Dive Brief:
- Salesforce launched LiveMessage on Tuesday to help automate customer service activities.
- LiveMessage supports conversations through SMS/MMS and Facebook Messenger, thereby allowing service reps to manage messaging traffic just like any other customer interaction in Service Cloud.
- The new functionality is based on technology Salesforce acquired through its purchase of HeyWire in September.
Dive Insight:
The concept is to improve the customer experience by meeting customers where they are, while enabling agents to respond more easily, no matter how they are contacted by the customer. In doing so, Salesforce is, in part, automating customer service and potentially helping customer support representatives reduce the time spent addressing common issues.
The use of messaging and bots to improve customer service is expected to see dramatic growth over the next few years as businesses continue to look for ways to save money through automation.