How is integration taking AI chatbots to the next level? 7 real world business examples

Natalie Smithson
AI enthusiast | Tea addict | Focused on using AI assistants to win the working week
An AI assistant is next to a smartphone, a tablet, and graphical charts, cogs, and a messenger symbol

You want an AI chatbot that’s fast and efficient in dealing with routine enquiries because customers see the benefit of getting instant answers to their questions. Yet, behind the scenes, an extraordinary amount goes on to achieve an AI-driven first time resolution.

Your AI assistant is continuously growing and when you link it up with all your go-to customer service apps and platforms, there’s no limit to what it can do to support your contact teams and your customers (plus the potential savings are huge).

Here are seven real world examples of companies using integration to give their AI chatbot extra power to truly assist their customer service teams. Everything from booking a test drive and renewing an insurance policy to finding recipe suggestions and booking a ferry trip.

TL;DR

  • Linking up your AI chatbot with all your favourite customer service apps and platforms means it can help with bookings, transactions, account queries, documentation, diary management, and so much more.
  • Your AI assistant can link up with multiple business systems all at once and offer different information based on the choices your customer makes.
  • You can set up your integration in different ways, so you could manage booking changes, for example, in a web browser or directly in the chat ― whatever is most helpful to the customer.
  • Integrate your AI assistant with your payments system and it can take payments live in the chat while the customer is online and ready to buy.
  • Select examples show customers booking a car test drive, managing a ferry booking, making a change to an insurance policy, finding new recipes, booking in at the gym, and more.

What is integration?

Integration is the process of linking up different computing systems and software applications, so they act as one coordinated whole. When your go-to tools and systems all communicate with one another, your customer service support can rapidly become more efficient and the customer experience enhanced.

How integration improves customer service

Without integration, your AI assistant can only give out information to customers, it can’t carry out routine tasks to take the pressure off your support teams.

While information is helpful and sometimes all a customer needs, more often than not, your support teams need to carry out actions to fully resolve a customer query. That’s where integration comes in.

Linking up your AI chatbot with all your favourite customer service apps and platforms means it can help with:

  • Bookings
  • Transactions
  • Account queries
  • Documentation
  • Diary management, and so much more.

This frees up time for your contact teams to work on higher-value tasks, and customers can get instant answers to all their queries 24 hours a day.

7 real world examples of AI-powered integration

From property developers to leisure providers and local government to retailers, all sorts of industries are using integration to level up their customer service, but how exactly does integration work?

Here are seven examples to show you in real terms how integration works (with pictures):

1. Book a test drive

Your customer wants to book in for a test drive. Your AI assistant can pull in the names and images of different cars from your system to show them which ones are available, right there in the chat. The customer can then easily confirm which one they’d like to drive and book in online.

Chat window with an AI assistant asking the customer which series of car they would like to test drive, with images of the cars and selection buttons included

Based on the choices your customer makes, your AI assistant then pulls in different information from your same system to match their preference. Here, it shows models of car in the 2 series, so they can choose which one to test drive.

Chat window with an AI assistant asking the customer which model of car they would like to test drive

Your AI assistant can link up with multiple business systems all at once. After pulling in a list of car models, your AI assistant can now check a separate database you hold for test drive locations to find out which one is closest to the person making the enquiry. It can then connect with that dealership through your systems to check availability for the test drive.

The AI assistant asks the customer for their postcode and then shows them 4 addresses for garages alongside how far away they are, so the customer can choose their preferred centre

By the time your customer sees the available car dealership options, your AI assistant has already checked they have a 2 series Coupe available for your customer to test drive. It won’t recommend a dealership that doesn’t, even if it’s on the person’s doorstep. Next, your AI assistant pulls in available dates to confirm the booking with your customer ― all in an instant.

The AI assistant shows the customer a calendar, so they can choose a date for their test drive and then goes on to ask them what time is most suitable. They select from a series of buttons.

Your salesperson has to spend their time making contact with the customer to take all the details an advanced AI assistant could have done for you in seconds online. And if they’re on the phone, they can’t attend to customers who walk onto the forecourt wanting to chat face-to-face and test drive there and then.

2. Manage a ferry booking

Your customer has a routine question about a trip they booked to Belfast. Your ferry company runs 17 routes around Europe, so first you need to find out where they’re going.

Illustration shows a conversation with an AI assistant and customer:

Your AI assistant now needs to check all the available routes to Belfast before it can tell the customer if their ferry crossing is running on time. To do that, it pulls in information from the ferry company database. If all routes from Belfast are running as planned, it confirms with the customer.

An AI assistant confirms to a customer:

If some of the routes from Belfast are delayed, your AI assistant will know to clarify which port your customer is sailing from, so it can give the right answer.

The AI assistant confirms travel details with the customer to answer their question about whether or not their ferry is on time:

Your AI assistant uses a separate integration to pull in information from a web page that hosts sailing updates, so your customer gets up to the minute travel information for their exact route, right there in the chat.

Handling follow-on queries is easy

Your customer needs to check something important and has their booking reference to hand. This gives the AI assistant all the information it needs to check details from your booking system, like passport requirements, to give the customer an instant answer to their query.

The AI assistant takes a booking reference from a customer to confirm they need a passport for the route their booking takes them on

If your customer doesn’t have their booking reference to hand, the AI assistant can find them on the system using other information instead, but the conversation will change path. The customer clicking “I don’t know it” is the prompt for this.

