42flows.tech

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

VARUS is the supermarket chain based in 10+ cities in Ukraine. The merchandise range covers 25,000 food and related products. The first supermarket of the network opened in 2003 in Dnipropetrovsk.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Chatbots.Studio?

Chatbots.Studio team developed the chatbot for customers. We hired the team to build assistant to reduce client conversation and improve the feedbacks process.

What were your goals for this project?

The main goal of a chatbot is to increase client conversation, automate engagement and online card creation.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They are a trustful partner of our partners, also I checked them in Clutch listings.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Their team developed the chatbot for Facebook Messenger for easier communication with buyers. So, they provided phone number sharing via chatbot. chey Created virtual discount card that have all necessary information in the database, QR code for card scanning, chatbot sharing to bring new clients, feedbacks and complaints.

What was the team composition?

Software engineers, business analytics and project manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

They were available during all development process 24/7, they showed a keenness and strong desire to make a high-quality product. Guys not only perform tasks but also offered solutions that would work best for a chatbot.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Firstly we communicated with the sales representative, he offered the values of cooperation. Then management was arranged by business analytics and project manager. We haven’t had any issues. We mostly engaged via skype calls.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Strong deadlines and management are their strong side.

Are there any areas for improvement?

You’ll be in safe hands.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Claim Technology is the insurance industry’s first claims online service platform to help create digital, touchless claims. I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chatbots.Studio?

We are trying to create a chatbot that can collect rich data from customers as part of an insurance claim.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chatbots.Studio has developed the front- and backend for a chatbot that supports a structured process for gathering data. Its features include integrations with third-party services that enable customers to validate their identity through the chatbot, view different legal documents, and sign those documents all in the same location.

We provided a design for the frontend and Chatbots.Studio has provided the technical implementation of the solution using AngularJS on the frontend and Botkit on the backend.

What is the team composition?

It’s changed over time. Initially, we worked with one project manager but now we work with about six developers directly.

How did you come to work with Chatbots.Studio?

I found them on Upwork, and there were two reasons I was particularly attracted to Chatbots.Studio. The first is that they are specializing in the chatbot space, but the second was that they also have very relevant expertise within the insurance sector. Their CTO has had interesting experiences in business process management (BPM), which is another core capability for our system.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent a little over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in May 2018 and the project is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We don’t have a lot of data at present since this is one component of our overall platform which has just gone live. One thing I can speak to is that in our testing stage, we were able to take a 30-minute phone call between an insurance agent and a customer to a digital chatbot process that took less than five minutes for them to complete. So, we achieved significant time savings for both the insurance agent and the customer.

How did Chatbots.Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done fairly well from a project management perspective. We generally use Skype and Google Hangouts as our primary tools for communicating with them, as well as Jira for task management.

Initially, they provided a senior project manager and that worked quite well. We then transitioned to a more junior project manager, and our communication wasn’t as smooth with them, so we now liaise directly with the developers when we need work to be done. We find that’s the best way to get work done as efficiently as possible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As an organization, Chatbots.Studio is very supportive. They’re very fair and honest about the process, and you can really trust them to do their best to make the project as successful as possible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although it’s been a pleasure working with the developers, they could invest more there—many of the developers were not quite as senior as I would like. I have some concerns about the technical quality of the final product not being as high or as strong as it really should be.

In terms of communication, I found that the back and forth is fine when we initiated, but that their team is quite slow to initiate contact with us. They’ll often try to work things out on their own and then come back to us, but I’ve found that it takes longer than if they had spoken to us from the start. That’s caused the process to be quite expensive for what we’ve developed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a company that provides a medical mobile app that facilitates communication between patients and doctors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chatbots.Studio?

We didn’t have the development resources in-house, so we hired Chatbots.Studio to build the app for us.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chatbots.Studio developed a chatbot for our medical application from scratch. They built the platform to help patients communicate and find their medical histories. Once they get their results, users can start a dialogue with the medical staff and be connected to the right person. Their team created the app with a server side, and it is compatible with Android and iOS.  

What is the team composition?

