Live Chat Support blog

The World Wide Web opens up so many opportunities for entrepreneurs. The internet provides a cost-effective way to reach consumers in the entire world; you can make your business a global one without the frightening cost implications. For aspiring businessmen and entrepreneurs who are marketing on a shoestring budget, internet seems to be a feasible business plan.

As e-commerce or internet marketing is becoming more and more popular, the chances of having a successful e-commerce based business become slimmer. There are so many products being marketed or launched in the internet almost everyday; websites get launched everyday aimed at doing the same thing—to sell a product. Hence, the need for better websites becomes a requirement if you want to make it in the e-commerce business. One of the ways to add a competitive edge to your website is by adding live chat support softwares. Through live chat support softwares, consumers can communicate live to operators on the spot where they can ask their queries about a product, ask for assistance, etc. One of the most popular live chat support software is the Live Chat Bot.

A bot, also known as chat robot or chatterboxes, is a computer program that can simulate human conversations. This bot uses artificial intelligence (AI) that allows the program to carry on intelligent conversations by using textual or auditory methods to spot keywords from the customer’s input and checking them against similar sentence patterns that are stored in its local database. It is true that a bot has its limitations when it comes to the range of human conversations it can carry on; of course, it always feels better to talk to a real person. Nevertheless, a live chat bot has its own advantages.

A live chat bot can really come handy for websites that are visited heavily by customers. Unlike people, a bot doesn’t rest, doesn’t burn out, and can handle numerous customers at a time. It’s a very efficient and cost-effective way to attend to your online customers. As the internet operates 24-hours, 7 days a week, using a robot can be a real business asset since it can operate non-stop. At the same time, instead of hiring five live operators or employees, you just need one of them to do the same job and even more work than five people can usually manage. Due to the fact that is a computer program, they can be programmed to answer queries or assist customers more patiently and more politely. With regards the concern on the human touch, certain bots can be programmed to be quite engaging. There are also other uses for a live chat bot; it can conduct your one-line surveys for you, conduct tutoring systems, provide instructions, etc.

The use of chat bots can really do a lot of things to your e-commerce business. Aside from the fact that they are cost-effective and very efficient, they are also very easy to come by. There are so many companies nowadays offering a live bot software and you just need to take a couple of minutes to install a live chat bot management software into your website.

Online consumers are wise and very particular when it comes to the products they purchase nowadays. It is normal for them to have so many inquiries about the items and goods they want to buy. Of course, they like it best when the answers are given to them as quickly as possible. So, if you are venturing in this kind of business, providing live chat customer support is a big advantage. Live chat customer support allows businesses to conveniently connect with their customers. Communicating in real time with the visitors on your website doesn’t take much time as opposed to merely waiting for their emailed inquiries. The convenience and speed it offers for customers give way to a better online shopping experience and that means higher profit for your business.

This type of support center is best for online industries or businesses with online stores since they already have websites where live support system can be easily integrated to. However, you need to have an informed knowledge about the different live chat support tools available and what kind of system best suits the industry you have. You should look for a live chat service which is easy to set up, requires simple upholding and has the basic tools: a live chat application with real time visitor monitoring, custom chat windows, an invisible traffic analysis and secure administration controls. It is better if additional features are included such as built-in spell checker, pre-written chat greetings which are customizable, the ability to transfer live chats to another operator whenever necessary and the option of emailing a transcript of the chat session to customers.

In case you are worrying about online security, many live chat services are offering SSL or Secure Sockets Layer that secure online data transfer with the use of cryptographic system. It has two keys of data encryption: a public one which is known to everyone and a private key known only to the recipient of the message. This kind of security allows customers to feel at ease when inquiring about sensitive matters. As for the part of the website hosts, they can easily block an IP address used by a customer who harasses operators. One and one support does not only increase the satisfaction of your customers. It also helps you collect information about your online customers such as the pages they visit frequently, the browser they use, the website from which they came from or if they have been on your website before. With this, you have the chance to know more about what online consumers like and need – something that can help you in promoting your website in a better fashion.

With the presence of many live support systems to select from, it is important that you know what features must be looked for in such.

• Quick Phrases or Macros.
This feature allows operators to prepare canned replies for commonly asked questions to avoid having to type them repeatedly.

• Operator to Operator communication.
This feature lets operators to send messages and notifications to one another as well as see each other’s online and off status.

• Web interface customization.
The color, style sheet and company specific logos must be suited to your website. It has to be impressive and pleasing to the visitors.

• Operator customization.
This allows modifying most of the applications to suit the work habits of the operator.

• Offline messages.
This feature lets visitors to leave messages to an operator if he is currently unavailable or busy. The operator will then receive a notification message as soon as gets back.

• IP blocking.
Visitors who harass operators and abuse the system can be banned from accessing the website or the chat server.

• Call transfer and conference calls.
This feature lets operators ask for help from other available operators. It’s either another operator joins the support session or the case is completely transferred to him.

• URL push.
URLs which are pushed to a visitor open in a new browser window. It also lets the operator to instruct the browser to go to a new page using the same window giving the visitor an impression of the site.

• Multiple Departments.
Live help is present in the various departments like Sales, Marketing and Technical Support.

