While Facebook had revealed its plans to start incorporating its new framework for Businesses on Messenger sometime last year, we had yet to see a realistic application of it. However, now marks the moment when the tech giant is finally putting its framework to good use and expanding its messenger app into a new area; the first business to have its services be made available through Facebook Messenger is KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and will begin functioning as such starting today.
To be more precise, travelers will be able to request and access information regarding their flights, board passes, check-in times, flight times and a whole lot more using the Messenger app using the bot that rests behind the operation at any time. Anyone who books a flight ticket on the KLM website may opt to receive information via messenger KLM through the use of a single thread.
KLM is proud to be the first business that uses the Facebook Messenger business framework for commercial and social media strategy purposes, according to their Facebook page, and is excited to see how the public receives this new type of customer service option. Meanwhile, Vice President of Messaging Products David Marcus has stated that this type of service is a method of removing stress and the complications of air travelling by providing customers with a medium through which anyone can easily request for specific information.
It would appear that KLM has had this platform for customer service in mind for a fair while as some preparation revealed that air travel is an area where messenger-based applications would flourish. KLM president and CEO Peter Elbers mentioned in a statement that the company has noticed a 40 percent increase in customer interactions via Facebook after it activated the Messenger button last year. Now the company is taking this type of customer service a step further after revealing that airline customers feel comfortable sharing information via a more personal platform such as Facebook’s Messenger.
Meanwhile, Facebook seems to be planning other service applications such as in-app purchases and encrypted conversations. According to The Information website, the iOS version of the Messenger app already currently supports in-person payments and extra encryption for private and secure chats. However, when asked about the probability of these types of services becoming available for Businesses on Messenger, Facebook refrained from making comments that would suggest its imminence. Instead, they announced that they have nothing of the sorts in store at this time but that it may become a plan for the future.
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