Online Chat Software | How-to Guides for running your business from Business.com

Using online chat software, you can bring a human touch to your website, whether it’s social networking, a help desk or a forum. Live chat and live help software can capture customer information to generate sales leads and can also launch a pop-up dialog window to initiate a chat with a visitor to your website. When purchased as a hosted application live chat software resides on the vendor’s server.

When shopping for online chat software, consider the following:

1. Adding real-time chat to your website with live chat software.
2. Hosted versus nonhosted online chat software solutions.
3. Capturing customer information with live chat applications.
4. Meeting customer services needs with live help software.
5. Free online chat programs.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Adding chat to your website with live chat software

Online chat software makes it easy to add chat to your help desk or website. Online chat programs offer a variety of functions, such as a one-to-one dialog between a customer and representative, an open chat room for multiple visitors and the ability to launch chat dialog windows to initiate a chat with someone who is visiting your website.

I recommend: The WebBoard ChatSpace Community Server from Akiva Corporation is a live chat software package that also includes message boards, instant messaging, live events and queued help.

Hosted versus nonhosted online chat software

You can choose to host your chat room in-house by downloading online chat programs onto your own server, or you can use an off-site, hosted, subscription-based service.

I recommend: 123 Flash Chat from TopCMM Software Corp. offers both hosted and nonhosted online chat software solutions with price structures based on the number of users. Both versions integrate with your website database and are scalable to host from 50 to an unlimited number of concurrent users. Omnistar Interactive’s Omnistar Live online chat programs come in both hosted and desktop versions, including a buyout option for the nonhosted version that eliminates annual licensing fees.

Capture customer information with live chat software

The more expensive, professional editions of live chat applications offer more visibility into the customer, capturing customer data and generating reports that can serve as sales leads, allowing the chat room to pay for itself over and over.

I recommend: WebsiteAlive offers live chat software that captures customer information from each visitor who clicks the live chat icon allowing you to view which URL your visitors clicked to reach your website; what country, state and city they logged in from; their browser information; which pages they have visited; and how long they have been on your website. The online chat programs from eLiveService offer chat message logging and transcripts.

Meeting customer service needs with live help software

Thanks to live help software, live chat has become a valuable component of today's help desk. Live help software can provide a cost-effective instant dialog with the customer along with the ability to push solutions.

I recommend: Provide Support offers live help software customized for specific industries including the insurance, real estate, pharmacy, car rental and financial industries. Chat4Support live help software from Coding Best Software allows your representatives to send prepared solutions to the customer from your knowledge base, while saving chat sessions and reporting customer information and chat statistics. ZaZaChat offers a complete help desk live chat software for e-businesses with trouble ticket management.

Free online chat software

Many vendors offer a free, scaled-down version of their online chat programs for individuals or small business use.

I recommend: eLiveService’s free edition has all the same features as its advanced live chat applications except it is limited to two operator accounts and the dialog window cannot be customized. In addition to offering hosted and nonhosted live chat software, ParaChat Group’s ParaChat provides a basic chat room free of charge.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

Hosted online chat programs are generally priced by the number of visitors to your chat rooms.
Live help software features allow your sales representatives to initiate dialog with a pop-up chat window.
Look for hosted online chat software solutions that offer chat encryption to ensure private dialogs.
Make sure your live chat software solution is compatible with all the major web browsers.
Find live chat applications that allow customization of the dialog window so you can add your logo and other branding.

The official source of Online Chat Software is the Online Chat Software page at Business.com

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