Chat

[4little1s]

I have noticed a few sites have the option for a customer to chat to you realtime. Can anyone recommend a good piece of software that does that and isnt going to cost the earth.

[gemd89]

livezilla i think its called, easy to use and free

Gemma

[NutPog]

Yes I second what Gemma's said. Link is http://www.livezilla.net/home/en/

[nitro23456]

yep livezilla is excellent for free. Fully customisable if you know what you are doing.

[That Guy]

LiveZilla is amazing and its free, I would say it has more features than some of the paid alternatives :)

[webhostuk]

One more vote for livezilla, if you wish to go for paid software with high quality service check for liveperson.

[stugster]

another vote for livezilla.

[4little1s]

Thanks, Livezilla it is then. I will check them out and add to my list,

[cholland]

Thought Id throw in another vote for LiveZilla!

[4little1s]

OK have been testing for the last few weeks on Livezilla (although to be fair struggled to get it going properly), Chat4support and currently testing Boldchat.

I was wondering if anyone who uses chat software on their website would be happy to share their experiences in terms of improved conversion percentages ?

I reckon we probably improve by a percentage or two using this software, but don't know if that good, average or rubbish and I need to work harder ! :)

[Ian-M]

I did a trial with Boldchat and it was easy to set up. However the trial was too short to get any real feedback on the improvement on converting vistors to customers so I could n't justify the cost. I have used LiveHelp by http://www.craftysyntax.com/ which is free and asks for donations when you have tested it. It is a bit trickier to install but I've now got it configured as I wanted it. I've had a number of people ask questions so I'm happy with it.

[majorbaka]

Hi,

Just started using comm 100 which does the job and is free. Don't think I can post links but you can google it and see it in action on my site.

Best wishes,

Andrew

A1 PC Services

[GotLiveChat]

I have noticed a few sites have the option for a customer to chat to you realtime. Can anyone recommend a good piece of software that does that and isnt going to cost the earth.
Many providers offer free and paid live chat services. There are a couple of things to consider when selecting live chat software (or live chat provider):
1. do they have a console for your operating system? The console is used to initiate and accept chats from visitors clicking on the 'chat with operator' image.
Some providers have software that requires local installation on your computer and often is only for Microsoft-based computers running certain minimum system requirements. If you're running a slower computer, or Linux/MacOS as an operating system then look for providers that have web-based consoles.
2. do you want to run the 'server side' of the chat software, or do you want it hosted/managed for you? Again, depends on your technical know-how. If you have a server guy 'in house' then they may be able to set up and configure the chat server software to work with your site.
An alternative is to have it hosted, that way you only put a couple of lines of HTML in your web pages to show the 'chat now' image button.

[efreshly]

u can try "chat4support" for ur visitors.

[stugster]

There are a couple of things to consider when selecting live chat software (or live chat provider):
1. do they have a console for your operating system?


Yes, most do.


Some providers have software that requires local installation on your computer and often is only for Microsoft-based computers running certain minimum system requirements. If you're running a slower computer, or Linux/MacOS as an operating system then look for providers that have web-based consoles.


Or use Wine.


2. do you want to run the 'server side' of the chat software, or do you want it hosted/managed for you?

LiveZilla is a piece of p1ss to set up and install. Allows you to keep control of it rather than outsourcing.


An alternative is to have it hosted, that way you only put a couple of lines of HTML in your web pages to show the 'chat now' image button.

That's all you do with LiveZilla pretty much. If you can put the code in, you can install LiveZilla