Throwback Thursday: This is Your Website with FAQ's. This is the Website of the Future. Any Questions?

Happy Throwback Thursday!

The CEO of noHold, Diego Ventura, recently sent me a link to a website called Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. This website has millions of archived web pages from over the years. After checking out some of my favorite company’s older web designs, I thought about support pages. I found a few support pages from various tech companies and was surprised at how different they were designed compared to today.

Intel Support Page (1998)

Above is a screenshot of Intel’s support homepage from 1998. Their support for that time consisted of having a list of products to click on and then pops up some general facts and solutions to typical problems. There was also a “Did this help?” question at the bottom where end-users could provide feedback about their experience.

Apple Support Page (1998)

For all the iPhone lovers out there, here is a screenshot of Apple’s support page from 1998. One of Apple’s support resources was to utilize their searchable knowledgebase, which allowed end-users access to try and find solutions to their problems.

Lastly, I wanted to share Cisco’s support page from 1996. They approached their support page with more FAQ style tools.

Cisco is doing a lot of work with the Internet of Everything and futuristic concepts, so I thought it was interesting to take a look back and see how the visionaries were providing support for their customers 20 years ago.

You can definitely tell the times have changed and technology has advanced greatly. Companies are putting more emphasis on the customer experience today and rightfully so. Having anything but an excellent customer service/support strategy is just not going to cut it in today’s world. With smart machines booming in the market, consumers are demanding that interactive component. You can already tell that within the last 20 years, websites have become drastically more engaging and interactive. End-users have a conversation with a Virtual Agent to find the solution to their problem, creating a more person experience for the consumer, instead of going through a list of FAQ’s. 

Cisco Support Page (1996)

Is your website stuck in FAQ-mode? How much has your brand's support experience evolved in the past 10 years? Do you envision a future where support pages are immersive and completely interactive? 

Cheers!

www.nohold.com

Gartner Predicts, "By 2016, 35% of IT Operations Organizations Will Have 75% of IT Service Desk Contacts From the Business Resolved by Virtual Assistants"

This year I have been talking a lot about the growing popularity of smart machines, the Internet of Everything (IoE), and Virtual Agents. I typically write about these topics from a customer support or customer service perspective in the PC market, though. I recently came across a document from Gartner explaining that similar trends hold true for the IT Service and Support Management (ITSSM) industry. Gartner predicts, “By 2016, 35% of IT operations organizations will have 75% of IT service desk contacts from the business resolved by virtual assistants” (Predicts 2014: Automation Brings Promise to IT Operations Management, But at What Cost? December 2013). With BYOD, WYOD, bid data, and more, IT organizations are in need of extra hands to eliminate some of the work load. Using Virtual Agents to answer tier one questions open up a huge amount of time for IT professionals to focus on other important aspects of the business, all while reducing the cost within the IT department. In a population that demands technology, self-service is the norm to most people and is quickly becoming the preferred channel for support. Employees want to find the answers to their own questions fast and avoid long resolution times. Providing them with Virtual Agents, allows them the capability to help themselves.

As I mentioned, artificial intelligence is one of the few, big disruptive technologies emerging into the tech world in 2014. More and more big name companies are recognizing its popularity and becoming more proactive in their journey towards automation and Artificial Intelligence. Just recently, IBM invested over one billion dollars into developing a new business unit for Watson (IBM’s Watson for Business: The $1 Billion Dollar Sire Slayer). The market is getting dominated by smart machines fast and experts agree that there will be a strong demand for artificial intelligence in the coming future. It is beneficial to stay ahead of the curve and be prepared for the undergoing changes. Gartner recommends, “Act now to initiate exploration, build expertise, assign resources, and launch smart machine initiatives. This area is in the early state of evolution, but holds enough promise that early adopters should benefit more over time” (IBM Bets on New Watson Unit to Ignite Smart Machine Era Growth, January 2014).

www.nohold.com

Throwback Thursday: Human-Like Artificial Intelligence

Happy Throwback Thursday!

In 2001, the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence opened in theaters. It’s a movie exploring the concept of artificial intelligence with the ability to think and feel emotions. Since 2001, it seems like A.I. has become more of a norm than it was before.  Last week noHold shared the movie “Her” starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson (the voice of the AI). I recently had the time (and free movie passes) to go enjoy it for myself. When you get past the initial amazement of a human falling in love with his Operating System, you begin to see that the movie challenges you to think outside the box and wonder “what if.” It also opens your eyes to how much of today’s world is already emotionally connected to technology.

