Online chat counseling review (Livechat) (part 1)

In their company for those. customer support using chat + helpdesk from kayako, but faced with the need to find a separate online chat service for new projects. According to the old habit - we make a choice like this: we compile a list of minimum requirements, then we find all the services suitable for them and conduct their testing, and from them we choose the best option.

Baseline Requirements:

• The interface is completely in Russian
• Possibility to insert operator's photo
• Active invitations - when the operator can invite a client to chat
• Statistics on visitors - where it came from, what pages looked
• The possibility of transferring the client between operators
• Preservation of the history of communication
• Windows client

Initially, about 30 different chat services approached the starting line to advise clients. We will look at some of them in detail, and for some of them we will only go over in passing.

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Since there are a lot of services, we decided to split the review into 2 parts, 15 pieces each.

Webim

Website: webim.ru
First impression: 4 of 5
Price: from $ 16 for 1 operator per month

One of the oldest chats, starting the countdown of its existence since 2006.

It was one of the first chats that we used for customer support and which was later replaced by a Kayako chat. Over the few years that we have not used the service, it has changed significantly. In 2012, the design of the chat window was completely redesigned, so we included it in the list for retesting.

Buns:

• The ability to work on high-load sites (1 million hits per day, 2000 chats at a time).
• Web call button in the chat and in a separate widget with the ability to receive a call through the program or SIP.
• Integration API with CRM systems, as well as integration with Google Analytics.
• The system for estimating the conversion of Internet traffic.

Croble

Website: krible.ru
First impression: 5 of 5
Price: from 30 USD per month for 2 operators

Service has been actively developing since 2009. About him there have already been several articles on Habré once and twice, so we’ll briefly dwell on competitive advantages.

Buns:

• Answering machine - if the manager has departed, the chat will greet the visitor, and after a while ask you to leave your contacts for communication.
• Video Screensaver - allows you to play videos with a transparent background, to attract attention.
• The ability to use your server for dialogue and storage of history.
• Teleportator - an application with which managers can, talking on the phone, show the buyer goods directly on his computer, in a browser. Available at rates starting from 100 USD per month.

Cloudim

Website: cloudim.ru
First impression: 5/5
Price: from $ 13 per month
The online chat market has appeared relatively recently since 2011.

There is a free tariff, with the support of one operator. Paid tariffs start from $ 16 per operator per month, which is expensive for me.

Buns:

• Jobs via jabber
• Active invitations

Desktop client is, made on Adobe Air.

GoTalk

Website: gotalk.ru
First impression: 5 of 5
Price: from 16 $

There is authorization through VKontakte and facebook. There is a native application for Windows and Linux, and for other operating systems it is recommended to use Jabber clients. We didn’t check how well Jabber support works, but IM +, QIP, PSI support is claimed

Buns:

• End-to-end chat - that is, the client is always recognized even after six months and correspondence with the client is available all the time. Apparently this is implemented through cookies.
• Glossary of terms - used to see such an option in only one chat. It allows you to create a glossary of terms and when a word is used in a chat that is in the dictionary it is highlighted and when you hover the mouse over the word you can see its meaning.
• Original - this option allows you to remove Gotalk copyrights from everywhere, change the domain name in the chat address to your own and replace the favicon icon with your own.

JivoSite

Website: jivosite.ru
First impression: 5 of 5
Price: $ 20 per month for the operator - not the cheapest chat.

For some time we tested the free version of this chat on our website. It is worth noting a simple installation, convenient and pleasant interface.
When we installed this chat on the site, the number of calls to the chat increased significantly, for two reasons. Firstly, because of the greater visibility, secondly, thanks to the option active invitations. In it, you can configure the triggering rules, for example, if a person is on a page with a hosting service for more than 30 seconds, then you can configure the automatic appearance of a chat window with the question: “I see you are interested in hosting services, maybe you have questions?”.

It is this simple option that allows you to "hook" much more potential buyers. By the way, now in an increasing number of chats this option has begun to appear.

Buns:

• Active invitations - mentioned above. Particularly pleased with the opportunity not only to manually invite the visitor to the chat, but also to customize the rules for triggering such invitations.
• Go to break - allows you to switch the operator to break status if the computer has not been used for n minutes.
• Calls from the site - this is already pulling at the "killer feature", at least not everyone has such an option. Allows the customer to make a call directly from the chat to the support service. For the call you will need an installed flash player and a headset.
• Client for mac - this option can also be safely put into benefits, since most chat clients have a maximum for windows and linux.

LiveTex

Website: livetex.ru
First impression: 5 of 5
Price: from 56 cu per month for the operator (42 when paying for the year) - one of the most expensive chats.

The functionality is very similar to the previous Jivosite chat. Here, too, there are active invitations, calls from the site, the client under windows, mac and linux. In general, everything in the chat is made nice and tasty, only the price does not please.
56 ye. per month for 1 operator - this is the most expensive chat in the first part of our review. Partly this price is justified by the function of calls from the site, but competitors with similar functionality have solutions and are cheaper.

Buns:

• Calls and call forwarding to SIP
• Lead Generator - this is how ordinary offline messages were called, which can be left when there are no online operators.
• API - the presence of the API allows you to implement some non-standard options that are not available by default
• Prematch fields - you can add arbitrary fields that the visitor must fill in before starting the dialogue, for example the order number.
• Holding messages - if the operator does not respond for a while, then you can configure the display of messages like “please wait for a free operator”, or set up an automatic switch to a free operator.

