KLM - Meet BB

KLM - Meet BB

Eighteen months ago, Dutch airline KLM became the first airline partner of Facebook Messenger. Web developer Perttu Tolvanen wrote a review of the whole process last year detailing how he got flight information and even his boarding pass via Messenger, noting how easy the whole process worked.

Over the past year, KLM has improved the initial functionality of the bot. In the Spring for example it introduced a feature where passengers could ask for directions to the nearest restaurant, clothes store, ATM, taxi rank and more by sending an emoji.

The latest incarnation of the KLM bot is BB. This stands for ‘Blue Bot’, but we can’t believe it’s coincidental that it sounds like the Star Wars droid BB-8, with the next Star Wars film about to be released.

Essentially with BB you can now book tickets without having to talk to a human being - unless you really want to or have to.

BB underlines KLM’s continued commitment to social and digital media, with the company admitting in a Mobile Marketing Magazine interview that it has 250 full time social media staff.

“KLM is well known for its personal approach,” said Pieter Groeneveld, SVP of digital at Air France-KLM.

“On social media, we offer 24/7 service with our team of 250 human agents, handling more than 16,000 cases a week. Volumes will continue to grow.

“At the same time, customers require a speedy response. We have therefore been experimenting with AI to support our agents to provide a personal, timely and correct answer. With BB, KLM is taking the next step in its social media strategy, offering personal service through technology, supported by human agents when needed.”

To launch BB, KLM produced a short video, which is hosted on a micro-site. In the video, which has echoes of the TV sitcom, The Office, airline marketing staff are told to welcome their new colleague BB, who they can hear but never see.

Another airline which currently allows you to book flights via a Facebook Messenger app is Icelandair. Icelandair’s bot also allows you to include a stopover of up to seven nights in your ticket when flying between Europe and North America.

In his review of the original KLM Messenger bot, Perttu Tolvaren recommended that airlines in fact prioritise bots and messenger applications, believing that this kind of “app within an app” approach made more sense than investing in developing a separate and bespoke mobile application.

Similarly in September, Chatbot Magazine published an article of how different airlines, including KLM, are using Chatbots.

Chatbot Magazine noted that Facebook Messenger was the vehicle of choice for airlines because it was both technologically advanced with different tools on offer for developers, as well as having a huge reach with 1.2 billion people worldwide using it.

Key Take-Away

With over a billion people using Facebook Messenger, the service easily dwarfs other online services and social networks, such as Twitter, where airlines have traditionally invested time and money.

As a result, with Facebook Messenger already being on most passengers’ phones, it is sensible that airlines use this as another way for people to interact with them, down to giving them basic customer services information and, in the case of KLM and Icelandair, actually allowing them to book tickets.