Chattsupport

Chattsupport refers to customer service delivered through text-based, real-time chat channels. The term encompasses both human-operated live chat and automated chat systems, as well as hybrids that switch between automation and human agents. It is commonly deployed on websites, mobile apps, and within messaging platforms such as social apps or enterprise chat services.

Core components include a chat interface or widget, a routing and queuing engine, a knowledge base, and integration with back-office systems such as a CRM, helpdesk, or order management. Chattsupport solutions may be implemented as standalone products or as features within broader customer support platforms. They can operate as live chat with agents, as chatbots powered by rules or AI, or as a combination that escalates to human assistance when needed.

Typical features include real-time messaging, rich media transfer, canned responses, chat transcripts, agent dashboards, conversation history, escalation, multilingual support, and analytics.

Benefits include reduced response times, improved satisfaction, scalable handling of high volumes, and the ability to capture context for future interactions. Challenges include maintaining context in long conversations, ensuring data privacy and security, handling sensitive information, bot limitations, and integration complexity across systems.

Metrics commonly used to evaluate chattsupport are average response time, first contact resolution, customer satisfaction scores, net promoter scores, and chat-to-sale conversion rates. Privacy and regulatory compliance, such as data retention and consent, are important considerations in design and operation.

History: Live chat emerged in the 1990s and 2000s; AI-powered chat support gained prominence in the 2010s with advances in natural language processing.