Onicon

Website: onicon.ru
First impression: 5 of 5
Price: from 18 euro per month for 2 operators

Buns:

• Hidden mode - allows you to hide the online chat button manually or under certain conditions
• Knowledge Base - allows you to create a list of pre-prepared answers to frequently asked questions.
• Live forms - allows you to connect existing forms on the site. Those. You have a feedback form on your site, or an order in a store. You turn on "Live Forms" and all the fillings of these forms start coming straight to Onikon in real time.
• The history of the dialogue is visible to the visitor during the second visit.

P3chat

Website: p3chat.com
Design and usability: 4 of 5
Price: 1.99 USD for 1 operator per month

There is no client as such, but support for a large number of instant messengers is declared, among them
XMPP / Jabber clients. Google Talk, iChat, eBuddy, Exodus, etc.
ICQ clients. ICQ, QIP, AIM, Trillian, Miranda IM, etc.
YIM customers. Yahoo! Messenger (YIM), Pidgin (Gaim), Meebo, etc.

Buns:

• The first is the support of a large number of different messengers, which eliminates the need to install a separate client, although it limits functionality.
• Multilingual - this option is also worth noting separately, since the chat boasts a translation into 21 languages, including even such exotic as Catalan or Galician.

Redhelper

Website: redhelper.ru
First impression: 5 of 5
Price: from 30 USD for 1 operator per month

Also a kind of newcomer to chat services, he appeared in 2011.
Immediately catches the eye is a very original site design, and the chat itself is also very nice.

Buns:

• The operator's application allows you to monitor the client and highlight the elements of the site in his browser
• The API provides the possibility of complete restyling of the chat for the site design and most of the necessary integration functions.
• Watching the print - the function allows you to see what the visitor is typing before he sent the message.
• Site through the eyes of the visitor - in the operator's application, you can observe how the visitor moves around the site.

SiteHelp

Website: sitehelp.inkiev.net
First impression: 3 of 5
Price: 0 - free chat

Perhaps the price and support of Jabber is the main advantage of this chat. The design is very simple, without any frills, there is also a function of inviting the visitor to chat and auto-answer and detailed information about the visitor, in general, the functionality is fairly standard.
There is only one question due to which the system will be monetized and developed. It's not clear yet.

Buns:

• Chat is completely free - this is the main bun.

SPEXE

Website: spexe.com
First impression: 4 of 5
Price: from 19 USD per operator per month

Buns:

• Call back on your mobile - callback order function with verification of the owner of the number by SMS.
• Operator selection - the visitor can choose with which operator he wants to talk.
• Skype-button to call the operator to check the status of the specified skype-logins
• Integration with the userecho feedback system
• Chat can be an application for Vkontakte
• Conveniently, several services are integrated in one button. Chat, callback, feedback form and Skype call.

WebConsult

Website: consultsystems.ru
First impression: 5 of 5
Price: from 11 USD per operator per month

Functional standard for chat. The design is quite pleasant + you can customize it through a visual editor. Operators can work only through the web client and Jabber, there is no Windows application.

Buns:

• Pulse - monitor managers in real time using a moving timeline with events
• Distribution of clients among consultants - you can configure several levels of support. For example: by default, all clients are at level one, and if at the first level all operators are offline, then they fall at the second level.

WebConsultant

Website: consultant-web.ru
First impression: 4 of 5
Price: 163 USD perpetual license

Perhaps one of the main features of this chat is that it is not distributed on the basis of the subscription fee, but is available for a one-time payment, for an amount of about 160 ye.

The next advantage is that the system is installed completely on your server, and accordingly only you have access to the entire correspondence.

The client can access the file transfer and send the dialogue to the email and the operator's score.

The design and interface of the chat is simple and clear, it is convenient to use. But unfortunately for us the main drawback is the absence of any desktop application.

Buns:

• Chat is installed completely on your server, and accordingly you get complete independence from third-party services.
• Any features other than the ability to buy a lifetime license was not found.

Note:

Those functions that can be called a competitive advantage, that is, either those that the competitors do not have, or those that are implemented particularly well, were put into buns.
Most of the options are very similar, so we did not describe them separately, but put them into a comparative table.
We asked to provide data for the table directly from the product developers, so that they correspond to reality as much as possible, for which we thank them separately.

Statistics:

It is worth noting that of the 13 tested chat rooms, only 2 chat rooms (Spexe and GoTalk) open in a new window, the rest of the chat rooms open in the same window, on top of the page. We specifically checked if all the chat rooms that open on top of the page retain the dialog when going to another page and should note that everyone has done this task.

All chats have active invitations except p3chat. But not everyone has an active invitation under the conditions, only 10.
Jabber support is available in 9 of 13 chats.

The boxed version is only available in two Webim and WebConsultant chats, other services provide a service only as SaaS.

Personal result:

So from the 13 discussed in the first part of the article, we immediately excluded a number of chats, which were not suitable for us, and we will continue to test the rest.

Excluded: gotalk and spexe - because the chat opens in a new window, sitehelp - because it has no obvious advantages, except for free. WebConsultant, WebConsult and onicon due to the lack of a desktop windows client (although it is worth noting that Jabber has support in WebConsult). p3chat - due to the lack of active invitations.
Stay : Cloudim, Jivosite, Krible, Livetex, Redhelper and Webim with which we continue testing, the results of which we will write in the next article.

Perhaps it is worth noting that the review is subjective, since we choose the chat for ourselves, and at the same time we decided to share useful information.

In the next part of the article, we will look at the remaining services and several English-language online chat rooms for consulting and try to compare them with “our” developments.