

Live Chat on the web is broken (well, mostly) - kunle
http://hipmob.tumblr.com/post/32417058700/live-chat-on-the-web-is-broken-well-mostly

======
greenwalls
I agree. Has anyone ever bought anything through a live chat feature or after
using one? I always treat them like a pop-up window I have to close so I can
go back to reading the page to see if I want to buy or not.

~~~
kunle
OP here. Understand the skepticism. That being said, companies as varied as
Zappos and Airbnb have used live chat on their sites to make customers happy a
while now . . .

------
incision
1) On the rare occasion that I've used live chat I haven't had this problem.

2) Isn't this just an ad for hipmob.com?

~~~
dougbarrett
1) I've had it happen a few times, but now if I know I have to step away from
my desk to do something, I will let the customer service representative know
and they are fine with waiting, they just need to know before hand.

2) It's 100% an ad. Sure, it can describe why a majority of the "Live Chat"
systems don't work, but instead of explaining how to fix them, it just links
off to two companies that have a product and then call that a solution.

They should have explained how the two companies they recommend do it
differently than the rest instead of just say "Use these two, AND USE US FOR
YOUR PHONE APP!!!"

How does the code integrate into apps? What does the client for the user and
the client for the support agent look like? What's the benefit of using this
instead of linking to a support e-mail address? Do I have to have the app open
in order to get live support help?

It sounds cool in theory, but without a demo video or walkthrough, I can't be
sold on it.

~~~
kunle
OP here - demo video is forthcoming.

Integration docs here for iOS: <http://www.hipmob.com/documentation/ios.html>

And more here: <http://www.hipmob.com/documentation/>

EDIT: And we dont have a product for the web - wasn't meant as an ad, just to
highlight some observations I've made in the past.

~~~
dougbarrett
The video is going to be what sells this product. I'll check back in once you
have it.

------
chrisu_de
This is not really something for the HN frontpage...

~~~
kunle
OP here - any particular reason?

~~~
chrisu_de
I just think that the topic is not very technical or interesting.

------
STHayden
we use snapengage on our site and it's a pretty smooth experience. Very happy
with it.

