Websites with live chat support have around 15% additional order value according to CrazyEgg. Another study Making Proactive Chat Work by Forrester Research noted that 44% of online consumers considered having their questions immediately answered by a live person as one of the most important features they look for in a website. Live chat can, in fact, improve customer satisfaction, announce instant deals and promos, and increase sales opportunities by following up on the chat engagement.
Understanding that live chat is critical to your website conversion rate is one thing; but knowing which app to use is another issue. In this review, we’ll help you assess one of the enterprise live chat apps in the market, Live2Support, by pointing out its best features we believe can help enhance your chat sessions. We put the app to the test and analyzed all the benefits you’ll encounter when you use Live2Support. What’s more, after a thorough review of the app’s usability, features, pricing, and support, we awarded Live2Support with our special quality certificates–and explained the reasons behind them–as testament to our positive experience.
Setting up the app is done in minutes: upon your first login, copy and paste a code in a text or HTML editor and the live chat is automatically enabled on the next page update. You can now start receiving chat requests in the Live Monitor dashboard.You can also use the standalone desktop app for PC or Mac or log in through a web browser. The app is divided between the Live Monitor, where you exchange chat messages, and the Control Panel, where you access admin settings and reports.
What are the highlights of Live2Support?
Live Monitor gives you thorough real-time visitor information even before the chat begins
Control Panel lets you customize critical functions and style to encourage visitors to chat
Enterprise-level supervising and reporting tools give large enterprises valuable insights into their support performance and direction
You can customize looks and style to match your website branding and appear more professional
Built-in task tools like sticky notes and to-do list enhance agents’ chat sessions
It’s one of the most competitively priced live chat apps for large enterprises in the market today
5 Things We Like about Live2Support
1. Live Monitor and real-time tools let you engage site visitors up close
The Live Monitor is packed with features that give you real-time information and useful tools that enhance the chat session. The first thing that impressed us is the extensive visitor information we got the moment someone checked our website. Even before a chat was initiated we got his IP host, the current page he’s checking, his name and email address, if he’s a returning visitor, and the duration of his visit.
The app also shows you more relevant visitor information, such as: browser type, OS, and his country, region, country’s population, language, currency, and time zone.
To start a session, you can initiate the chat or accept a visitor’s chat request. A built-in timer lets you monitor the session’s duration and keep each chat short but efficient.
Complementing the Live Monitor, the Co-Browsing feature lets you see in real time the web page being viewed by the site visitor. You need not ask for the site visitor’s permission; rather, clicking an icon in the operator’s chat window will activate this feature. You can now discuss more complex issues with accuracy by being on the same page as the site visitor.
Meanwhile, the visitor is also informed if all operators are busy or offline, and is requested to send an email instead. When swamped with chat requests, this handy feature makes sure no customer engagement opportunity slips through the cracks. Likewise, a Call Back feature allows you or your visitors to engage other departments (sales, tech support, customer service, etc.) without having to leave the chat facility.
The app comes across as a serious, straightforward tool, which we appreciate. However, the Live Monitor dashboard can use the neat palette and buttons and uncluttered layout of its Control Panel, which looks more appealing and contemporary.
You can see visitor details such as his name and email, browser, language, OS, URL, country, etc.
2. You can enable/disable critical chat functions
The Control Panel allows the admin to disable visitor login or signup requirement to initiate chat (he’ll appear in your chat window as an IP address). Disabling this request is a good tactic to catch casual visitors, who otherwise might skip the chat because they aren’t comfortable submitting personal data (name and email). However, once inside the chat, you can influence them to give their personal details for future engagement. We also find it intuitive of the app–despite you having disabled the login requirement–to still ask for visitors’ name and email address as optional (they can skip it).
Likewise, the Control Panel lets you enable file transfer. A visitor can send large files over the chat window for clearer communication. For example, he can send high-resolution graphs or images.
You can also enable chat transcript after chat. A transcript of the conversation is shown on both your end and the visitor’s. This function is critical during a dispute to document the conversation for future reference or even legal protection.
When you disable visitor login requirements, Live2Support will still ask for visitor’s name and email address but as optional.
3. You can also enhance the look of the frontend chat icon to match your design
We believe this feature is important because it helps to enhance your website branding. The live chat window will be an integral part of your website design, so it’s important that the app matches its look and feel.
