An Assistant That Answers Your Visitors
A chatbot assistant is a small virtual assistant built into your website, able to answer your visitors' questions instantly, around the clock.
Unlike a standard contact form, which forces visitors to wait for a reply by email, this chatbot talks with your visitors in real time: opening hours, pricing, services, frequently asked questions. It reduces the load on your inbox and phone line, while keeping visitors on your site for longer.
For an SME, a freelancer or a consultant without a dedicated customer support team, often hard to reach by phone, this chatbot becomes a natural first step. The visitor's journey stays simple: chatbot → no satisfactory answer → built-in contact form, which receives the request directly → phone, if a more direct exchange is still needed.
That said, the chatbot needs to be well designed: overloaded with information or too vague in its answers, it quickly becomes an obstacle rather than a help, particularly for people less comfortable with digital tools. This solution isn't suited to every profile: personalised guidance, already hard to get by phone, is a different kind of help than online assistance. The chatbot addresses this second need, without claiming to replace the first.
A Swiss and Open Technology
The assistant relies on Infomaniak's AI Services, the Swiss hosting provider you already use, and on Apertus, an open model designed in Switzerland.
- The chatbot connects to AI Services, Infomaniak's artificial intelligence platform, whose servers are located in Switzerland.
- Answers are generated by Apertus, a model developed with Swiss universities (EPFL, ETH Zurich), released as an open model that anyone can review.
- The chatbot is fed with your own website content (your pages, services, opening hours), so it answers accurately instead of inventing off-topic replies.
- It plugs directly into your existing website or admin interface, without adding complexity to your daily routine.
- The integration is compatible with common development tools (cURL, PHP, Python, Node.js) as well as standard OpenAI libraries, making it easy to connect to your existing website or back office.
Why Apertus Rather Than a Generic AI
Many chatbots on the market send your data to servers located outside Europe, with little transparency about how they actually work. Here is why Apertus is our default choice.
| Selection Criteria | Apertus (Infomaniak) | Common Generic AI |
|---|---|---|
| Data Protection | Hosted in Switzerland and Europe | Often hosted outside Switzerland or Europe |
| Ethical Alignment | Open model, reviewable by anyone | Closed, poorly documented approach |
| Long-Term Stability | Backed by a Swiss institution | Depends on foreign private companies |
| Writing Quality | Very good | Variable depending on the provider |
| Cost | Open and free model; a volume of credits included, then Swiss pay-as-you-go billing | Billed by usage, often in foreign currency |
This recommendation reflects our views on digital sovereignty, but it remains one choice among others: if your project has specific constraints or a preference for another provider, we are happy to integrate the AI solution of your choice.
The Benefits for Your Business
Available Around the Clock
Day and night, without interruption, your assistant answers even outside your opening hours.
Instant Answers
Your visitors get an answer within seconds, without waiting for a callback or an email.
Less Workload for Your Team
Answering frequently asked questions (FAQ), giving opening hours, presenting pricing or directing visitors to the right service: the chatbot handles these repetitive exchanges automatically.
Data Hosted in Switzerland
Conversations stay on Swiss servers, in strict compliance with data protection legislation.
An Open, Reviewable Model
Apertus, developed with Swiss universities, works in a transparent way, publicly documented.
A Scalable Solution
The chatbot fits a simple showcase website as well as an online shop, and grows with your needs.