HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched Elle, a website Chat Bot that uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to cater to existing policyholders.

A chatbot, or bot, is essentially a computer software that is programmed and designed to chat with humans.

Without human intervention, the Chat Bot Elle will be able to address policyholder's queries such as policy details, requests for premium receipts, and other statements. The bot will be available 24/7 with an objective to provide responses to frequently asked questions with minimal effort on the customer's part.

The bot essentially works as an interface between the company and the customer. It will largely be on the same lines as a 'live chat', a real-time response feature that almost all customer-oriented websites have today. However, unlike in 'live chat', there isn't a human being sitting on the side answering customer queries.

One will have to input the query while the bot will prompt certain solutions in real-time. The idea behind this is to generate a natural conversation as is the case between two humans. Life insurance bots could act as a financial guide to help users choose the most suitable plans and solutions based on their requirements.

Elle sits at the right panel of the HDFC Life website. One can access it even without logging in. Existing policyholders have to enter their policy number, date of birth and mobile number, if not logged in. Thereafter, a policyholder can access information on their fund value, premium amount, premium due date, premium frequency, sum assured, payment history, annual premium statement, annual unit statement, premium receipt in no time.

Chat Bot Elle is an addition to the HDFC Life's existing list of Bots - SPOK, the email Bot and NEO, the Twitter Bot. Subrat Mohanty, Chief Operating Officer, HDFC Life said, "Elle is another initiative by HDFC Life to simplify customer interactions and provide a quick and easy resolution to their queries, from anywhere and at anytime."