Mailbots are a smart solution that can help customer service employees cope with the flood of emails. Thanks to semantic search and state-of-the-art AI technology, the mailbot generates precise, contextualised responses – thereby noticeably reducing the customer service workload. How does this work and what are the benefits? Find out more in this article.
E-mail as an important service channel
Despite the multitude of digital communication channels, emails continue to be indispensable in customer service today. According to the 2023 Customer Service Barometer, email is the preferred contact channel for over 50% of German consumers when it comes to service enquiries. But while companies endeavour to provide quick and precise answers, the volume of enquiries and customer expectations continue to rise.
This is where novomind’s GenAI-based mailbot comes into play. Not only does it fully automate the email answering process, it can also independently analyse and structure complex enquiries with multiple requests.
How does the novomind mailbot work?
The mailbot takes automated email processing to a new level, handling enquiries fully and automatically. Instead of using simple keyword matches, it understands queries on a semantic level and can even identify multiple requests within a message. The process involves four steps:
Step 1: Semantic analysis of the customer enquiry
Step 2: Identification of multiple requests
Customer enquiries often contain more than one issue, e.g. a query about an invoice and a change of address request. The mailbot automatically breaks down multi-intent emails into individual subject blocks and handles them separately.
Step 3: LLM generates partial answers
For each identified request, the mailbot performs a semantic search in the connected knowledge base (e.g. FAQs). Based on the information available, it generates a suitable answer for each individual request that is precise and to the point.
Step 4: Composing the final response
Finally, the mailbot combines all of the individual partial responses into a coherent, personalised email. All of this translates into fluent and comprehensible communication that gives the customer the feeling of being given personalised support – without a service employee having to intervene.
The result: emails are handled more quickly, there is less manual work to do and the quality of service remains consistently high.
Advantages for the company and its customers
Mailbots not only optimise customer service, they also offer tangible advantages for companies and their customers. Thanks to the combination of semantic analysis, LLM-supported response generation and intelligent automation, support is more efficient and of a higher quality.
Faster customer response times
Manual processes are time-consuming – especially when enquiries contain several requests. The mailbot analyses, prepares and answers emails in a matter of seconds. This means a shorter turnaround time for customers and a noticeable lightening of the customer service workload.
Higher service quality and consistent responses
While human responses can vary depending on the employee, the mailbot ensures that all enquiries are answered precisely, consistently and using up-to-date information. This increases the quality of customer service – regardless of the time of day or how much work the support team has to get through.
Lighten the customer service team's workload
Recurring enquiries use up valuable resources. The mailbot takes over these routine tasks so that employees can concentrate on more complex or emotional issues. This increases efficiency and reduces the customer service team’s workload.
Better customer satisfaction through direct solutions
Fast, precise and comprehensive answers lead to an improved customer experience. Customers no longer have to go from pillar to post between different contact persons or make multiple enquiries – the mailbot delivers the right solutions straight away.
The mailbot increases efficiency, improves service quality and ensures customer satisfaction. This is a real game changer for companies that want to take their customer service to the next level.
Practical examples: in which areas can a mailbot be used?
Mailbots are suitable for a wide range of industries and scenarios. Wherever companies receive a large number of customer enquiries by email every day, mailbots demonstrate their full potential. Here are a few examples:
E-commerce: Automated responses to order and delivery enquiries
- Automatic provision of order confirmations, delivery times and shipment tracking
- Initiation of return processes and handling customer enquiries and complaints
- Answering FAQs about payment options or discount promotions in real time
Insurance companies: Faster processing of damage reports
- Advance verification of claims based on the data entered
- Forwarding to the responsible departments with a complete summary
- Automated queries about missing documents or information
Energy suppliers: Efficiently resolve contract and billing enquiries
- Invoice requests
- Amendment to instalment payments
- Recording of meter readings
The novomind GenAI mailbot is fully integrated into the novomind iAGENT contact center solution. As such, companies benefit from seamless and cross-channel customer service processing.
Omnichannel customer service from a single source
Thanks to this integration into novomind iAGENT, customer service employees can keep track of all communication channels – email, telephone, chat and social media – on a single platform. This means:
- No more isolated systems – all requests are centralised
- Better coordination between bots and employees – the appropriate channel is used depending on the request
- Faster processing thanks to the automatic allocation and prioritisation of requests
Seamless handover to customer service team members
Despite all the automation, people remain irreplaceable – especially when it comes to complex issues. For this reason, novomind iAGENT makes it possible to hand over the conversation to a real employee at any time – including:
- A complete communication history for a seamless transition
- Contextual information so customers don’t have to repeat anything
- Flexible escalation options if a request is urgent
Conclusion: The mailbot as an intelligent service assistant
The future of customer service is automated, intelligent and efficient. As mailbots continue to evolve, they will not only answer enquiries faster and more accurately, but will also become a central component of the overall customer experience. Companies that adopt this technology early on will benefit from a clear competitive advantage and a higher level of customer satisfaction.
