New Service Delivery Alternatives from the Automation of Knowledge with Virtual Assistants

Abstract

Companies have been deploying for the last 45 years Technology Based Self-Service systems (TBSS) such as ATMs as a means of replacing human centered interaction with technology in the process of service creation with their customers. Since the year 2010 companies have begun introducing more sophisticated information and communication technologies like Virtual Assistants (VAs) that allow people to interact verbally with cars, navigation devices, smart phones, PCs, tablets etc. (e.g. SIRI, Sher.pa). The companies working in the VA industry are starting to develop these systems for the wearable devices industry. Soon we will be able to interact with a VA in the form of Google Glass or Apple iWatches. Furthermore these companies are starting to test new service delivery alternatives. TBSS research is not able to keep pace with technological developments, therefore the generalisability of extant knowledge to these new technologies remains un-answered. Responding to the above observations, the aim of this study is explorative as it seeks to formulate problems, clarify concepts in order to create hypotheses and a conceptual model in a forthcoming paper. This study involved a thorough review of extant literature, exploratory face-to-face and telephone interviews with experts from different disciplines. Insights obtained from the study suggest the following points: (1) in the future there will be space in the marketplace for the three types of service deliveries identified in the literature: (a) humans, (b) TBSS and (c) intelligent machines such as VAs.(2) Despite the introduction of these new intelligent systems, customers will continue performing the service or parts of the service by themselves with the use of TBSS systems. (3) Users will not be able to absorb all the technological developments at the same speed as the innovations are coming out into the marketplace. (4) Finally intelligent machines such as VAs will foster new innovative service delivery alternatives in which the firm will act together with external parties through informal arrangements or formal alliances with a collaborative mindset. These insights make the following important contributions to the subject matter.