I have been looking for a live help system for my Web site and have found that none offer the feature mix at the right price. I am considering programming it myself and was thinking of offering it as a service when I am done.

The service would be hosted for a minimal charge of $5-10 per operator per month. It would offer a cross-platform desktop application for operators. Customers would chat using their browser.

The primary features would be:

Encryption - not just from customer to the server, but from server to the desktop application. Many live help applications forget the latter.

Groups - operators can be assigned to groups

Internal chat - operators can talk to one another

Ratings - customers can rate operators

Logs - every chat, operator chat request, and customer chat request is logged

Visitor history - operators can see where visitors have been

Typing indicator - customers and agents are informed when the other is typing

Operator transfer - transfer the customer to another agent

Push web pages - redirect the visitor to a web page of your choice

Canned responses - easily select commonly used responses

GeoTracking - see where the people on your site are located

Highly customizable frontend - Since this is hosted there may be concern with how customizable the frontend is. It would use a template system and people could make their own templates


Is this something that anyone would be interested in? Are there any must-have features that are missing?

server to the desktop application
Typically that is what your firewall and security software is for...

Basically seems like providesupport.com

Typically that is what your firewall and security software is for...

Basically seems like providesupport.com

What do you mean? Encryption has nothing to do with your firewall or security software. Encryption has to do with network traffic and ensuring nothing is snooped. The strongest firewall in the world does not protect network traffic when it leaves an unsecured wireless router to your laptop.

The feature set would be similar to provide support.

Encryption has to do with network traffic and ensuring nothing is snooped. The strongest firewall in the world does not protect network traffic when it leaves an unsecured wireless router to your laptop.
Well then my question is why are you running a business with an unsecured wireless router from your laptop.

If your so mighty concerned that your data is getting sniffed then use a webbased operator console in https 256bit security

There is always a market for a new and improved script

Yes, I am think I will create this service. What do you think of a different pricing model? Currently providers charge per operator. What if I charged for resources used?

The primary resources being used are:

1) The image showing online or offline

2) The customer checking the server for updates (such as new chat invitations)

3) The operator checking the server for updates (who is online, chat requests, etc).

So, I was thinking of charging on a per request basis for the above. That way, you can have 100 operators if you want. You can set your own performance metrics (operator checks server every X seconds) depending on how much you want to spend.

Lastly, it ties price more closely with costs. This way customers who use little resources pay little and customers who use many resources pay for it.

Do you think this model would confuse customers?