VietNamNet Bridge - Some customer service departments no longer put staff on duty at night because the job now can be undertaken by Hana, a virtual consultancy officer created by Mideas, a startup.

For just VND500,000 a month, any company can hire the virtual officer.

At first, Hana was created to answer the question ‘what to have for lunch’ raised by office workers. 

“We created Hana integrated with Facebook Messenger to serve our needs. We don’t have to think about what dishes to have and where to go for lunch every afternoon, because Hana will suggest the venues and dishes,” said Nguyen Minh Kien, managing director of Mideas.

Some customer service departments no longer put staff on duty at night because the job now can be undertaken by Hana, a virtual consultancy officer created by Mideas, a startup.

“After tasting dishes at restaurants, we speak about our feelings. Hana will remember our comments, so that she can give recommendations for the next time,” Kien said. 

After Hana was created, Mideas realized that it could become a worker in the customer services department. 

A lot of questions and demands are raised by customers at night, so many companies have to arrange their staff on duty to satisfy demand. 

Hana can undertake the job instead of the staff.

Mideas decided to develop new features for Hana and solve the security problem. 

“Hana is created to answer inquiries and simple requests raised from customers at any time. As for more complex requests, Hana will automatically put the line through to customers,” Kien explained.

In order to examine Hana’s skills, Khoa hoc & Phat trien’s reporters accessed docsachonline.vn to communicate with the officer.

In the chat window, Hana appeared with the greeting: “Hello, how can I help you?”. 

Replying to the request ‘I want books on business’, Hana said, “We have many interesting books on business. What topics are you interested in – sales, marketing, thinking, startup of finance & accountancy?”

After hearing book requests on thinking, Hana suggested books and registered accounts for free reading, and then sent the link for registration.

A reporter said that Hana was so professional that he thought he was communicating with a normal consultancy officer.

The special characteristic of Hana is that the more she is trained, the better knowledge she has and the higher quality of answers she gives. Customers have to provide certain information to Mideas, so that Mideas can teach Hana.

Launched in late 2016, Hana is used by more than 30 businesses in HCMC. Some universities now use Hana in enrollment campaigns.  

Huynh Quoc Thang, director of Tinh Hoa Book, said with the presence of Hana, the company’s consultancy officers can reduce 40 percent of the workload.