I was in contact with the whole team, including the developers. We had a team lead who helped us put together the structure of the app, and there was a QA engineer helping them identify bugs.

How did you come to work with Chatbots.Studio?

We found them on Clutch while looking for highly-rated and trusted partners. They were the highest rated chatbot developers, so we chose them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $130,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Chatbots.Studio between March–May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’re just beginning to test the app with customers and will be gathering feedback. For now, the chatbot functions perfectly. Our next goal is to discover how comfortable our customers are with using the app and find anything that needs changing. I’m happy with our engagement.

How did Chatbots.Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We had no issues communicating with Chatbots.Studio and they were always available. We progressed smoothly through the project and could access the project manager and team whenever necessary.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were cost-efficient and offered strong communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everything was great, so I have no recommendations. I hope they continue to grow.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are the largest bank in Eastern Europe, with millions of active customers. We have 60% of the market share in Ukraine and over 1,000 developers. I'm responsible for innovation and new products inside the bank.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chatbots.Studio?

We look for new technologies to support our customers, and we created a digital option for small and medium businesses. We hoped to create ready-made templates with payment solutions for our clients. Chatbots became our outsource contractor to help us build a platform to store those templates.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked them to build the platform with modern technology. They did a wonderful job, and we've already started using the product, which connects to banks, Apple Pay, and Google Pay from CRM and restaurant management systems. It also connects to Facebook Messenger, Viber, and a variety of other messaging systems. Users can use the templates to pay with a variety of methods. Last week, Chatbots created a digital synching session. Working with a team of young people, they did a focus group of the product.

What is the team composition?

We communicate directly with a tactical manager and two other team members.

How did you come to work with Chatbots.Studio?

I met them on another project. They did very well, and I knew their expertise was very high. From my previous experience, I decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

Between the two projects, we will spend somewhere between $200,000 and $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

The collaboration started in February 2019. They've delivered the platform already, and this current contract will expire in June 2019. We've already planned the next project with them to build another platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They completed the project very quickly, and the final deliverables came to us within about two months. Our constituents thought the timeline was impossible, so I was very impressed by the speed of development. We already have at least 200 businesses connected to the system. Our aim is to reach a much bigger user base, and we've created a program that will offer more solutions to our customers.

How did Chatbots.Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I worked with them on different projects, and they were always professional. I liked their leadership, and they often made suggestions and recommendations to make our platform better.  They are willing to send any documentation we ask for.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their speed and quality were both much better than we expected. Most outsource agencies only follow the prompt, but they sent valuable notes and suggestions. In the end, their dedication resulted in a much better product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have any issues with them. They delivered faster than we expected, and I can't think of anything they could improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a senior officer and grant manager at All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH, a nonprofit organization that helps people with HIV/AIDS, TB, hepatitis and other risk groups. I coordinate a project that provides legal assistance to clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Chatbots.Studio?

Within the framework of the legal aid project, we needed to develop a chatbot. We hired Chatbots.Studio to consult on the chatbot’s mechanics and draw up a terms of reference.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a terms of reference that would outline the chatbot’s necessary technical functionalities and lay out the scope of the project. We hoped to receive advice from Chatbots.Studio while they developed the terms of reference.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

In accordance with our internal procedures, we announced an open tender for the development of the terms of reference. Chatbots.Studio took part in the tender and won the bid.

Describe the project in detail.

Chatbots.Studio considered our wishes in defining the chatbot’s purpose and structure. They provided valuable and practical advice for us to have while developing the chatbot.

What was the team composition?

We worked with three team members. One person participated in the tender, signed the contract, and oversaw general communications. The other two were a business analyst who helped to formalize our wishes for the chatbot and a developer who created the chatbot’s specifications.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We have received a lot more than we expected from our engagement with Chatbots.Studio because their work has prevented many potential problems. They provided sage advice and warned against pitfalls. Chatbots.Studio gave us the best options, even if doing so went beyond the scope of their contract. We were impressed by their cooperation.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They implemented the project in an incredibly short amount of time. Their client-oriented team did the best they could to achieve great results. The workflow between our teams was fast, efficient, and friendly.  

