Live chat (live
support) is technology that provides companies with a way to interact with
users when they visit an organization's media properties. Visitors can initiate
a chat session by simply typing a message in the chat window. Behind the
scenes, live chat may be staffed by representatives of the organization or by
chatbot software that uses robotic process automation (RPA) technology to
automate answers to a pre-selected number of common visitor queries.
Live chat is typically implemented through code that is inserted
on selected pages of a website and organizations can decide which pages to make
live chat available. If the vendor's live chat is integrated with the
organization's customer relationship management (CRM) systems, the live
representative can look up user details and to save the transcript to the
customer's customer experience (CX) record.
Live chat is used by sales, marketing and customer support staff
to answer questions from customer and prospects. On the consumer side, live
chat is used by visitors to seek assistance during their website sessions. Live
chat can be provided through in-house commercial software products or
application program interface calls (APIs) to a third-party software as a service
(SaaS) provider.
Some live chat software uses artificial intelligence (AI) to
automate interactions between a user and the brand. Often referred to as smart
chatbots, this type of AI software uses natural language processing (NLP) to
understand users' requests and respond accordingly. When users can't tell that
there isn't a human being on the other end, the chatbot support can be said to
have passed the Turing Test.
Benefits of live chat
Live chat can be used as both a customer service and marketing channel
for organizations. The chats look similar to instant messaging conversations.
The text-based messages are transmitted back and forth in a chat window,
usually without images, audio or video. An example of the customer service use
case is an airline website -- on the flight status page, a customer could chat
with an airline representative to ask for further details about a flight delay.
Live chat can also be used by marketers to qualify prospects or
move users along the sales funnel. For example, a hardware manufacturer could
use live chat on a product pricing page to invite visitors to ask
product-related questions, or a hotel website could use live chat to help users
book a room.
For many users, live chat is considered a more efficient and
expedient customer service channel compared to a phone call. Users don't have
to navigate through phone menus or be placed on hold. Instead, they can
exchange short messages with a company representative. Users can visit other
web pages or check email as they await answers or resolution from the
representative.
From the perspective of the live chat provider, live chat can
provide a form of customer support that costs less than phone-based support. In
addition, live chat can enable sales and marketing personnel to engage with
prospects and move them closer to a purchasing decision.
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