What is Live Chat? Key Benefits, Examples & Best Practices

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  • Convert Leads in Real Time

    Engage with website visitors in real-time with the help they need, making it easier to convert leads into customers and increase sales.

  • Offer Your Customers Self-Service

    With self-service options, customers can get quick answers to their questions without waiting on hold, improving the overall customer experience and reducing support costs.

  • Provide Multi Channel Support Options

    Showcase all your communication options inside your chat messenger. It provides customers with convenient options to get help whenever they need it.

  • Target Visitors with the Right Messaging

    Increase your marketing reach by tracking visitors on their website and reaching out to them at the right time with the right messaging, resulting in increased engagement and conversion rates.

  • Book Meetings Instantly via Messenger

    Seamlessly book meetings with potential customers within the messenger, without going back and forth communication. Live chat software streamlines the sales process and makes it more efficient.

  • Powerful Analytics For Visitor Tracking

    Empower your team with powerful analytics and insights, allowing them to track visitor behavior on their website. Make informed decisions to optimize marketing efforts with live chat functionality.

Customer experience has become the driving force that gives companies an edge over their competition. Live chat is one of many approaches to improve the CX, but why specifically should businesses invest in this technology?

From improving response times and engaging customers to providing personalized solutions and understanding customers’ needs more deeply, live chat functionality can offer numerous advantages over other customer service avenues. We will look at how businesses can optimize their CX with live chat and what makes it such an effective tool for customers.

What is Live Chat: Definition

Live chat is defined as an online messaging channel that allows customers to directly interact with the support staff in real-time. It can be used to provide customer support, increase online conversions, make sale offers, redirect customers to helpful content on your website, share promotions and more.

Live Chat Stats

Live chat software serves as a valuable tool for businesses to offer immediate support, answer questions, and guide visitors through their website or app. It can significantly enhance customer service, improve user experience, and increase conversion rates.

Live Chat Advantages for Businesses

Live chat software is preferred by many businesses as it helps them to understand their customer’s wants and align their services to their expectations. Let’s explore its advantages.

Live Chat Advantages for Businesses

The key advantages are as follows:

  • Live chat is more real-time than email, phone, or social media channels.
  • Customers can reach your business instantly from any platform.
  • Establishes better relationships with customers due to the one-on-one connection it provides.
  • You can quickly respond to multiple inquiries simultaneously.
  • You have real insights into what your customers are thinking, thanks to the conversation transcripts left on a live chat system.
  • It is an easy way to generate leads and build relationships with potential clients.
  • A good way to personalize customer service is to build trust and loyalty in the company’s brand.
  • Can increase customer satisfaction by providing support exactly when they need it.
  • Live chat is more cost-effective than employing staff members to field calls, which reduces operational costs.
  • Questions can be automated which helps in saving agents from having to answer easy and repetitive questions.

Live Chat Advantages for Customers

Customers prefer online chat because they get immediate responses. When the response time is low, customers are delighted, and their satisfaction level increases.

Live Chat Advantages for Customers

Key advantages for customers are as follows:

  • Live chat is available 24/7, allowing customers to get help when needed.
  • Live chat software allows for a more personal connection between customer and business.
  • Online chat conversations provide an easier way to track customer history and account details than with other channels.
  • Live chat functionality improves response time, as customers’ queries are answered quickly.
  • There is no waiting time like on the phone or via email; both parties can join the conversation within seconds.
  • Easily share screenshots, links, and documents through live chat which makes it easier for customers to provide information about their issues quickly.
  • Customers can multi-task while engaged in a live chat session.
  • Live chat increases website sales by providing easy access to quick customer service and answers while potential customers are still shopping.
  • It eliminates the need to explain complex matters multiple times.

How Does Live Chat Work?

Live chat is the fastest way for a customer to reach out to a business for answers to their questions or concerns. It typically takes form in an instant messaging system, though it could include other types of interactive media such as text messages, video, or voice calls.

The live chat functionality provides customers with options so they can find exactly what they need in less time and with fewer clicks compared to traditional phone/email contact methods.

  • Website owners install a code into their website, giving customers access to a chat window.
  • As customers browse the site, they can open the chat window and ask a question or submit feedback.
  • The website owner has someone (or a team) who responds to those live chats in real time.
  • These questions are then tracked in the live chat platform or customer service software, allowing for better tracking of customer satisfaction and issues.

