Happy Friday! Here’s our picks for the best customer service, customer experience and mobile articles of the week, in no particular order.

The Search for the Killer Bot by Casey Newton

Artificial intelligence is becoming a big force in business—just look at IBM Watson’s forays into healthcare and finance, or Amazon Echo’s entry into the home automation market. But how exactly do we interact with AI? It’s mainly through a conversation, asking it any questions we might have and it delivering the answer. This is what some Silicon Valley thought leaders are calling “conversational UIs,” and more and more, they’re shifting to text conversations. Casey Newton outlines what that shift means in his article for The Verge.

The fact is, as investor Semil Shah has written, messaging has usurped the browser on mobile devices: it’s where most of our activity takes place. And once you’ve dethroned the browser, which empires will crumble? Could a new e-commerce channel rise to challenge Amazon? Could a bot outdo Google when it comes to understanding what you’re looking for?

Messaging, just like AI, is becoming a powerful force in business. Combining the two will have a more disruptive effect that we could imagine.

Read the full article on The Verge.

How Customer Experience Is Helping Two Businesses Stand Out In Competitive Markets by Adrian Swinscoe

It’s no secret that today’s businesses want to differentiate on the customer experience—over 60% of businesses think CX is a competitive differentiator. But what does a great customer experience really look like? It will vary by industry, but most customer interactions should seek to inform, educate, help, and delight customers. Take Elizabeth’s Bookshops, for instance, which sought to delight customers with their Blind Date with a Book initiative. Books are wrapped and list elements of the story on the wrapping so that customers can get a sense of what kind of book they’re choosing. Customer service expert Adrian Swinscoe explains why this is a great customer experience.

Their approach adds a degree of mystery and surprise to the overall book buying and reading experience. But, for a customer to choose a book from the Blind Date With a Book range then they have to take a chance and do so based on trust. Trust that the book store knows about books and knows what they are doing.

Trust is an essential part of every business interaction. By establishing a relationship based on trust, you can ensure your business will have a strong bond with customers for years to come.

Read the full article on Forbes.

Here’s Why Omnichannel Customer Service Is So Last Year by Rob LoCascio

At OneReach, we’re big fans of omnichannel customer service, which gives customers the ability to change between service channels while maintaining context. Omnichannel service also incorporates customer data from across channels to provide a personalized service experience. But not everyone would seem to be a fan of omnichannel customer service, perhaps because the word “omnichannel” is overused. And that’s okay—we welcome different viewpoints. In his Inc. article, LivePerson CEO Rob LoCascio explains why he thinks omnichannel is on its way out. Part of the reason, he explains, is that omnichannel is about to be superseded by mobile.

If you want to be taken seriously when talking customer service, stop saying “omnichannel” immediately. Mobile is the one channel to rule them all in 2016, and there is nothing “omni” about it. Customers access all the traditional channels through this one device.

We agree with LoCascio that mobile is an extremely essential part of customer service, but would argue that mobile is an “omni” channel because you can access all traditional channels through it.

Read the full article on Inc.

To learn more about providing a great mobile customer experience, download our new whitepaper here.