Fonbet builds betting experience through ‘Alice’ voice assistant

More than 5,000 users every month are now asking ‘Alice’ about current promotions on Fonbet, whose virtual voice assistant has a declared accuracy of about 90%.

Alice, the Yandex-developed equivalent of Apple’s Siri, was first launched in 2017 but the Fonbet “skill” was only added in late 2019.

It has the answers to thousands of common template questions that help “her” to understand and explain topics specific to the sports betting player journey on Fonbet.

This means that the operator’s players who activate the AI-driven assistant by saying ‘Alice, ask Fonbet’ can get answers to questions about current promotions, as well as help placing a bet, predictions for an upcoming match and even the meaning of a ‘zero margin’ market.

Fonbet’s Alexey Khobot confirmed that the assistant makes its match predictions based on the sportsbook’s current odds.

He explained that you can even bet against Alice, who will respond to phrases like “I don’t agree” by sending you a link to a bet which opposes her prediction.

Fonbet’s chief expert admitted that it’s currently not possible to place bets directly via Alice, but if you ask her to place a bet you will be sent a link to the relevant event on the Fonbet sportsbook. If you are not yet registered, then Alice will share a registration link with you.

“We were looking for a tool to improve a customer’s experience and integrate Fonbet in their daily life,” Khobot added. “Millions of people use Alice to find the fastest route, play music, order pizza or find any information on the internet. By adding the skill Fonbet to the voice assistant, our clients can get information about odds and matches using their regular service.”

Khobot concluded: “Another reason why we created this skill within the voice assistant was to attract new clients, especially those who were not familiar with betting before.

“In Russia, we have an insight from potential clients about long registration procedures and that betting seems complicated for them. The Fonbet skill in voice assistant can explain to them how to make a bet and provide better understanding of the different types of bets.”