Spotlight : Third Party Integration

The sun shines brightly during the hot summer month of May. Having said that, we are proud to admit that the Live2Support spotlight isn’t too far behind.

After stringent beta testing and more than a few stress tests, third party integration features of Live2Support went live recently and are available to all our regular customers simply for the asking. We thought it would be a good idea to give you a quick run down of the features we have worked so hard to implement successfully.

Third Party Integration
The "Get Code" Before we plunge into the nitty gritty of third party integration, let us try to come up with a quick definition so that we are all on the same page. Third party software integration generally refers to the attributes of a software application which allow it to work with one or more external applications. A popular and good example of third party integration is Microsoft Word’s ability to work with Microsoft Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint and Access as their default word processing application. Live2Support now works intuitively by integrating with customer relationship management (CRM) and other types of service oriented applications. If you are wondering about its various features, functions and attributes, here is the list for you:

Validating Chat Visitors Prior to the Chat Session
There are specific circumstances in which you or your chat operators need to know whether a chat visitor with whom you are just about ready to start a chat session is a bona fide customer of your company or not. In such a situation, Live2Support can interface seamlessly with your existing CRM or any other database-driven application either to validate the status of the chat visitor, to display a complete customer profile, or both. When a chat request arrives, Live2Support can now directly query the database and use identifiable customer information such as name, e-mail address etc to either perform a quick validation, to bring up the records of the chat visitor, or both. If the chat request is validated for instance, the system will initiate the chat session otherwise the chat request can go automatically into the offline message mode. This function is especially handy in conditions where you need to make sure that the chat request is indeed a legitimate one. In other words, you can use an existing CRM or a similar customer database to validate the credentials of a chat customer prior to initiating the chat session. This attribute enables chat operators to render a higher level of chat experience to existing online customers and at the same time protect the corporate interest by screening chat visitors. If the nature of service you provide involves confidentiality issues, you should check this function out right away..

Integrating Chat Transcripts
As soon as the chat session has concluded, the chat transcript generated by the interaction between your chat operator and your customer can now be integrated into the customers profile located in the CRM system. This feature allows customer service agents access to chat transcript records without having to invoke the chat application. Chat operators/customer service agents will now be able to update the customer’s CRM records through direct access to chat records. It also provides customer service and technical support personnel to deliver customer service from a more informed perspective.

Offline Message Integration
It is now possible to integrate all the offline messages generated by chat customers into a third party application such as a CRM solution or a help desk system. These messages are forwarded to a URL provided by you and can interface with any application you choose. It is important to briefly mention here that customer data generated when using Live2Support also integrates with help desk applications and trouble ticket software. These programs are being used increasingly to deliver high quality customer service. Live2Support can now automatically forward offline messages left on the Live2Support system to a URL that you specify. This feature provides customer service and technical support teams to use chat-initiated customer communication while addressing customer needs and queries.

Ongoing Enhancements
We encourage you to please send us data regarding the various kinds and types of CRM and help desk applications you are currently using so that we may be able to incorporate these customer-centric applications into future updates. Please write to us at support[@]live2support.com with information about the type of customer service delivery protocols you have currently deployed such as CRM, e-mail management and help desk software.