Low Cost Live Chat Software

[mattwatson81]

For those of you looking for a low cost or even free live chat software for your website, here are a couple to try

Starts at $29 a month
http://www.boldchat.com

Free version?
http://www.volusion.com/livechat_download.asp

If you are interested in "manned" chat for when your dealership staff can't answer, then there are tons of companies that offer that as well. I would be sure to use one that is automotive focused. Here are a couple that I know.

http://www.northwindsoftware.com/

http://www.activengage.com/

[Alex Snyder]

There's also ContactAtOnce that is inside our industry. It is a bit more expensive than those you posted but it is setup for automotive dealers. I haven't used their paid service yet, but it worked very well on AutoMart and Cars.com. With a Dealer.com website we've been using their chat program. I'd like to see some more out of it, but it gets the job done.

[kevinfrye]

We are currently testing Contact at Once at 3 locations, I will provide some feedback after some time has passed....

[JoePistell]

I am about 10 days from a Contact at Once install. More as it comes...

[Mitch Gallant]

Thanks Matt, I'm going through the process of replacing the Dealer.com chat we're using with our websites. Like Alex, we too would like to see more out the Dealer.com chat. After looking at the numbers we decided not to shell out for the custom graphics charges to implement a more visible "click to chat" button. At first glance it seems like a more detailed and comprehensive chat solution will be less per month and much more visible. I look forward to looking into these companies, thanks again!

[mattwatson81]

Thanks Matt, I'm going through the process of replacing the Dealer.com chat we're using with our websites. Like Alex, we too would like to see more out the Dealer.com chat. After looking at the numbers we decided not to shell out for the custom graphics charges to implement a more visible "click to chat" button. At first glance it seems like a more detailed and comprehensive chat solution will be less per month and much more visible. I look forward to looking into these companies, thanks again!

If it is just a few bucks (<$200 one time fee) for the custom graphics change it is probably well worth it to get more out of it.

[Driving Revenue]

The one problem I have seen with these is when the chat is not initiated by the consumer. IMHO, An automatic popup can seem very intrusive if not done right.

[JoePistell]

NOTE TO VENDORS.

It is RUDE to use this community forum to harvest leads and badger members via email. If you like DealerRefresh and it's community... BUY AD SPACE HERE.

[Alex Snyder]

Bobby. It is one thing to have a simple chat tool, and another to have one complete with robust reporting and other features like:

• not showing on your site when unmanned
• showing consumers a que so they know there is a delay at busy times
• saving the chat history
• turning the chat into an ADF lead for trackability inside a CRM or ILM
• allowing for co-browsing (like a gotomeeting) so you can show the customer around
• a round robin feature in case you have multiple employees available for chatting
• allowing the customer to add the chat to their AIM, MSN, G-chat service so they can easily chat you again in the future

On a different note Bobby, I just wanted to welcome you to the forums again and thank you for your contributions. I hope you got my PM and am glad to see we got you squared away on that technical snafu. This is the first day for the DealerRefresh forums to be officially out in the public and we're all going to go through some learning. We are fortunate to have forum gurus like Joe Pistell volunteering for our moderating team, and helping us to sort out all the various rules and guidelines. We will do our best to keep the playing field fair and I promise to keep my side of things completely transparent for all participants. If you ever have a question, or need some help, please do not hesitate to contact me by PM on these forums or through email (which you should have now).

Thanks again!
Alex

[joehigh]

As a vendor that both resells Contact at Once and uses it for some of our own customer communication, I am pretty pleased with it. The best thing it has going for it for me personally is that I don't have anyone in the office complaining about it or customers looking to drop it. I think that actually says a lot since someone can usually find a complaint with everything.