What is Live Chat? Definition, Key Features, Use Cases
Live chat communication always involves two parties: visitors and representatives of the company that installed the live chat on their website. Company representatives who respond to visitors in the chat are called operators or agents.
Although visitors and operators communicate with each other via the same software, they see completely different things.
You already know what live chat looks like from the visitor’s side — a small messenger-like widget that can be opened by clicking on the chat button in the corner of a page. Just like WhatsApp or Telegram, it allows you to send instant messages, use emojis, or attach files.
Chaport chat widget
If we look at the live chat through an operator’s eyes, we will see something more complicated. To answer chats, the operator needs to log in to a dedicated app. Most often, this app can be opened in a regular browser. Some live chat software solutions also provide desktop and mobile apps.
All incoming chats are displayed in a single dashboard. When the visitor sends a message via live chat, the operator immediately receives a notification and can reply to the chat. It looks something like this:
App for live chat operators in Chaport
Unlike the visitor, the operator has access to many more options. For example, they can see information about the visitor, leave notes, or transfer chats to other operators. We’ll discuss the key live chat features available to operators below in the next part of the article.
In addition to managing chats, operators can also manage settings, such as chat widget customization, assignment rules, and other options.
Live chat apps are designed specifically for communication between businesses and customers. To help businesses communicate with customers more effectively, live chats provide advanced features that are hardly found in regular messengers. Let’s see what features are available in modern live chat tools.
To attract more customers, businesses can send them proactive chat messages. Some live chat tools allow operators to manually initiate conversations with website visitors. It is also possible to set up automatic messages to encourage visitors to chat with you.
Most often, live chat apps provide an option to send proactive chat messages after a specific amount of time a visitor spends on a website. Some live chat solutions allow using more advanced triggers, e.g., the number of pages viewed, a visitor’s country or language, or a referrer URL.
Such a proactive approach helps businesses increase the number of conversations and generate more leads and sales.
A pre-chat form is a great way to collect information about visitors. It is displayed to visitors before starting a chat and can be used to request visitors’ names, emails, or anything else.
If you use a pre-chat form on your website, note that a large number of required fields may significantly reduce the number of incoming chats. We recommend minimizing the number of fields or adding an option to skip them.
If there are several operators in the team, there’s usually an option to transfer chats to other operators. This feature is useful if a visitor requires extra help from another department or when the operator finishes their shift.
Plus, some live chats allow group chats where several operators can chat with the visitor and provide support together.
Incoming chats can be distributed among operators in various ways.
The simplest one is manual distribution. In this case, all new chats are considered unassigned and are displayed to all operators. As soon as one of the operators joins a new chat, it becomes assigned to that operator.
Perhaps the most common way is round-robin routing, which automatically and evenly distributes chats among all operators.
There are also assignment methods with more complicated rules. For example, chats can be routed to the right operator based on the page on which the visitor started the chat, the department to which the visitor applies (sales, support, etc.), the visitor’s language, and other criteria.
Operators can view information about the visitors they chat with. Usually, live chats automatically provide such data as the visitor’s country, browser language, and the pages the visitor is browsing on the website.
Operators also see the information collected through a pre-chat form or other data collection tools. Plus, it is possible to automatically pass the available information to the chat from other platforms, e.g., from CRM software.
One powerful live chat feature is the ability to see what visitors are typing in real time before they send the messages. Here, in Chaport, we call this feature “typing insights”. On other platforms, it may also be called “message sneak peek” or “typing preview”.
This feature can be of great help to operators. Sometimes, customers may take too long to type the message, or they may even delete it altogether without sending it. Typing insights provide a better understanding of customers’ intent and allow operators to start drafting a reply in advance.
Canned responses are message templates with replies to common questions. Operators can easily access them with a single click or a shortcut during a conversation.
This feature enables operators to answer customer queries faster and eliminates the need to type the same answers over and over again.
During a chat, operators can leave internal notes about the customers and leads they are talking to. It’s a great way to share important information with teammates and leave reminders for future reference.
Many live chat apps allow sending chat transcripts — copies of conversations between live chat operators and visitors. Chat transcripts can be sent to the email addresses of operators or visitors. This feature is especially useful for customers, as it allows them to save important information from the correspondence and refer to it when necessary.
Sometimes operators have to deal with aggressive users or spammers. To stop receiving annoying messages, operators can ban troublesome visitors so that they can no longer send messages or see the chat widget.
These surveys are sent to visitors to collect their feedback at the end of the conversation. The most common way to measure customer satisfaction is to offer visitors the option to rate chats with operators or leave comments on the service.
Modern live chat tools allow creating custom chatbots or integrating with third-party chatbot solutions. Bots are a great way to automate customer interactions and increase the efficiency of the team. Companies can use them to initiate chats with visitors, collect information, and handle frequently asked questions.
Just like proactive chat messages, chatbots work according to specified triggers. They will make interaction with customers more personalized and relevant.
To help businesses track their chat and operator activity, live chat apps provide reports and analytics. The information contained in reports may differ depending on the live chat provider. This may include the total number of chats, engagement rates, response times, operator working hours, chat ratings, and more. Some live chat software solutions can also provide custom reports on demand.
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