Authors:
Francisco Casaca
and
André Vasconcelos
Affiliation:
INESC-ID, Instituto Superior Técnico, Avenida Rovisco Pais 1, Lisbon, Portugal
Keyword(s):
Communication Channels, Multi-channel, Omni-channel, Chatbot, Seamless Experience, Healthcare.
Abstract:
Many industries are using multi-channel approaches to bring users and organizations closer. The services provided through these channels can be leveraged by using chatbots, allowing users to have simpler and more natural interactions. However, this entails designing architectures that make services available through multiple channels, while making the users’ experiences coherent, as they switch between them. Media Richness Theory introduces a way to classify the richness of communication channels, resorting to objective factors, however it does not provide a systematic channel selection and prioritization process. To address these needs, this work proposes a systematic approach to select and prioritize communication channels based on six factors: feedback, multiple cues, personal focus, language variety, accessibility and cost. To validate this approach, the systematic process is applied to three use cases in the healthcare domain.