Book excerpt: Natural language processing (NLP) is a branch of artificial intelligence that has emerged as a prevalent method of practice for a sizeable amount of companies. NLP enables software to understand human language and process complex data that is generated within businesses. In a competitive market, leading organizations are showing an increased interest in implementing this technology to improve user experience and establish smarter decision-making methods. Research on the application of intelligent analytics is crucial for professionals and companies who wish to gain an edge on the opposition. The Handbook of Research on Natural Language Processing and Smart Service Systems is a collection of innovative research on the integration and development of intelligent software tools and their various applications within professional environments. While highlighting topics including discourse analysis, information retrieval, and advanced dialog systems, this book is ideally designed for developers, practitioners, researchers, managers, engineers, academicians, business professionals, scholars, policymakers, and students seeking current research on the improvement of competitive practices through the use of NLP and smart service systems.