An AI assistant asked a customer for their booking reference, but they don't have it, so the AI assistant asks what route they're travelling on and what nationality they are to find out that way and confirm if they need a passport to travel

The booking reference is also a great way to integrate with your booking system behind the scenes if your customer wants to amend their booking. In this case, the customer wants to change the date they sail. With the booking reference, your AI assistant can produce a deep link that takes your customer straight to their booking page online without the many clicks it takes to log into a website.

A customer wants to change their booking and we see the chat conversation:

The link in the chat takes your customer to the web page you normally use for amendments, but the best part is, your AI assistant automatically pulls through their travel information to pre-populate the form. If you don’t want to use your web page, you can always make amendments directly in the chat just by integrating your AI assistant with your booking system in a slightly different way.

Image of a travel ticket showing the route and date of travel

Case study: Stena Line ferries

3. Make a change to an insurance policy

Your customer wants to confirm what their excess is on a pet insurance policy. When the AI assistant asks for their policy number, it checks this against your customer database to confirm who the person is and check details of their policy.

A woman sits on a sofa with a dog on her lap and a cat nearby. She chats with an AI chatbot on her phone:

If the AI assistant is also integrated with your policy management system, it can let your customer know what options are available to them if they want to change their policy, since it already recognises their specific profile.

A woman sits on a sofa with a dog on her lap and a cat nearby. She chats with an AI chatbot on her phone:

Case study: Legal & General insurance

4. Find new recipes

Your customer is looking for something new to eat and although you have a lot of recipes on your website, it takes time to search. Here, your AI assistant can pull out information from your recipe store and show the customer right away, based on the kind of recipe they’re looking for.

The customer as the AI assistant to

To personalise the experience further, you can offer to swap ingredients for customers if they don’t like the ones in the recipe. Here, the AI assistant connects to a third-party app, specifically designed to find alternative ingredients for dishes while maintaining the original flavour. Your customer then has a convenient way to shop with the flexibility they crave.

A customer has been given a list of ingredients with the option to swap out any they don't like. The customers doesn't like capers, so the AI assistant suggests they use green olives instead.

Case study: Coop Sweden

5. Book in at the gym

Any company that takes bookings from customers can integrate with their bookings system, so their AI assistant can identify suitable slots in the calendar that match the customer’s needs to book them in without help from your contact teams.

A young woman is at home in casual gym wear, chatting with an AI chatbot on her phone:

Your AI assistant takes all the key details you need to add the customer to the customer management system, so you know who’s booked in for an activity and how to contact them if there’s a problem, or follow up for feedback on their visit.

A young woman is at home in casual gym wear, chatting with an AI chatbot on her phone:

You can even share a diary event with customers, so they can instantly add their booking to their personal calendar.

A young woman is at home in casual gym wear, chatting with an AI chatbot on her phone. An online calendar is showing on her screen, ready to add a gym booking to her diary.

Case study: Mytime Active

6. Check your council tax balance

If customers need to check monetary balances, you can integrate with financial systems, so they do this in an instant via your AI assistant, any time of the day or night. Your AI assistant will be trained to take the information it needs to be able to give the correct balance.

See a chat conversation with a customer and Coventry City Council:

Integrate your AI assistant with your payments system too and it will be able to take payments there and then while the customer is thinking about it.

Case study: Coventry City Council

7. Choose a repair slot

Your tenant rents a property for you and there’s a problem with the heating. To get this fixed as quickly as possible, integrate your AI assistant with your maintenance team’s diary and the resident can instantly book in for a repair at a time and on a date that’s most convenient for them.

A man stands in his basement next to the boiler at the bottom of some stairs. He chats with an AI assistant on his phone:

Case study: JLL

With our unique platform there’s no limit to the number of integrations you can use with your AI assistant to keep it evolving.

How to set up integrations

The easiest, most secure way to integrate a next-gen AI assistant with your customer service apps and systems is to use an API (Application Programming Interface). APIs create a connection between two applications, so they can talk to one another. The API takes a request from one system and delivers it to the other, before returning the appropriate response, like a messenger.

Choose an AI assistant platform with API integration baked in and you can quickly and easily set up links with all your favourite platforms to transform your customer service using APIs.

FAQs

What does integration mean?

Integration, in the context of launching an AI assistant, refers to seamlessly connecting your AI chatbot to existing systems and platforms (like your CRM or website), so the AI assistant can retrieve and analyse data, give your customers real-time assistance, enhance customer interactions, and contribute to a sophisticated, enjoyable customer experience in the same way your customer service agents do.

How does integration help with customer service?

Integration helps with customer service because it gives your AI assistant access to the business systems you use to solve customer queries and carry out tasks, whether it’s a CRM, diary, or booking or payment system. This means your AI assistant can personalise responses and carry out tasks from start to finish, so your support agents can get on with more high-value work. Customers are happier too, with instant responses to queries and an enjoyable, hassle-free customer experience 24 hours a day.

What customer service systems can you integrate with?

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems, helpdesk software, live cha , e-commerce, social media, email and marketing automation platforms, content management systems (CMS), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management (SCM) systems, voice assistants, human resources (HR) and learning management systems (LMS), financial or payment platforms, analytics platforms, appointment scheduling software, project management tools, and database systems, to name just a small selection.

How do you set up an AI assistant integration?

Setting up an AI assistant integration involves identifying the systems you want to connect, building or using pre-built APIs to link the AI assistant to these systems, testing the integrations for functionality, and setting up data flow for real-time responses. You’ll need programming expertise, plenty of time and a large budget to do this in-house, or instead, use an AI assistant platform with integration built-in that needs no technical skill to use.