Mayday!!!

     This year, Amazon's Kindle Fire HD tablets came in at number 8 on the best tablets of 2013 from techradar.com. With the success of Kindle tablets, just recently Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire HDX. Among many other unique features, one of the most intriguing is the customer support option provided by clicking on the "Mayday" button. Once you push the button, a live support representative will pop up on your screen in the form of video chat. You can see the representative, but the representative cannot see you. However, the customer support agent does have the ability to see your screen, control your tablet, and draw arrows or lines on your screen to point you in the right direction. Though this seems like a great idea, it might run into a few problems with consumers and also with the company, Amazon.  

     Are people going to feel comfortable allowing a live person access into their tablet and having the ability to make changes? Privacy is at the top of everyone's list when dealing with personal devices and data security. Employees using the Mayday button at work allow support representatives access into company networks and data, which increases the potential of security breaches.

     Another factor to address...is it cost effective? How much will it cost the company per video chat for a live person to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer support questions... or to answer prank calls? Having an automated support representative to answer customer questions decreases the cost of support, while increasing customer satisfaction. 

     What do you think about Kindle's new Mayday feature? Do you think the benefits of a live support agent outweigh the cost? 

Throwback Thursday: AOL Instant Messaging Opened Doors for Live Chat Vendors

Photo credit: drjays.com

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Who remembers the little guy in the picture to the left? This is the icon for AOL Instant Messaging, or AIM. I remember this software as the "must-have" to stay connected with friends in that late 90's to the early 2000's. If you didn't have AIM, you weren't in the loop. AIM was, in a way, the Facebook of that time. 

Instant Messenger came out in 1997 and was one of the first of its kind to successfully allow users to communicate via the Internet in real time. In the eCommerce and Support industries, Live chat has come a long way since AIM. Below to the right is a screenshot of an AIM chat window. It was as simple to use as typing what you wanted to say, pressing enter, and the person on the other end of the computer screen would receive it...instantly! Another cool feature of AIM is having the ability to pick an avatar that would symbolize yourself. A lot like what we do with our Virtual Agents. We often include a face/avatar to the Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to add personality. AIM also utilized A.I.'s for people's entertainment, questions, etc. Just sending a message to the specific screen name of the A.I. (which can be found by looking on the web) and you get a response back from a robot, just like our Virtual Agents!

Photo credit: Franklypenn.com

Instant messaging has matured since AIM of course. Now, there is chat on Facebook and other social networking sites, Skype, and a plethora of software that makes it easier to connect with people in real time. 

In today's era of technology, trusted brands use live chat for web customer support. When people have a question or concern, they can typically find support on a company's web page in the form of live chat. Click on the hyperlink to view our blog post, "Live Chat MVPs: An Insiders Look at the Top Live Chat Vendors and Best Practices." This link will provide you access to our document about key features to look for when selecting a live chat vendor and also a PowerPoint presentation titled, "Best Practices for Complementing Live Chat with a Virtual Agent." 

Whether live chat is being used from a support or sales stand point on a website, in the call center, or even at the Help Desk (Albert!), the benefits surpass the value of just staying connected with friends. Integrating live chat with a Virtual Agent provides a cost effective way for companies to establish and/or maintain relationships with consumers without seeing them face to face. InstantSupport(TM), like instant messaging, gives consumers answers to the questions they have instantly, and on their own terms. Thanks to AIM and other early live chat providers, the doors for web customer service opened, leading to one of the top resources people use when looking for online support.

Throwback Thursday: Customer Experience Action Plan

Happy Throwback Thursday!

     This Thursday I wanted to take some time to write about a webinar from 2011. This webinar comes from a leading analyst firm and is presented by well known analysts. "Build Your 2012 Customer Experience Action Plan Now" talks about exactly that... creating an effective action plan to increase positive customer experience. I can not emphasize enough the importance of happy customers. And it is not just the sales and customer service departments that make consumers happy, the whole company contributes to Customer Experience Management (CEM), from product design to IT and Call Centers. Even though this webinar is from a few years ago, I believe it still provides relevant/useful information to improve CEM. 

     Towards the middle of the presentation they start to explain how expensive live support is and suggest innovative alternatives to this costly option. One of these alternatives is a noHold solution, more specifically the Virtual Agents from a fortune 500 Telco and a leader in networking devices. Companies that utilize these self-service solutions decrease their expenses because customers will not have to connect with a live person; and also increase positive customer experience because they don't have to wait and speak with multiple representitives (which typically takes forever) that might not know the solution you are in need of.

     In the end, happy consumers = happy company. To check out the full webinar click here. If you do not have an account, you can register for one for free to watch on demand webinars. 

Have a great week!