deployed bots on at least four other platforms while waiting for BotEngine and every one of those platforms was problematic. Either they weren't reliable and would malfunction without warning, or they were free and then not free and then kind of free and then not, etc. I wasn't looking for a free solution as much as I was looking for a reliable one. BotEngine got it done. It integrates reliably with Facebook Messenger, Web Pages, Landing Pages, and more. It's easy to use and even offers helpful design templates to get you started. I'm a BotEngine customer for good.

Cons

What I liked least about this software was having to wait for it to launch. There were lots of other platforms out before this one. LiveChat took its time in development and it definitely paid off.

Patbot for Windows PC by Langsoft, Switzerland

The chatbot can be used to occupy the customer while waiting in the waiting room and to answer questions the customer wants to know about your business.

Pros

Easy to use console application. The Patbot Dialogue System provides probable and accurate answers to questions. The answers are probable when the System does not have sufficient information to provide an accurate answer. For example, if we ask "Where are my trousers?", the answer will be "Probably in the wardrobe". Of course, the trousers can be also in the washing machine, hanged to dry after washing, etc. The dialogue with the System can be continued only if the user asks something or tells something, in writing. The System will not start the conversation first and will not continue the conversation by itself. The Dialogue System can remember the following user information, such as location of a key, medicament and money. For example, if the user writes "My blood pressure medicament is on the table.", the System will remember where is the medicament. If the user forgets where is his blood pressure medicament, the user can ask the System "Where is my blood pressure medicament?". The System will retrieve the information. This ability of the chatbot can be extended to cover any valuable information.

Cons

Improvement is an endless task, which every developer faces all the time.

Interesting Product but Very Steep Learning Curve

We are now able to leave our Chat on 24/7, when previously we had limited hours (due to staffing) for the Chat. It is still very much a work in progress to ensure the ChatBot has routed to the correct conversations and can sometimes be frustrating to try and figure out why the ChatBot went to a certain scenario over another. The help topics the company provides can point you in the right direction but they are written at a level above the capabilities of a brand new user to bots in my opinion. Determining whether or not no conversation with a client vs a below average conversation with a client (at times) is worth it, will determine whether we continue to renew our monthly subscription.

Pros

It has integrated easily into our existing Livechat software. The monthly price of the program is reasonable. It is helpful to see who is needing assistance via a chat on our website during off hours.

Cons

The Learning Academy and help topics are not sufficient to train you to use this product. It took a lot of stumbling through (and still does) on how to figure out what to do and how to train the chatbot. Also - support is only available through email, would be extremely helpful to be able to get help in realtime.... You would think a chat product would have the ability to LiveChat with it's customers!

Perfect,effective experience.

Pros

SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATION : Livechat enable us place a chat feature on our Facebook fan page,thereby enabling our helpdesk agents respond to chats from Facebook,like they come from our website. TICKET REPORTING : The ticket reporting feature provided by Livechat shows us the number of tickets created by customers.While also giving us a breakdown on how many of these ticket were successfully resolved,how many were left unresolved,how many had positive or negative ratings etc This vital analytical information ,enable us measure the performance of our helpdesk team.

Cons

The pricing for its enterprise version is affordable for a big companies like ours,for smaller teams ; I dont think Livechat will be a smart choice financially.

Botengine may be a threat to my job,someday.

Pros

Botengine was easy to integrate with our existing Livechat helpdesk program . I am impressed with the ease at which Botengine is able to respond to the most popular of simple questions we get from our customers like; the address of the company , what we do , our subscription rates etc While these questions may appear to be straight forward , they are the most asked question which our customers throw at us . With the coming of Botengine ,we no longer need to bother ourselves with these sort of questions ; Botengine responds to them ,while we await the tough ,complex queries.

Cons

Botengine has reduced the workload on the helpdesk department . However ,I fear we may come one day have an advanced Botengine ,years down the line ; which is able to respond to the current complex queries we respond to and thus when that day comes , why would my employer keep me at the job ,when a Bot can do a better job ,without ever getting tired?