Microsoft gives chatbots in Skype new features

Microsoft has added new capabilities for bot makers to Skype. For example, it is possible to let chatbots participate in group conversations and visual maps can be shown for the provision of services, such as booking hotel rooms.

The new features have been explained on Skype’s blog and appear to be primarily intended to enable multiple forms of interaction with the chatbots. One of the most important new features is the ability to display interactive, visual maps to which functions can be linked. Skype itself gives an example of showing a hotel, where the user can immediately book a room with the push of a button.

Furthermore, it is now possible to add bots to group conversations as well, and it has been made possible to link external user accounts to the bot. For example, a company that offers services via a chatbot can verify the identity and payment details of the user. Finally, Microsoft states that the bots can now understand ‘natural language’.

Parent company Microsoft introduced chatbots at the end of March, along with a development framework. For example, developers have the opportunity to develop bots using the SDK, APIs and workflows of the Skype Bots Platform. The new features are available immediately, so developers can directly implement them in their bots.

There are several companies that are working on chatbots for the provision of services. For example, Facebook collaborates with several companies that offer their services through the Messenger service.