Virtual assistant becomes a new hit in Indonesia. Being initiated by YesBoss couple of months ago, the competition just saw a new player hopping in, as Sribu introduced DiANA. How would the two only players develop the emerging on-demand service in Indonesian market?
Both YesBoss and DiANA draw positive responses from the people of Indonesia, who are accustomed to appreciate any help they may get. The services allows them to get assistance in reserving tickets, hotel room, restaurant, shopping, and many more only by sending an SMS to the server. So far, both services offer quite similar service. However, there are a few interesting notes about the services that I’d like to present.
How they operate
YesBoss operates from 7 AM to 11 PM, while DiANA lives from 7.30 AM to 12 PM. DiANA claims that the server could respond any order less than 30 minutes during the peak hours, which is at around 8 AM to 5.30 PM, while it would respond less than 3 hours during the rest of the day.
At certain times, YesBoss and DiANA are kind enough to notify the users about what they can do. Both also offer another assistance everytime they fulfill one user’s request.
How they respond
According to my own experience using both services, it’s fair to say that YesBoss offer faster response than DiANA. I sent the same request to both services at the same time in the morning, afternoon, and at night.
In some cases, it took longer for me to get the response. Both services definitely race to respond as fast as possible. This is obviously hard, especially once they have grown huge number of users. Although DiANA excelled in some battles, YesBoss won the war.
Accuracy
In this case, I asked both services to present me their recommended movies to watch at theatres during the weekend without hinting for a specific genre and preference. Both responded by presenting me all movies available during the day. Interestingly, DiANA offered an assistance of getting me a movie ticket before the D-day.
When it comes to electronic device recommendation, YesBoss presented me a pretty helpful narration, while DiANA efficiently presented me only the info that I needed.
Boss Experience
YesBoss uses ‘I/We’ for the first person-pronoun and ‘Boss’ for the second person-pronoun. Meanwhile, DiANA calls both itself and its user by their real name.
To some people, who crave for loyalty, respect, and obedience, YesBoss would be the perfect option. Meanwhile, for those who prefer a handful friendly friend, DiANA would be the best.
Furthermore, I tested both services by asking them to do non-transactional activity, which, in this case, was getting the clothesline inside the house. The result indeed showed that YesBoss responded the fastest, but DiANA executed my order interestingly.
Conclusion
YesBoss and DiANA share quite similar services. However, this could be temporary, as what I compared were YesBoss who ran its business by bootstrapping and DiANA who was still in beta version.
This may mean that the competition may escalate to the next level, considering that YesBoss is currently developing its new advanced tools and mobile app due to the latest funding it receives. This new system will lift CSR team’s responsibility, as it may help the team to dig deeper and present better data.
Translated by Rifki Aria Nugraha