Must-Have Features Live Chat Support

Live chat enables real-time communication between a website visitor and its operators. The used engagement becomes efficient with its prompt solution to sales & support-related queries.

Must-Have Live Chat Features

1. Inbox’s 360-Degree Visibility

Live chat offers a unified omnichannel inbox that unifies all customer conversations from various channels like live chat, email and messaging apps into one single platform. It provides businesses with complete visibility to assign, monitor and measure the agent’s performance.

2. Chat Campaigns for Proactive Engagement

Online chat empowers businesses to be proactive by engaging with customers with automated campaigns by deploying conversational bots. They collect user data from past conversations and use it to personalize campaigns that offer relevant content based on customer needs.

3. Integrated Knowledge Base for Self-Service

Live chat tool includes an integrated knowledge base, which allows customers to find solutions without reaching out to the customer service agent. It boosts team productivity by enabling agents to quickly access relevant information when handling customer queries.

4. Workflows and Rules to Accelerate Efficiency

The workflows and rules capabilities within the live chat tool help teams respond quickly to customer concerns while promoting better organizational efficiency. Automated rules can be set up to organize, prioritize and route conversations as per team preferences.

5. AI Chatbots for Sales & Support Automation

Leveraging AI-enabled helps brands to improve customer service interactions through an automated approach. Bots can converse with the user through natural language processing, making it easier to find what they are looking for.

6. Powerful Customer Analytics

Live chat software helps in collecting data such as average handle time (AHT), first response time (FRT), percentage of resolved conversations, etc., which are key metrics used to measure the performance of an organization’s customer service operations.

Benefits of Live Chat on Website

Looking to maximize customer engagement with live chat software? We’ve outlined the key benefits of implementing live chat technology into your customer service strategy.

Benefits of Live Chat on Website

1. Increase customer satisfaction: Live chat allows businesses to provide customers with personalized, real-time responses to their queries and concerns, helping boost satisfaction levels and loyalty.
2. Higher conversion rates: With live support and immediate feedback from agents, customers are more likely to complete purchases, increasing overall conversion rates.
3. Support cost savings: Live chat software can save businesses a significant amount of money compared to traditional telephone support in terms of staffing costs and operational expenses.
4. Generate qualified leads: Through monitoring and tracking tools, businesses can identify potential prospects who appear interested in their services or products and generate qualified leads immediately by connecting them with an agent via live chat box.
5. Automation & scalability: Live Chat Solutions come with automation capabilities that allow companies to scale quickly as operations expand, reducing both bottlenecks at peak times and workloads on team while meeting customer demands in an efficient manner.

Live Chat Best Practices and Tips

Like any other tool, live chat must be used strategically to achieve the desired results. Here, we will discuss six best practices and tips for utilizing live chat effectively for sales, support, and customer experience.

Live chat best practices

1. Personalize the Chat Experience
Ensure the chat widget is customized to reflect the brand’s tone of voice and deliver a personalized chat experience to the customers. Greet customers and use positive language as it shows empathy.

2. Be Quick to Respond
Speed is crucial when it comes to live chat. Customers expect a quick response, so deliver instant responses when a chat comes in. Longer wait times frustrate the customer who eventually can abandon the chat.

3. Have Pre-Written Responses Ready
Having pre-draft answers can speed up the workflow and help agents respond more quickly. It can include standard replies to FAQs, such as delivery times or refund policies. Ensure that your responses are personalized and not robotic.

4. Leverage AI Chatbots
AI chatbots can manage chat volume and provide more precise answers to simple inquiries. A bot can be trained to automate the common queries without losing the human touch. The complex queries can be directed to the support team for efficient response.

5. Establish Agent Guidelines
Consistency is key to delivering excellent customer service. Agents should be trained to follow the brand’s tone of voice and have access to all necessary resources to provide the best possible support. Establish clear guidelines for your agents to follow during chat interactions.

6. Follow Up After Chat
Following up after a chat conversation is an excellent way to reinforce client relationships. Thank them for their time, ask for feedback, and ensure their issue has been fixed. It shows customers that you genuinely care about their experience and are committed to their satisfaction.

Top 6 of Live Chat Software

With so many options available, businesses can find it confusing to choose the right live chat software for your needs. We’ve curated an extensive list for you to refer and decide.