• Real time website traffic monitor.
This feature tracks visitors to your website and lets you see their IP address, the page they are currently viewing, the number of pages they have visited and the time they have spent on your site.

• Forums.
Forum acts a meeting place where operators and visitors can share ideas and have discussions in real time.

• Queue with automatic load distribution.
A maximum work load can be assigned to each operator. Under this system, visitors are assigned to the operators who currently have the least load. This enables the support center to give operators different work loads according on their skills and experience.

• Visual and Sound notification.
• Multilingual system.
• Native application.
• Tabbed sessions.

An efficient tabbed interface can be used by the operators in handling multiple support sessions.

Live chat support software is mainly used for improved customer service. It has been present for a while and is widely used nowadays. But how does a live chat support software work exactly and what are the benefits you can get from availing a live chat service program?

When you avail of the live chat support for a website, you will be provided with several snippets of code to be added to your pages. These codes signal the live chat server, which is hosted by the service, when a person views or visits your website. From there, the chat service forwards the signal to the live chat software installed on your computer to let you know that you have a visitor. In some cases, the alert is also sent through an online application. Along with the codes which the chat service provider gave you, a website button is included. This button indicates on your site whether you are available to chat or not.

For example, when your software is disabled, the live chat button on your page will indicate that there is no live support available for the moment, but messages can still be left for the website host. Using the system, you can watch in real-time how the viewer moves and browse through your website. You have the choice to pop out a window at any moment to offer customer service or support to that prospective client–something that is evident in many online stores and service centers these days.

So what are the pros of installing and using chat support software? It is customer convenience; you will be able to give better customer service. Customers, online shoppers are very meticulous when it comes to purchasing materials or services online. With just one unanswered question regarding the product, they can easily get hesitant in buying. By using this kind of software, you can provide answers to your customers at that exact moment. Another gain for you in having support software installed is the fact that you can provide live support – basically what the program is about. Good customer assistance is something that consumers look for next to the quality of the product. Also, the live chat program reassures clients that you can be easily contacted for after-sales customer service support. Many customers prefer this type of customer service over the standard customer service email. As a proof, a lot of ecommerce sites reported that their sales increased by 50% after installing live chat support software.

Live support on your website is very easy and straightforward. You can do it by uploading the scripts or program executables onto your server, virtual server or shared hosting plans. Another way to go is by availing live support solutions from Application Service Providers (ASP). The confusing part comes down to choosing the right live support for your website.

One of the things you can do when looking for the right live support for your website is downloading evaluation version of different software from websites (specially Live chat bot) like CNET’s download.com, Sourceforge, Tucows and Icewalkers. By doing this, you can try the system and assess whether it’s what you need or not.

Most of the open source projects available now for live help and live support are written using PHP, Perl and Java with MySql backend. PHP and MySql are already installed in the server of most web hosting companies, so using a live support that is based on these solutions is easier. You just have to upload the script to your server and add the live help button to your website. Customization is also unfussy with PHP based solutions; modify it either by hiring a specialist on PHP or simply do it in-house. However, if you are expecting a high volume of visitors to your website after using live support, live help systems using PHP and MySql do not scale well because it requires constant polling of the system to see if there are new messages. The ideal solution for a website with many visitors would be a system written in Java or C++. With this kind of support, you will have a socket connection between the client and the server.

Internet or web marketing has paved way for the introduction of Customer Relationship Management or CRM. This strategy helps businesses to learn more about their customer needs and buying behavior. Today, different web based businesses like contact and call centers are now integrating CRM in their marketing strategy through the use of live chat support system. Live chat support system has a lot of benefits to the business and customers. It can provide an instant help or support to the customers. The customers are certain that flexible services are in the bag. Also, it posts advantages as it transcends geographical and chronological boundaries.

Deemed as very user friendly, live chat support systems solve the fear of every business for they do not have to worry on the user’s acceptance. Any internet and computer users can easily adjust to this kind of software technology. This is very similar to online chatting with friends and family members. Just like a phone call to a customer service representative, live chat support system gives the customer the feel of “instant” service. Anyone can chat their queries on the software and can expect to get answers and solutions in a short while. That instant feel for the consumers meant savings in time, effort and money.

As for flexibility concerns, live chat support system allows one customer service representative to attend to multiple customers. This is a good way to give support to more than one customer all at the same time. Another good thing about this flexible service is the satisfaction it will give to the customers because they do not have to wait for their turn. Gone are the days when a customer will have to wait for thirty minutes or more before they can get to talk to a customer service representative. The good services delivered may also be promoted to the spread-of mouth; a good customer is a happy customer.

With the live chat support system, customers are assured of world class service where ever in the globe they are. Problems and issues on time and space are accounted for. Customers just have to log on and they can get clarifications for their concerns in a short while. True enough, this feature of live chat support system breaks the physical, geographical and time boundaries. Armed with a lot of benefits, this new software technology makes certain that your business will never go wrong. The internet can very well help businesses in increasing product and service sales and awareness through the proper usage of live chat support system. Not just is provides superb customer service as mentioned above, it is also a contributing factor in retaining the customers and in inviting potential consumers.