Chat

[Tech Head]

Does anyone have any information on how to manage a Chat support site? We are implementing a chat portion of our site to try and curtail the call load (save money) and are looking for some best practices to assure we are on the right track.

The Chats would all be Technical Support related.

Thanks!

[manojkumar]

I would suggest outsourcing the chat line(s) in that case.

Manoj Matai
manojm@calljunction.com

[mikael]

"We are implementing a chat portion of our site to try and curtail the call load (save money)..."

Is it the telephone costs that you are trying to reduce? You aren't likely to reduce personnel expenses via chat -- unless you are outsourcing the chat line?

[Frank A. Engle]

TH-

You are on the right track...there are effective ways to manage tech support chat and actually save money. The key is to select tech chat agents that are able to handle two, three or more simultaneous chats at the same time. Since human resource expense traditionally makes up the lions share of overhead cost, although you may be paying more per hour for the chat agents, you will generally not pay 2-3 times what you would pay a teleservice agent.

Keep in mind however that effective implementation of CRM
tools and standardized response based on key words will greatly enhance effectiveness of the chat sessions.

You need to develop a simple "cost per contact" formula and then fine tune your chat process the same way you would a teleservice call handling process.

Good Luck!

[mikael]

While it is possible to engage in simultaneous conversations, the depth of the attention you can devote to any one of them is minimal. So long as the questions you are being asked are of the "known answer" variety, you might be able to give a lot of them rapid-fire. But if any of them require you to actually think about your answers...

[C-ONE]

Thanks for the insight.

On a similar note; we just purchased a program called hip bone. I'ts pretty robust as it allows for integration with our Knowledge base, control of what the user can see (web pages), and a few other features.

We're currently getting up to 4 simulataneous chats from our dedicatated techs, so we seem to be inline with the industry.

Thanks again for your input.