Omni24

Omni Inbox

Great Live Chat Software for top-notch customer support

Omni24 is a customer experience software that offers live chat, email automation and a knowledge base to support businesses in providing excellent customer service. The platform allows for seamless integration with various e-commerce platforms and boasts of powerful features for easy customization as well as management.

Keys features:

  • Live Chat: Omni24’s provides real-time communication between customers and support agents on websites/apps. Offers features like chat routing, canned responses, and file sharing for efficient support.
  • Real-time chat: Enables instant communication with website visitors, allowing quick problem-solving and customer engagement.
  • Knowledge Base: Omni24 offers a customizable knowledge base that enables businesses to provide self-service options for customers and prevent repetitive requests.
  • Automated chat routing: The software can automatically route chats to the most suitable agent based on factors like language, skill set, and availability.
  • Ticket Management: Organizes customer inquiries into trackable tickets, enabling prioritization, assignment, and resolution tracking. The feature streamlines support workflows and ensures no customer request falls through the cracks.
  • Unified Conversation View: Provides a comprehensive overview of each customer’s interaction history across all channels. Agents can access all relevant information in one place, enabling more personalized and efficient support.

Pricing: Omni24’s pricing starts from $29/user/month and goes up to $149/user/month based on the features. All plans come with 14 days free trial that include a shared inbox, knowledge base and omnichannel support.

Veemo Chat

Veemo Chat inbox

Best Live Chat Platform with comprehensive messaging solutions

Veemo Chat is an omnichannel live chat software that helps businesses communicate with their customers in real-time, providing a seamless customer support experience. Businesses use Veemo Chat to offer instant support to website visitors, resolve issues and provide personalized recommendations. One of its use cases is sales, where businesses engage with potential customers, address their concerns and guide them towards making a purchase.

Key features:

  • 360-Degree Customer View: Veemo provides a 360-degree view of the customer that includes chat transcripts, emails, social media interactions and more. It helps businesses to personalize communications and provide more targeted support.
  • Widget Customization: Customize your chat widget to match your brand with a wide range of design options and advanced customization features.
  • Automated Chatbots: Use Veemo’s AI-powered chatbots to handle basic customer queries and free up time for customer service agents to manage more complex issues.
  • Knowledge Base: Build a comprehensive database of information and resources for customers to find answers to their questions independently. Includes search functionality, categorization and article management.
  • Surveys and feedback: The software can create and distribute surveys to gather feedback from customers, helping in understanding customer needs as well as improve overall satisfaction levels.

Pricing: Veemo’s pricing plans start from $29/user/month and go up to $129/user/month based on the features and add-ons. The software pricing is also customizable as per business requirements. Sign up to learn more!

Drift

Drift Live Chat Dashboards

Excellent Live chat tool for easy marketing solution

Drift is a conversational marketing and sales platform that includes live chat as one of its core features. It incorporates chatbots and artificial intelligence to handle routine queries and qualify leads before handing them off to human agents.

The software allows businesses to proactively engage website visitors with targeted messaging and offers based on their behavior and profile. Drift enables customers and prospects to easily schedule meetings with sales or support teams directly from the chat window.

Pricing: Starts at $50/month for the Premium plan with custom pricing for larger teams and enterprise-level features.

Zendesk Chat

zendesk Chat Dashboard

Best Live chat solution for exceptional CX

Zendesk Chat is a live chat solution that is part of the broader Zendesk customer service platform. It integrates with other Zendesk products, enabling businesses to provide seamless omnichannel support across multiple channels.

The software provides agents with customizable workspaces that display relevant customer data, knowledge base articles and chat history. It allows businesses to set up automated triggers based on visitor behavior, enabling proactive engagement and support.

Pricing: Starts at $15/month per agent for the Growth plan with higher-tier plans available for more advanced features.

Freshdesk Messaging

Freshchat Live Chat Dashboard

Innovative Live chat tool to achieve real-time satisfaction

Freshdesk Messaging is a live chat solution from Freshworks that can be integrated with its customer service platform. The software enables agents to provide real-time co-browsing assistance to customers, allowing them to view and interact with the customer’s screen.

Freshdesk Messaging supports automated chat workflows, enabling businesses to streamline and standardize their support processes. The software integrates with various channels like email, social media, and messaging apps, providing a unified customer communication platform.

Pricing: Starts at $14/month per agent for the Suite Team plan, with higher-tier plans available for larger teams and advanced features.

