Brunel University recognised that chatbots could be a way to maintain a fast, efficient information service for prospective students, and that implementing automation could help take the stress and repetition (all applicants are typically asked the same questions initially) out of admissions.

We built a custom chatbot, to guide prospective students with the correct first-stage questions, covering what their grades were and the course they were looking to undertake.

Brunel University’s chatbot can understand and categorise the most specific of queries and answers relating to admissions. One of the key challenges we solved was how to most effectively present long-form lists – a given, considering there are thousands of courses for students to choose from. We designed specific conversational interface components to cater to users needing to make choices from very long lists of courses.

Once prospective students had chatted with the chatbot to obtain answers to their initial questions, they were well-placed to be connected with a human admissions officer, who could offer advice and more detailed information about courses, significantly reducing the time between first contact and offers being made.

Our OpenDialog platform underpinned a thorough and flexible conversational interface that also met Brunel’s rigorous security standards.