Virtual assistants & chatbots

1. Virtual assistants & chatbots Using technology to automate triage conversations via the web Alasdair Stewart, Principal Programme Manager – Direct Service Delivery

2. Age UK’s Information & Advice (2016/17)

3. Our challenge • Challenging funding environment for local advice services • Government ‘digital by default’ – digital inclusion gap, particularly in older age groups • The fastest growing age group in the UK are those aged 65 and older – expected to grow by 20% in the next 10 years • The enquiries into our national Information & Advice service are becoming more complex, and more time consuming to answer • We can’t keep expanding our national advice team to meet the dual demands of fewer local advice options and a growing older population – need to become more efficient & effective in how we deal with different types of enquiries.

4. Our challenge • With limited capacity, we need to keep our national telephone advice & local services focused on those who need it most. Where people can, we need them to ‘self serve’ online rather than calling or visiting us • We already reach most people with our Information & Advice via our website: 4.9m in 2016/17, 5m+ in 2017/18 • 1/3rd of our callers visited our website & then called us: how do we reduce this and keep more people online? • We know people find it difficult to find the answers they want on our website (which is partly why they call us) • We also know people are less likely to take an action from simply reading our information online, compared to speaking to one of our advisers

5. Our solution • A “Virtual Assistant” which appears if someone doesn’t seem to be finding what they are looking for on our website. • Just like an initial conversation when someone calls and speaks to us, it’s designed to understand the different ways people can ask us essentially the same question – and direct them to the right resource on our website OR encourage them to take an action • It can’t (and the technology isn’t there yet) replace a fully trained adviser and the complex conversationswe’dhave with older people, their family, and friends. • Initially: 3 month pilot from May 2017.Has been running now for last 11 months.

6. Demo • Hopefully this will work! • https://va.ageuk.org.uk/ageuk/bot.htm?isJSEnabled=1&businessArea=Root.PWS&channel=Root&redirected=1 • https://www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/

7. What we learned • You can’t just build it, launch it, and forget it. It’s an iterative process – you need to start to understand how your users ask their questions, and keep updating the tool. • Start small – we focused on a couple of areas of the Age UK website and the information we provide, and built out from there. • Make sure you use a tool with feedback.Pay attention to the numbers selecting‘No’ – and look at how/where to improve. • You need a ‘safety net’ – how do you help people who the virtual assistant can’t? 2% of conversations = a call to us. • Cost – the same as 1 adviser, but our VA is currently answering 2x as many enquiries 24/7

8. Thank you • Happy to take any questions by email:alasdair.stewart@ageuk.org.uk

19. What we learned • You can’t just build it, launch it, and forget it. It’s an iterative process – you need to start to understand how your users ask their questions, and keep updating the tool. • Start small – we focused on a couple of areas of the Age UK website and the information we provide, and built out from there. • Make sure you use a tool with feedback.Pay attention to the numbers selecting‘No’ – and look at how/where to improve. • You need a ‘safety net’ – how do you help people who the virtual assistant can’t? 2% of conversations = a call to us. • Cost – the same as 1 adviser, but our VA is currently answering 2x as many enquiries 24/7

20. Thank you • Happy to take any questions by email:alasdair.stewart@ageuk.org.uk