Olark

Olark Live Chat Dashboard

Reliable live chat tool to elevate your customer experience

Olark is a live chat software that focuses on simplicity and ease of use. It allows businesses to monitor and track website visitors in real-time, enabling proactive engagement and support.

The software stores chat transcripts and history, enabling agents to quickly review previous interactions with customers. Olark offers a highly customizable chat box that can be tailored to match the brand’s design and user experience.

Pricing: Starts at $15/month for the Fold plan, with higher-tier plans available for larger teams and more advanced features.

Live Chat Use Cases Across Different Industries

Live chat software is perfect for businesses looking to enhance overall user experience. While you’re familiar with the traditional uses, there are many creative ways to leverage this tool.

  • E-commerce Customer Support
    Live chat can be a powerful tool for online stores to provide real-time assistance to customers during the purchasing process. Agents can help with product inquiries, order placement or troubleshooting, which leads to increased sales and customer satisfaction.
  • Lead Generation and Nurturing
    Businesses can use live chat to engage with website visitors, capture leads, and nurture them through the sales funnel. Proactive chat invitations can be triggered based on visitor behavior, allowing sales teams to initiate conversations and qualify leads.
  • Technical Support
    For SaaS companies live chat can be an efficient way to provide technical support and troubleshooting assistance to customers. Agents can share screenshots and resolve issues in real-time.
  • Financial Services and Banking
    Live chat functionality can be used to assist customers with account inquiries, transaction support, and financial advisory services. Secure chat sessions can ensure the privacy and confidentiality of sensitive information.
  • Travel and Hospitality
    Live chat can enhance the customer experience in the travel and hospitality industry by providing real-time assistance with bookings, itinerary changes and on-site support. Guests can easily connect with hotel staff or travel agents for a seamless experience.
  • Online Education and Tutoring
    Educational institutions and online tutoring platforms can leverage live chat to offer instant support to students. Instructors or tutors can clarify concepts, answer questions, and provide guidance during virtual learning sessions or homework assignments.

How to Add Live Chat on Your Website

Live chat allows website visitors to communicate with customer service representatives in real-time, improving their overall experience.

How to Add Live Chat on Your Website

Here’s how to do it in just one line for each step:

  1. Choose a live chat software provider that fits your budget and website needs.
  2. Sign up for an account with your chosen provider.
  3. Copy and paste the live chat script provided by the provider into your website code.
  4. Customize the live chat widget appearance to match your website design.
  5. Set up automated messages, greetings or pop-ups when a user lands on your site.
  6. Train your team to respond promptly and professionally to customer queries, and ensure your chat software is integrated with your
  7. customer service platform to keep track of inquiries outside regular site hours.
  8. Monitor your chat logs and track your customer feedback as well as satisfaction levels.

Criteria to Evaluate the Best Online Chat Tool

If you’re considering implementing online chat for your organization, here are a few factors that should be taken into consideration before buying live chat software:

Criteria to Evaluate the Best Online Chat Tool
  • Affordability: Pricing of the live chat software is an important factor when it comes to buying. You should research different providers and find one that has a plan that fits your budget as well as offers all the features you need.
  • Features: Check what features are included in each provider’s plans and ensure they meet your specific requirements. These could include analytics tools, canned messages, automated triggers, integration with other platforms, etc.
  • Multi-channel support: Choose a live chat software with support for multiple channels so that you don’t miss out on any potential leads or customer queries over time due to lack of automation across different platforms like social media etc.
  • Ease of use: It is important to select a live chat software that is user-friendly so that you can easily onboard new agents on its platform without them needing prior technical expertise. An easy-to-use admin dashboard should allow you to access all the necessary reports with file-sharing capabilities built in.
  • Customization & branding options: Live chat box should have options for customization such as executing custom scripts on visitor browsers, altering themes or profiles, etc., and providing branding opportunities like securely embedding team logos into messages as per company standards.
  • Data security & compliance: Ensure the selected live chat software follows international compliance standards (GDPR/HIPAA) and uses secure encryption protocols for data storage, protecting customer data from third-party companies or even hackers who might try to gain access through your system’s vulnerabilities.
  • AI capabilities: AI integration helps save time and money by letting customers resolve their queries without needing direct agent support 24/7. It leads to improved efficiency from agents since they can be better off dealing with complex inquiries than handling mundane tasks such as routine conversations.

How to Measure Live Chat Performance?

Undoubtedly, live chat is becoming an increasingly popular tool for businesses, so it’s important to measure the performance of their live chats. Here are some key metrics to consider when it comes to measuring live chat performance.

