What is Live Chat?

Live chat is an online customer service tool that enables customers to speak directly with agents who can deal with queries in real-time. Used by a multitude of businesses, live chat is recognised as one of the more efficient human-operated contact channels. Not only can it facilitate customer service at a fraction of the cost of other agent-assisted channels, but it also supports lead and revenue generation.

Companies use live chat software to offer customer support, drive new business, enhance customer experience and improve operational efficiency.

The way that live chat works is simple. It is a two-way digital conversation that involves 2 parties: the customer and the agent. The customer engages with the application by asking a question, to which the agent replies. This might be the customer's first interaction with a contact channel or they may have been transferred to live chat from a self-service escalation.

The main difference between live chat and other online contact channels is how the results are generated: when it comes to self-service channels, it is AI that retrieves results, whereas in live chat's case it is a human. This makes the contact channel particularly effective in dealing with complicated and non-routine customer queries.

Visit our dedicated Live Chat resource page here.