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08-05-2005, 09:20 PM #1Temporarily Suspended
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Live chat on web sites, annoying?
Hey
What do you guys think when you see live chat on a site? do you ever use it? Would you talk to the person on the other end if they sent a chat request to you?
Just want to know peoples general opinion on this.
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08-05-2005, 09:28 PM #2Web Hosting Master
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I personally hate livechat.
Whenever someone attempts to "initiate" a chat with me, I normally ask them A/S/L and what they're wearing at that time.
Most ignore it and disappear!
Works for the both of us.
I also hate livechat in general though, being what I would consider a "tech" myself (client representative): I've had to use livechat in the past and it's one of the least productive methods of resolving an issue or even communicating that theres an issue.
Phones are twice as unproductive though.
Tickets will be king forever, hopefully.
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08-05-2005, 09:38 PM #3Disabled
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Hello, intek
I think from expirence and seeing other companys, I think live chat has came a long way. It is a very usefull tool to communicate with someone anywhere any time in the world. The same thing with a telephone, but lets say that a person dont have long distance and he wants quick answers to his questions right away, you can assist that person with live chat. Submiting Tickets to me is good but how about those that dont have the time or if he has an emergency what would he do wait a while ? No that person will take his questions and concerns to the next company!
Thanks
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08-05-2005, 09:39 PM #4Newbie
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I think it is a great idea. If I'm greeted by a chat request it can make the experience seem friendlier and as I don’t come across it very often it gives me a reason to remember them over other sites I might have come across.
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08-05-2005, 09:42 PM #5Retired Moderator
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If you want to annoy me, add a popup live chat thingy like Rackspace has to your site. The effect is guaranteed.
What do you guys think when you see live chat on a site? do you ever use it?
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08-05-2005, 09:43 PM #6Newbie
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you can try using Yahoo Messenger if your client needs you...
put your YM status in your website page.. fast enough"Knowledge is power..." (Sir Francis Bacon)
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08-05-2005, 09:49 PM #7Texas Female
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Ours is "away" most of the time. I tend to keep it that way on purpose as Ive been known to leave and forgot I had it "on" (ugh!)
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08-05-2005, 10:33 PM #8Just a Customer, Not a Host.
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I hate live chat support. I even hate phone support. Tickets and email are the two best forms of support in my opinion. Sometimes it takes time to run tests to figure out just what the problem is, and the whole time your working hard on testing the customer is sitting there getting less friendly as time goes on because he wanted an answer 10 seconds before he typed it.
I think live chat support just leads to anger that wouldn't have occured if the user had used the ticket system.WHT is now used as the Universal Hosting Helpdesk.
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08-05-2005, 10:39 PM #9Aspiring Evangelist
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I would have to agree with Zeyr. I much rather use tickets and emails for support. I would use live chat if I had a few sales questions but I do not like it when companies try to initiate a chat.
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08-05-2005, 10:41 PM #10Junior Guru Wannabe
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It has its pros and cons...
I make it a point to NEVER initate a chat unless a user does. I know how annoying it is when someone does it to me!
I think the best use of Live Chat is for Pre-Sales support. If the user has a question prior to signing up, they can get fast answers that wayC-4 Hosting
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08-05-2005, 11:19 PM #11WebHostingTalk Lover
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Originally posted by David
I personally hate livechat.
Whenever someone attempts to "initiate" a chat with me, I normally ask them A/S/L and what they're wearing at that time.
Most ignore it and disappear!
Works for the both of us.
I also hate livechat in general though, being what I would consider a "tech" myself (client representative): I've had to use livechat in the past and it's one of the least productive methods of resolving an issue or even communicating that theres an issue.
Phones are twice as unproductive though.
Tickets will be king forever, hopefully.█• Taskade - To-Do List & Tasks • All-in-One To-Do List & Mind Map App for Remote Teams
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08-06-2005, 01:36 AM #12Disabled
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I do like live chat, and it's very good if its proper use is defined. I tell our staff not to initiate a chat with visitors on the site, and pretend the feature is not there. Further, if the issue is even somewhat technical and requires more than a few minutes of enquiry, I ask them to open a ticket so we can look at the issue further.
Basically, we reserve live chat for presales and level1 support.
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08-06-2005, 01:50 AM #13
It's a sure way to lose me. If I am browsing your site, it is because I may show some interest, but I would like to browse in peace. If I want to chat to someone, I will hit the chat button. But if you pop one up, I am gone...sorry I will take my business to a less intrusive host.
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08-06-2005, 07:42 AM #14Retired Moderator
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I always saw site-initiated live chat requests as the equivilant of a salesperson coming up to me in a department store.
If I want your help with something - I'll ask!<?php echo "Signature here"; ?>
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08-06-2005, 08:32 AM #15Disabled
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Originally posted by P-nut
I always saw site-initiated live chat requests as the equivilant of a salesperson coming up to me in a department store.
If I want your help with something - I'll ask!
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08-06-2005, 10:56 AM #16Disabled
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live chat is only helpful for support, not sales
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08-06-2005, 11:04 AM #17Disabled
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Originally posted by vsa4197
live chat is only helpful for support, not sales
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08-06-2005, 11:05 AM #18Junior Guru Wannabe
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Originally posted by vsa4197
live chat is only helpful for support, not sales
I've had plenty of clients that has used our live support features to ask questions pertaining to their requirements prior to signing up with us. Its been a useful tool for pre-sales support!C-4 Hosting
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08-06-2005, 11:27 AM #19Web Hosting Master
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Livechat is more useful to sales: Support is just a hassle via livechat unless it's just a quick question.
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08-06-2005, 11:57 AM #20Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by David
Livechat is more useful to sales: Support is just a hassle via livechat unless it's just a quick question.
If a live chat session is initiated by an operator, that is annoying
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08-06-2005, 12:02 PM #21Disabled
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Hi,
Live chat is only useful if you find solution of your problem online. Most of the hosting company request you to raise a support ticket in their live chat.
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08-06-2005, 02:40 PM #22Invented the Internet
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We've been using IRC support for about 3 years. I can say its absolutely more efficient than phone or ticket support. You get to ask follow up questions in real time, without having to wait for a response in a ticket....and a customer can copy/paste error messages or print out the chat session to refer to later. There are times when we have to tell a client to put in a helpdesk ticket so that our admin can look at an issue...but that's rare.
You can do ALOT of support via IRC...and sales as well. You guys can dismiss it as a good support method if you want, but I believe it is absolutely the best thing we've ever added to our services.
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08-06-2005, 02:44 PM #23Disabled
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Tina, that's interesting. The only thing about that is that I like any support sessions to be logged for any future reference, which isn't done in IRC.
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08-06-2005, 02:48 PM #24Junior Guru Wannabe
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Originally posted by AH-Tina
You guys can dismiss it as a good support method if you want, but I believe it is absolutely the best thing we've ever added to our services.
--Tina
I'm not extremely familar with IRC, but is there much of a difference between IRC and say AIM, MSN, or ICQ?
Thanks!C-4 Hosting
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08-06-2005, 02:52 PM #25Invented the Internet
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Originally posted by Hostultrix-Brandon
Tina, that's interesting. The only thing about that is that I like any support sessions to be logged for any future reference, which isn't done in IRC.
It most certainly is logged.
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