The functionality is not that different
from a phone system. People enter their name and wait in a queue for the next available
agent; once they come online, the agent and customer simply type back and forth in
real time.
This technology does not even have to be custom developed. There are plenty of vendors
that specialize in enterprise-grade chatting systems. Akeni, for instance, produces a range
of products for help desk applications, secure messaging, messaging within just a LAN, and
more.6 For companies on a budget, there are smaller solutions with open source licenses.
Phone number
The oldest of the support options, the eternal phone number for technical support is very
much alive in an era of interactive technical triumphs. This traditional medium is popular
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precisely because it eschews the new wave of portal interfaces, downloads, search
algorithms, knowledge management, and the rest of the buzzwords gumming up people??™s
ability to get a clear answer. Like an arrow fired over a field of wheat, a phone call bypasses
the chaff and gets right to the point.
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