[Kate Frost]

I used Contact at Once at a Toyota dealership in Central Florida and had tremendous results with the product. It was the #1 lead provider hands down; we received an average of 340 chats per month. For every 1 phone call we received, we would get 2 chats. If you wouldn't outsource your phone calls you might want to reconsider outsourcing your chat.

[JoePistell]

Mitch,

I signed with CaO yesterday. I've got them writing some code to auto-route a chat request the host store and some other mods.

I'll gladly post my findings.

Originally Posted by Mitch Gallant

Any feedback on Contact at Once yet? I'm going to contact them for a demo before the weekend but some feedback from the community would sway perception as much as a sales pitch. I like the look, how's the feel?

[idkmybffamir]

We are going to be using an open-source instant messaging client called Digsby. It's an all-in-one instant messaging client that supports AIM, MSN, Yahoo, GTalk, etc etc etc.

However, they have a widget on their website Digsby = IM + Email + Social Networks in which they give you an embed code to place on your website. The widget is a live chat feature.. I believe you can chat with the dealership without opening up a new window. You have to be online using Digsby from your comp in order to chat with the person, obviously.

It's an alternative to ContactAtOnce, provides zero pre-made instant messages... but we want to go the open-source route anyway.. so we are giving it a shot upon our upcoming website.

We have ContactAtOnce for our Cars.com account.. it was a b**** to set up, but eh. Not enough results to really rate it as beneficial or not yet.

[bpreston]

We've used ContactAtOnce for almost a year now and have experienced great success with it, both on our websites and with cars.com.

[Mitch Gallant]

I had a demo of the Contact at Once software yesterday - thought it was pretty good. I'm not completely sold on the drop down business card idea. IMO its kinda ugly but my biggest concern is with the intrusion. I'm almost convinced it will work but I'm not sure it's worth the way customers will react to it. They did mention you can make your own cards that drop down and with a good message it might put my worries to rest. Has anyone experimented with the "make your own card" feature and does it give enough flexibility to make it look any better?

[fuji0020]

However, they accept a accoutrement on their website Digsby = IM + Email + Social Networks in which they accord you an bury cipher to abode on your website. The accoutrement is a reside babble feature.. I accept you can babble with the dealership after aperture up a new window. You accept to be online application Digsby from your atone in adjustment to babble with the person, obviously.
It's an another to ContactAtOnce, provides aught pre-made burning messages... but we wish to go the open-source avenue anyway.. so we are giving it a attempt aloft our accessible website.

[JoePistell]

idkmybffamir,

Dude, you're all crossed up.

#1). If you had a b***** of a time getting Contact at Once (CaO) set up, whyinthehell would you take on a open source platform?

#2). Go Open Source 2nd, NOT 1st. 1st you need to test to see if YOUR STAFF and YOUR CUSTOMERS will use chat. 1st, you need to test the idea... test the concept. For your trial, use the "best of class" software you can buy. Any best of class platform has a 10,000 hour head start on your open source "idea". IF IT WORKS, then you'll know what the open source software lacks, what it can do better, and if all the TIME you need to invest into it has any ROI.

Low Cost got you thinking Open Source (OS)?
If you going for open source because its small cost matches expectations of low sales results, beware the black hole! If you've ever worked with OS, there is the enormous learning curve that robs you of TIME.... LOTS OF TIME.

My $0.02
CaO is month to month. ActiveEngage is a player to look at too. If they are month to month, then you can negotiate setup fees, use their training increase the SPEED and QUALITY of Chat test. Once you have 90-120 days of chat in place, you'll have a baseline of info to work from.

Originally Posted by idkmybffamir

We are going to be using an open-source instant messaging client called Digsby. It's an all-in-one instant messaging client that supports AIM, MSN, Yahoo, GTalk, etc etc etc.

However, they have a widget on their website Digsby = IM + Email + Social Networks in which they give you an embed code to place on your website. The widget is a live chat feature.. I believe you can chat with the dealership without opening up a new window. You have to be online using Digsby from your comp in order to chat with the person, obviously.

It's an alternative to ContactAtOnce, provides zero pre-made instant messages... but we want to go the open-source route anyway.. so we are giving it a shot upon our upcoming website.

We have ContactAtOnce for our Cars.com account.. it was a b**** to set up, but eh. Not enough results to really rate it as beneficial or not yet.

[Alex Snyder]

Originally Posted by fuji0020

However, they accept a accoutrement on their website Digsby = IM + Email + Social Networks in which they accord you an bury cipher to abode on your website. The accoutrement is a reside babble feature.. I accept you can babble with the dealership after aperture up a new window. You accept to be online application Digsby from your atone in adjustment to babble with the person, obviously.
It's an another to ContactAtOnce, provides aught pre-made burning messages... but we wish to go the open-source avenue anyway.. so we are giving it a attempt aloft our accessible website.

Huh

[TRACEY MITCHELL]

Edited because the post was commercial. Tracey - you can PM me for some coaching.

Tracey Mitchell
Regional Sales Mgr.
ChatLead.com, Inc/CarChat24
813-781-9491

[idkmybffamir]

Thanks for the heads up, Joe.

It's not necessarily low cost that got me thinking open-source. I am a Linux user, and I've found many substitutions to commercial software. The thought was to check out Digsby, because it does help with multiple social networking accounts.. but that chat feature was a consideration. I am also a one-man internet department for the dealership I work for.

I judged CaO based on Cars.com's so-called 'hard time' setting it up for us. There were time when CaO wasn't working through our Cars.com account, and I assumed it was on CaO's end.

I am now considering CaO based on the other threads about it, as well as your words. I want my salespeople to start using eMail and online communications more frequently.. why not set them up with a system that offers more than Digsby's embed chat feature.. and like you said once we have used a service more often we would have more baseline of info.

Originally Posted by JoePistell

idkmybffamir,

Dude, you're all crossed up.

#1). If you had a b***** of a time getting Contact at Once (CaO) set up, whyinthehell would you take on a open source platform?

#2). Go Open Source 2nd, NOT 1st. 1st you need to test to see if YOUR STAFF and YOUR CUSTOMERS will use chat. 1st, you need to test the idea... test the concept. For your trial, use the "best of class" software you can buy. Any best of class platform has a 10,000 hour head start on your open source "idea". IF IT WORKS, then you'll know what the open source software lacks, what it can do better, and if all the TIME you need to invest into it has any ROI.

Low Cost got you thinking Open Source (OS)?
If you going for open source because its small cost matches expectations of low sales results, beware the black hole! If you've ever worked with OS, there is the enormous learning curve that robs you of TIME.... LOTS OF TIME.

My $0.02
CaO is month to month. ActiveEngage is a player to look at too. If they are month to month, then you can negotiate setup fees, use their training increase the SPEED and QUALITY of Chat test. Once you have 90-120 days of chat in place, you'll have a baseline of info to work from.