As admin, you can change the chat window’s color, embed or separate the chat window, create headers and default greetings, add a chat icon or eye-catcher widgets, generate page-specific chat invite, and even create bouncing chat icons on the same page. Many of the options are fancy (like the bouncing effect and icons), which work if you’re targeting the younger market. For a more professional look, you can subdue colors, create straightforward headers and greetings, or minimize the chat window’s overall look.
The customization tools are intuitive, too. Simply enable actions, choose options in drop-down menus, or upload images in the Codes & Chat Icon, then grab the customized code with one click. You now have a more personalized chat window.
Choose from different chat window styles to match your website look or keep the default minimal appearance for a more professional design.
4. Small but useful task tools on the side
These tools won’t match up with those offered by collaboration apps, but Live2Support isn’t a collaboration app. We like it though for integrating in the Live Monitor window three simple but useful task functions, namely: sticky notes, to-do list, and calendar.
Yes, there are more robust similar tools, but they aren’t inside Live2Support, and in the context of a short on-going chat, the Live2Support task tools are very convenient to open (bottom right panel) compared to opening a separate app (example, Google Apps).
Sticky Notes have the usual features of a post-it tool, including alarms, opacity setting, option to place it always on top, and content lock. It’s very practical when taking down notes during the chat or setting a short reminder. The Sticky Management window allows you to view all sticky notes in one place.
On the other hand, the To-Do List lets you record and sort tasks by date/time, agent, date, and category. Tasks are arranged in chronological order, so you know the day’s priorities. This tool is critical when setting up a follow-up to recent chats.
Meanwhile, the built-in Calendar makes it easy to set dates or schedules in the middle of a chat. Double click the day and it leads you to the to-do task window, where you can jot down the details.
These little handy task tools (sticky notes, to-do lists, calendar) greatly enhance your chat sessions.
5. Supervising tools
Live2Support is the live chat app for large companies (but small businesses can benefit from it, too) featuring enterprise-level supervising and reporting functions. You can generate a clear report of your agents’ performance and gauge how your support is going on month-to-month basis (is it improving or degenerating?). Here are five in-depth reports that aggregate statistical feedback from your agents’ support service:
Chat Requests Report
Chat Statistics Report
Operator’s Login and Logout Report
Average Chat Rating Report
Chat Rating Report
As a manager, you can assist a newbie by escalating the chat session, where you can join the conversation. We see two immediate benefits here: first, you avoid agitating visitors because of a newbie’s mistake; and, second, it creates more goodwill when visitors see that they’re being taken care of by not one, but two agents.
Click the Chat History to view all agents’ chat sessions. You can also generate summary reports out of the sessions.
Did we say it’s one of the most affordable live chat apps?
Designed with robust enterprise chat features, the app is competitively priced starting at $39.95 per month. For companies with a tight budget, Live2Support gives them an option to continue offering robust live chat operations. Moreover, the vendor is among the few companies that deliver customized solutions required by large enterprises.
Incidentally, many small businesses will like the introductory price of $9.99 per month for the basic package, which includes the most important features: real-time text chat; desktop/web/mobile interface; visitor information; off-line messages; chat transcripts; multiple chat sessions; and secure chat session.
As their business grows, they can scale the features to the enterprise plan and get the most out of Live2Support. We also feel it’s important to tell you that all plans include live chat support from the vendor (unbelievably, we’ve encountered live chat apps without this benefit!).
Live2Support also features these standard features:
New chat, new visitor, typing status alerts
Auto greetings and customizable offline messages
Chat window in multiple languages
Mobile apps
Post-chat survey
Chat routing
CRM integration
Plugins
What customers say about Live2Support
We checked dozens of user comments about their experience with Live2Support and discovered three important trends of positive feedback. Irene, a support supervisor from Charlotte, NC, said her company has been using the app for months now and liking everything about it. “It’s a trustworthy app,” she said, noting that she’s actually experienced what the vendor has promised during the sales pitch. “The visitor details and PPC data are revealing for both our marketing and support teams.”
Meanwhile, Brian from Tampa, FL is typical business owner with a nose for affordable but valuable tools. “The price is right for my tight budget, at least in the next few months.” At less than ten dollars a month to use the app, he said he can even pay for it from his personal pocket just to kickstart a great live chat feature on his site.
Susan, a support agent for a corporate law firm in New York, NY, said the live chat app allows them to offer parallel services online. “We have legal documentation, quick online legal consultations, and case studies on our site. The live chat enables us to help visitors use any of these extra services.” Susan said the app is the “perfect combination of low price, great features, and outstanding performance.”