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Chatbots.Studio makes the client’s interests their top priority. The team is ready to help. They are very competent in their area of business.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, everything is perfect.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated on March 13, 2020. The new content is below.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a senior officer and grant manager at All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH, a nonprofit organization that helps people with HIV/AIDS, TB, hepatitis and other risk groups. I coordinate a project that provides legal assistance to clients.

For what projects/services did your company hire Chatbots.Studio?

Within the framework of the legal aid project, we needed to develop a chatbot. We hired Chatbots.Studio to consult on the chatbot’s mechanics and draw up a terms of reference. Then we hired Chatbots.Studio to develop the chatbot itself.

What were your goals for this project?

The chat-bot platform, which should respond to questions from clients who belong to the project target group and are in need of information on protection of the rights both in push button mode and by analyzing user questions. The platform should ensure user interaction with the use of Facebook Messenger, Viber, Telegram, web widgets on the websites http://network.org.ua/ and https://helsinki.org.ua/.

How did you select this vendor?

In accordance with our internal procedures, we announced an open tender for the development of the terms of reference. Chatbots.Studio took part in the tender and won the bid.

Describe the project in detail.

Chatbots.Studio considered our wishes in defining the chatbot’s purpose and structure. They provided valuable and practical advice for us to have while developing the chatbot.

What was the team composition?

We worked with 7 team members. One person participated in the tender, signed the contract, and oversaw general communications. The other two were a business analyst who helped to formalize our wishes for the chatbot and a developer who created the chatbot’s specifications. The director of Chatbots.Studio also participated in the communications. Four developers developed a chat bot, as well as user instructions for it.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We got a working chat-bot that meets all the characteristics that were described in the technical specifications,

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They implemented the project in an incredibly short amount of time. Their client-oriented team did the best they could to achieve great results. The workflow between our teams was fast, efficient, and friendly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Chatbots.Studio makes the client’s interests their top priority. The team is ready to help. They are very competent in their area of business.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, everything is perfect.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a project manager for TASCOMBANK, a large commercial bank.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Chatbots.Studio?

We engaged Chatbots.Studio to create a chatbot to help automate document processing.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a solution that speeds up the processing of banking documents. We wanted to simplify client identification and deliver documents quickly.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our college recommended Chatbots.Studio among a list of chatbot development companies.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Chatbots.Studio created an automated solution to help managers process client documents and send them to our banking system.

What was the team composition?

We worked with their co-founders, a project manager, and a few software engineers, QA engineers, and business analytics people.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The solution reduced our processing time by 20% and made the workflow more convenient overall. Chatbots.Studio delivered the chatbot on time and met all requirements.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Chatbots.Studio’s co-founders, project manager, and engineers talked with us via calls throughout the project. The team tracked all tasks using Jira.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team used new technologies to solve issues quickly without taking additional, unplanned time. Their highly controlled management style translated into top-notch customer service. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

There’s always room for improvement, but we’re satisfied with Chatbots.Studio’s work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO of a technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Chatbots.Studio?

We hired Chatbots.Studio to work on a chatbot development project for one of our clients.

What were your goals for this project?

Our client desired a chatbot that would work on their website, Facebook page, and other social messaging channels, such as WhatsApp for Business. The bot needed to be able to access a calendar API to make appointments and a SaaS API that stored property listings.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We initially found Chatbots.Studio through their website. We already had a rough idea of what technology platforms we wanted to implement (based our own comfort with certain stacks and existing subscriptions), and they were very familiar with them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

After an initial consultation with Igor (Chatbots.Studio), we agreed on a specification including what channels the chatbot would work on and what its flow would be. Development then began with Andrey (Chatbots.Studio), Max (Chatbots.Studio), and another resource. They delivered the finished source code to our GitHub repository and deployed the chatbot within our infrastructure. After several rounds of testing and minor bug fixes, it was ready to go.

What was the team composition?

