Today, I’m adding a new feature to the blog. It will appear on the blog Home page, Product Specials page and Privacy page. You’ll see it in the lower right-hand corner if you sit on one of these pages for twenty seconds or longer.

What is it? It’s a chatbot (definition: a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users) powered by IBM’s Watson. Why am I adding a chatbot? As much as I’d like to be awake 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and to be available for customers all the time, it just can’t happen. The chatbot will be available even when Joyce and I are sleeping, watching trains or on vacation. It will be able to answer a lot of your questions – questions that we often hear from our blog post readers.

Notice, I said “will be able.” We’ll be putting new questions and answers in everyday so the chatbot will be able to handle a wide range of your questions. In some cases, it will even give you links to pages that expand on the answer to your question. Currently, it can answer questions like: when is the next seminar? how can I get on the blog email list? what are your hours? are you open now? how do I search the blog?

Why not visit our Home page or Product Specials page and give the chatbot a try! Remember, we’ve just started so it can’t answer a lot yet, but it will soon!