Awards and Quality Certificates won by Live2Support
Verified Quality Seal
Live2Support was awarded the Verified Quality Seal by a panel of B2B software experts for the strictest quality standards. The seal is a unique trust seal awarded exclusively by FinancesOnline, which highlights the quality of Live2Support features and tools, as well as the reliability of the vendor to provide excellent customer support. The seal indicates that after closely testing the functionalities of Live2Support and comparing these to its sales pitch, the app passed our quality tests and is guaranteed to meet customer expectations and satisfaction.
Designed for Enterprises
After taking a close scrutiny of Live2Support’s features, we believe the app merits the Designed for Enterprises certificate, which denotes the software meets the functionalities and services required by large companies. The certificate underscores the quality of the app’s complex solutions and ability to customize features for unique needs of clients. Specifically, Live2Support’s integrations with third-party CRM solutions are sought and deployed by big corporations.
Great User Experience Certificate
This special certificate is awarded to software with well-designed features that facilitate work process for greater user experience. Live2Support not only provides complex live chat functions for enterprises, but it delivers customized solutions to meet its clients’ specific needs. In fact, Live2Support is among the few companies that offer customized live chat solutions for large enterprises, greatly enhancing user experience.
An Interview with Live2Support CEO
We had a talk with the CEO of Live2Support to learn more about the app. We asked him what makes Live2Support different from other live chat apps and how it solves common problems faced by web visitors.
Why is Live2Support unique?
The CEO said Live2Support is unique because it’s one of the few companies, which offers customized chat support solutions for large enterprises. “We are always happy to accommodate them to extend an entirely customized solution to meet their diversified requirements.”
Likewise, the app, he said, is competitively priced for one of the best enterprise live chat solutions. The real time visitor monitoring and chatting, for instance, is a unique window into customer behavior. “It provides highly accurate and reliable real-time data on your site visitors,” he said.
He also mentioned that the app’s multiple interfaces to monitor and chat are also worth noting. You can access Live2Support via desktop (PC and Mac), mobile (Android and iOS), and web browser. “Live2Support is one among very few which allows you to determine where and what kind of chat window should appear on the customer’s monitor before your site visitors invoke live chat on your website.”
The app’s seamless integration with popular CRM solutions, he said, is also worth the attention because it greatly enhances the sale funnel/client relationship management.
“We also offer the best enterprise featured live chat solution at most competitive prices starting at only US$39.95 per month for 3 support agent logins so effectively only $13.32 per agent login ,” he added.
Specific problem scenarios solved by Live2Support
The CEO of Live2Support cited three scenarios of how the app can help large businesses.
Chat sessions, he said, should be targeted at genuine customers. To make chat sessions efficient, the Pass Custom Variable Information can internally reveal valuable customer data, such as, account number, order number, reference number, etc. “Armed with this additional data, your support team can identify the customers and track customer behavior and buying patterns more accurately for paramount customer support.”
A multinational company needs to speak the language of its customers to maintain a high level of support. He said Live2Support offers Multilingual chat functionality that enables web visitors to chat with your support operators in the language of their choice using a predefined language interface. “You can now customize your visitor chat windows in any number of languages and code them to open simultaneously on pre-specified web pages.”
If you have multiple departments handling clients, Live2Support can automatically route the right customer to the right department. “For example, you’re an online marketplace selling diversified products. You want customers looking for electronics goods directed and catered by electronic bay and customers looking for kitchen appliances by that relevant bay,” he said.
Live2Support can define departments and assign specific agents to help customers choose which department to go to. You have two type of options on your website page related to a particular department where you can place department specific codes, he said. “When customer click on live support the chat request will be sent directly to that department. He or she will see list of options to select.”
Exciting new features to come
Expect two new things soon for Live2Support, according to its CEO. He said that the app will release an API functionality for seamless integration to more third-party CRMs that customers are already using. Likewise, he revealed that the development team is working to enhance the mobile platforms. “We’re making it a more smooth and streamlined live chat experience on handheld devices.”
Live2Support SmartScore and Customer Satisfaction
Our experts have conducted a full review of Live2Support detailing its features, user feedback, customer service, and other key aspects. Using our SmartScore system we gave Live2Support a very satisfying score of 8.8, while our Customer Satisfaction Algorithm estimates the overall user satisfaction rating for the software at 100%.
If you’d like to have your product considered for any of FinancesOnline awards or quality certificates please contact us.
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