These movies may seem fictional and completely out of the norm, but if you look at how much technology has advanced in such a short amount of time, it doesn't seem as far-fetched as we think. For example, Siri is one of the most popular functions of an iPhone, not only for the convenience, but for entertainment as well. I know people who talk to Siri when they are bored just to see what she says. In fact, one of our Virtual Agents was actually proposed to! Developers are beginning to see that consumers want to converse with Artificial Intelligence that has some sort of personality.

Leading analyst firms are already predicting the growth and success of smart machines. Soon, everyone will be engaging with smart technologies on a daily basis. The concept of emotions and smart machines is in its very early stages. One example is Intel’s demonstration of the Edison Chip at CES 2014. They showed an example of how the Edison chip can be used as a helping hand to parents, being able to check your child’s vitals or turning on the bottle warmer when it hears the baby cry. This device analyzes the situation and responds accordingly with somewhat of a mothers nurturing sense.

Seems like the next step is for A.I. is to mimic or get closer to human emotion…what do you think? Should Virtual Assistants have the capability to detect and respond with emotion? Some already do, but to what extent? 

Throwback Thursday: Then and Now: The Consumer Electronics Show

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been around since 1967. It is a time of the year where companies can show off what new innovations they have created and contributed to the market. Since the CES 2014 has officially come to an end as of January 9^th, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at previous CES’s for this week’s Throwback Thursday.

I wanted to find some past Apple announcements from CES (maybe of the iPhone), but then I realized they have not attended a CES since 1992. In 1992, they announced the launch of Apple’s Newton; one of their first designs of a handheld computer (i.e. a tablet). Since then, Apple has not returned to any CES but instead has created their own conferences to announce new Apple products. A decision made due to cost effectiveness. Apple’s absence didn't seem to matter to CES because Apple is still able to dominate the show with companies designing Apple-related products. (E.g. docks, chargers, apps, etc.) (Apple Still Casts a Long Shadow Over CES)

After that, I wanted to go back in time a decade to check out what was trending in the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show. I found that pocket-sized, digital cameraswere one of the top new gadgets being presented at CES 2004. It seems silly now since everyone’s phone has a camera with the same capabilities, but it makes me wonder, what will be big at CES 2024?

There was so much to see at CES, the electronics mentioned above are just scratching the surface as to what was there. I did find an article from Forbes Magazine by James McQuivey that sums up CES 2014 into three main points though: “1) Wearables will give birth to a second mainstream subcategory: smartwatches, 2) The TV business remains desperate, and 3) The digital home will finally mean something specific.”

Speaking of CES 2014, there were some really innovative creations this year such as Dell's Steam Machine, which made quite an impression. This machine takes gaming to a whole new level, allowing you to play PC games in any room you want. Another gadget that made headlines was D-Link’s revolutionized baby monitors. Contrary to tradition baby monitors, D-Link created WiFi baby cameras that connect to an app on your smartphone. With this new technology you can do more than just watch your babies every move from your phone, but you can also check the room temperature, sound, motion, and more with these cameras.

Wearable devices were all the rage at CES 2014 as well. From smartwatches to Google Glass, being able to wear your device is becoming more popular. It is estimated that one million wearable devices will be bought by the end of 2014 and 300 million by 2018 (From BYOD to WYOD: How Wearables will Transform Business). The Pebble Steel smartwatch was one of the favorites at CES 2014, but it certainly wasn't the only smartwatch that appeared in Vegas. This new trend is only increasing the number of devices connected to the Internet, meaning the Internet of Everything (IoE) is gaining popularity; also proven by Cisco’s main floor exhibit on the Internet of Everything.

Another main point at CES 2014 that votes in favor of the IoE is that the digital home will finally become a reality. Users will have the ability to control their physical surroundings with an application via their smartphones. Automation is the new big thing; soon everything on the market is going to be automated. And when this happens, these smart machines need to be able to communicate with one another to provide a seamless, more convenient way of living. For example, using one application to control all your smart devices.  

All in all, it seems as though the CES had another successful show year. Were you able to attend? Did you have a favorite gadget this year?