How to measure live chat performance
  1. Customer satisfaction score (CSAT): Live chat can be used to gauge customer satisfaction with a product or service through the use of CSAT surveys. This feedback helps businesses understand how well they are responding to customer needs and expectations.
  2. Conversion rate: Live chat provides an opportunity for businesses to capture potential customers by offering useful information that leads them closer to converting into paying customers. Tracking this metric will allow businesses to know how successful their live chats have been at generating leads.
  3. Number of chat requests: The metric refers to the number of customer requests initiated through the live chat system. It is a key metric because it tells you how many customers are coming to the chat window seeking help, and whether that number is growing or shrinking.
  4. Average response time (ART): The ART metric tells you how long it takes your customer service team to answer a live chat request and start a conversation with a customer. Quick response times mean that customer needs get addressed as soon as possible.
  5. Average handle time (AHT): The AHT metric measures the total duration of each live chat session, from when an agent starts responding until the conclusion of the conversation. Longer AHTs can indicate that customers are having difficulty in understanding something, which could be an opportunity for improvement in their overall experience.
  6. Agent utilization: Measuring the utilization rate of your live chat team can tell you if you’re properly staffed or need to add more staff members to ensure a personalized experience.
  7. Operational efficiency: Operational efficiency is key when it comes to monitoring live chat performance, as it allows you to analyze processes like average time spent per session, average messages shared per session, etc., and identify any areas where efficiency needs improving.

Enhance your CX with Omni24’s Omnichannel Live Chat Software

Omni24’s omnichannel live chat software is a powerful tool for enhancing customer engagement and support. Providing real-time communication allows businesses to address customer inquiries instantly, leading to improved satisfaction and loyalty. Customers appreciate the convenience of immediate assistance, fostering a positive experience that enhances their overall journey.

Implementing live chat streamlines communication and significantly reduces response times. Agents can manage multiple conversations simultaneously, ensuring efficiency while maintaining personalized interactions. This capability boosts operational productivity and elevates the overall customer experience across various channels.

Embracing Omni24’s live chat ultimately strengthens relationships with customers. Consistent and timely responses lead to higher retention rates, driving long-term success for your organization.

Scale Your Conversations with Omni24’s Digital Customer Experience Platform

Omni24’s DCX platform harnesses automation and AI to deliver unified customer experiences across digital channels, while keeping human touch.

FAQs about Live Chat

Yes, live chat is suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries. Whether you run an e-commerce website, a service-based company, or a B2B organization, live chat can be customized to meet your specific needs. It helps to understand your customer concerns, needs, and expectations so that you can align your brand messaging and service accordingly. The software provides the capability to the support team to deliver instant responses to sales and support queries that increase sales by helping in quick decision-making and increasing their satisfaction level through real-time answers.

Yes, most live chat platforms offer integrations with popular customer support tools like help desk software and CRM systems. This allows you to streamline your support processes and provide a seamless experience for both your team and customers. Businesses, irrespective of their industry or size can integrate live chat with their existing customer support tools and deliver a delightful customer service experience.

Training of support staff on how to use live chat effectively is extremely important. To train your team, provide them with thorough product knowledge, teach them proper etiquette and communication skills, and establish guidelines for responding to different types of inquiries. Regular training sessions and ongoing feedback can also help improve their performance.

Yes, many live chat platforms offer automation features such as canned responses, chatbots, and proactive messaging. Canned responses can be created for the common FAQs and the support reps should be well-trained in its usage in the right manner. These can help save time, provide quick answers to common questions, and engage with website visitors proactively.

Live chat platforms prioritize data security and privacy. Look for platforms that are compliant with industry standards and regulations, and offer features like end-to-end encryption and data protection measures to ensure the safety of customer information.

Once you implement live chat, evaluating its effectiveness is important to understand how far you are able to meet your customer expectations. To measure effectiveness, track live chat metrics and KPIs like response times, customer satisfaction ratings, conversion rates, and the number of resolved queries. Analyzing these metrics will help you identify areas for improvement and optimize your live chat strategy.

Live chat involves real-time conversations between customers and live agents, providing personalized support and assistance. Chatbots, on the other hand, are automated programs that use artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate human-like conversations. While live chat relies on human agents to respond to queries and provide assistance, chatbots can be programmed to handle common questions and tasks without human intervention.