At various stages, we dealt with a project/account manager, team leaders, and several developers. We worked with six people in total.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We plan to showcase the chatbot's technical capabilities including its omnichannel nature, API integrations, and Natural Language Processing features. The solution is critically important to our client, whose small staff used to spend an hour or two every day responding to inquiries on social media. Our bot now handles those tasks for them.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Though comprehensive project management wasn’t part of their contract, Chatbots.Studio checked in with us regularly to ensure the project was on track and to answer any questions we had. Their developers participated in daily stand-ups via Skype, which allowed us to incorporate additional tasks as soon as possible.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their team was easy to work with, and there was no drama. We already delivered the entire specification to our client, but if they want to add additional features, we’ll work with Chatbots.Studio to deliver them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It took us time to nail the specification down, but I can’t fault Chatbots.Studio’s team for that. They delivered exactly what we asked them too.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO of Logit. We’re developing a chatbot-based app that aims to increase student motivation and reduce dropout rates across online education sites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Chatbots.Studio?

We needed to rapidly build an MVP version of the app to attract investors and demonstrate our product’s value to potential customers. Hiring our own developers would require a significant time investment for training, so we outsourced the work to Chatbots.Studio.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to create a prototype that featured the most significant pieces of the app—chatbot technology, dialogue flow, and interfaces for both users and administrators.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We sent an inquiry to several vendors and ultimately selected Chatbots.Studio. They had the required expertise and showed a strong understanding of our needs and goals. Additionally, they offered a competitive price and were able to start working within a few days.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We shared our high-level requirements with the Chatbots.Studio team. We discussed possible solutions, and they suggested the direction we should take with the project. They provided a bit of design guidance as well. After agreeing on the scope of work and estimates, their team developed and deployed the application.

What was the team composition?

They provided a core team of two but brought on other colleagues as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We created an MVP version of the app from scratch in under two months. Now, we're holding demonstrations to validate our hypothesis regarding customer needs and user preferences.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We communicated over Skype and shared source code through GitHub. Throughout the project, they remained responsive and hit deadlines. If anything was unclear, they reached out to us for clarification.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their extensive experience in creating chatbot-based software was clear in the way they handled our project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Overall, there is very little to improve. When presenting us with solutions, they tend to go deep into technical details, which isn’t always necessary. I can’t fault them too much though because this is a common trend across most high-quality development studios.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company operates a contextual and proactive AI platform that allows businesses to develop humanlike conversational experiences.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Chatbots.Studio?

We hired Chatbots.Studio to bring our conversational chatbots to over a dozen interfaces, including Facebook, interactive voice response systems, and email.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to have an end-to-end production solution with no changes on our end.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed several vendors.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Initially, we asked Chatbots.Studio to do a paid one-week proof of concept to see how they performed. Then, we had a detailed call to chart the implementation plan and discuss how our gateway API works. They’re helping us write a system that can interact with external platforms.

What was the team composition?

We’re working with one project manager, one solution architect, one technical lead, and seven engineers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Chatbots.Studio delivered the first phase of the project a few days before our deadline, with minimal changes required.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We have weekly check-ins where they show what they have completed and ask for clarifications. They also send us detailed plans on their upcoming tasks. They’ve become more successful and confident in our weekly demos.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We are impressed with their understanding of the technical requirements. They ask the right questions. They have a phenomenal solution architect who understands what it takes to build our product.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and stakeholder of a telecommunication services company. Our clients are banks, payday loan companies, and debt collection companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chatbots.Studio?

We were looking for a fast solution for our need to monitor the ability of our system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built us a tool to monitor the capacity of our platform and any issues in our communication channels. It’s a mobile app-based solution for iOS and Android that allows us to monitor the system from our smartphones.

What is the team composition?

We were in contact with two managers.

How did you come to work with Chatbots.Studio?

They were recommended to us by a friend.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from August–October 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They were convenient, fast, and inexpensive. They created a good, customized solution for my company. Our employees found it easy to use the solution, and the impact is good.

How did Chatbots.Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was fine, and there were no issues. We used Skype for Business and Zoom to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are especially open to our interests, and they also work quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be involved in the process from the start.