Throwback Thursday: According to a Leading Analyst Firm, 50% of Online Self-Service Will be Via a Virtual Assistant

     In the early days of the Internet, CallCenter.com published an article, "What’s in a Name? noHold Rebrands Self-Help Software." This article was written back in October of 2001 (just about 13 year ago) sharing the multiple benefits of using a Virtual Agent. One of the paragraphs cites compelling predictions about on-line service for 2005....

“If cost savings aren't enough to sell you on the product, consider also that, according to Jupiter Media Metrix, the number of individuals seeking on-line service will jump to 67 million in 2005, up from 33 million this year.”

     When looking at the numbers of people seeking online service today, this prediction has been far surpassed. Billions of people are connected to the Internet and web-based customer support is quickly becoming the preferred channel for customer support. 

     The future of Virtual Agents is predicted to keep growing. According to a leading analyst firm, “By 2015, 50% of online customer self-service search activities will be via a virtual assistant for at least 1500 large enterprises” (Intelligent Virtual Agents for SMBs, smbnow.com) Looking at the pattern from 2001 up to today, it is apparent that continuously more and more people are interested in web self-service. What will the future of Virtual Agents/web self-service look like in 10 more years? Will the current predictions be surpassed yet again?