20 Best Live Chat Software in 2023

What is Live Chat?

Live chat is the process of a real-time conversation between the client and a company. It can be defined by an example. If you are on the site of a company that provides a specific service, you may want to know more about the service or have faced an issue that needs to be resolved by contacting customer support. Usually, getting a response from customer support takes time. On the contrary, if there is a live chat service available, you can get your problems resolved within a few minutes by having a conversation. The conversation is like any social media chat.

Benefits of Using a Live Chat Software

1. Increase in Revenues of the Website

Imagine the number of times people have to invest in while talking on the phone. But with the live chat option on the websites, helps increase customer engagement. When help is provided on the spot, customers start trusting the brand and that is how a brand image is built. 

2. Easily Accessible

Customer service is extremely essential to build the goodwill of any company. Therefore, with the live chat option, the doubts and queries of customers are instantly solved which helps customers to build trust. When instant gratification is provided, the brand is bound to not only build a loyal customer base but also have the chance of increasing its clientele. 

3. Proper Feedback

Feedback is essential in any organization in order to know where they stand and work upon bettering themselves. With the live chat option, companies can reach out to their customers who visit their website and also get their honest opinions on how they can better themselves. Also, by giving more focus on what the customers have to say, the company can devise products and services which actually cater to the people’s actual needs and requirements. Customer feedback is one of the best ways of enhancing a company and its brand. 

4. 24/7 Support

A company can easily win customers when they showcase that they exist because of their customers. The live chat feature is something that one can access at any time of the day. Therefore, if the customer has a query even in the middle of the night and they go and approach the company through live chat, they feel like an important aspect of the company. For a company, it is always important to show that they are accessible at any time of the day as it reflects well on the company.

Does Online Live Chat Software Benefit Non-Profit Organizations?

We have devoted the majority of this discussion to businesses, corporates or for-profit organizations. Sure, it is a proven way to increase sales and customer experience. But what about not-for-profit organizations? How can tools like web live chat software and online live chat software be of help to non-profit organizations?

A live chat provider can do wonders even for organizations that do not operate for profit, such as hospitals, governmental agencies/government software, NGOs, charities, helplines for suicide prevention, etc. Web live chat systems can be immensely helpful to customers or patrons of these organizations to get general inquiries or small issues resolved quickly. This way they will not have to travel all the way to the hospital or the government office to get a small query answered.

With live chat support software, both customers and non-profit organizations are able to save time and effort.

For many NGOs and charities, donors and volunteers are an important part of their success. And online live chat software is a perfect tool for increasing the number of donors and volunteers they have. It works in a similar way to a sales rep convincing a customer to buy a product.

If a visitor on the website is looking into the donations or volunteering sections, a representative from the organization can reach out to him/her using the website live chat software, explain more about the organization and its functioning, and convince him/her to volunteer and/or donate.

Live chat service providers and even open-source live chat software help non-profit organizations to save time and money, but also to get more money and more helpers, which they need more than everything else.

How Can Live Chat Software Help Different Businesses?

Top live chat software is a gamer changer for any business in any sector. Be it eCommerce, a small or medium-sized business, regardless of the industry, size, or market, using live chat tools will help you flourish. You would expect B2C companies to have a greater number of live chat users than B2B companies. But it’s actually the opposite. According to Zoho’s research, the B2B user base is double that of the B2C companies.

Both B2B and B2C companies use website live chat software and online chat software for sales and customer support. Moreover, as mentioned above, live chat providers and website live chat software are incredibly helpful to organizations that do not operate for a profit motive too.

Advanced Features of Live Chat Software

A live chat customer service software has many different features. Let’s have a look at some of them:

1. Proactive chat

Proactive chat is a feature that is commonly present on many websites. This feature allows the program to start a chat. It can be a simple greeting and something the customers notice so that they can take help from it. 

2. Tracking

With a tracking feature, the live chat software solutions can track customers by figuring out some important data and saving them. For example, the best chat software with a tracking feature can take the data on how much time the customers are spending on your customer support and also how much activity is done by your agent. That way, you can both track your visitors and also keep track of your agents’ work.

3. Chat rating

A rating system helps you to understand whether or not your customers are happy with the support they are getting from the customer chat software. After every conversation, the customers will find a rating box where they can submit their ratings. With it, you can find out if your agents are working well and the service is good enough. 

4. Routing

Routing is an essential and advanced feature for any business that has a high number of customers. The feature allows the customer live chat software to connect your customer to another operator or agent when someone else is busy with another client. You do not want your client to be waiting because that may bring a bad impression. That is why routing is very important for the best live chat app for the website.

5. Operator monitoring 

With this feature, one can supervise their operators' activities and find out which one of them is doing good and which one needs more training by using customer chat software. You can see their chat and other information regarding their performance. 

6. Canned response

Your agent's time will be saved if this feature is available. Canned responses are some text that is usually sent in almost every conversation — for example, the price of products. So, instead of your agent writing those every time in conversations, you can use the canned response system that will make it easier and faster. 

7. Mobile optimization

More people are browsing the internet on their phones than on desktop. That is why mobile optimization is greatly necessary. The best live chat app for a website with mobile analytics/mobile optimization helps to customize the software according to different mobile phones with an operating system that is not similar. 

8. Offline form

Sometimes, the live chat software is not available 24/7. It means that not all the time, people are going to get assistance. An offline form can solve the problem as during your closed hours; people will still be able to leave questions on the offline form that can be accessed by the agents anytime. It can be done by transforming the live chat widget into a form during the closed hours. 

9. File transfer

Most of the time, you will see the usual chat system where you can only send text messages and nothing more. With a file transfer system, it becomes a lot easier since the customers can explain a problem clearly with a screenshot or an example. 

10. Queue times

When there is a high volume of chat, sometimes all your agents will be busy, and helping the newcomers may take a little time. With the queue times feature, the client will see a timer that will tell them to wait for a certain period until one of the agents gets free. 

11. Analytics 

Chat history, operator activities, conversion tracking, the average time required for each client, details of the visitors, everything can be accessed by you with the help of analytics by your customer support chat software. It is a great way to keep track of your customer support as well as your business.

Things to Consider While Choosing The Live Chat Software

Before going in for anything, it is always better to weigh the options that are put in front. There are a lot of things that need to be considered like the kind of company that is going to adopt the software and what their requirements are. But apart from that, here’s a small list that also must be considered before finalizing what one chooses. 

1. Easily Customized

In order to properly promote the brand’s image, it is essential to choose software that provides customization features so that it can adapt to the company policies. And the promotion of the brand can be done by using a more personalized language, using chat banners, fonts, colors, styles, etc.

2. Proper Value at the Correct Price

One must not always opt for the cheapest options as it may help in saving money but may not help retain your brand’s image. Therefore, choose features that the organization will require and select specific customizations that can help enhance the organization.

3. Must Provide Mobile Support

Most often than not, people have started using their phones as their second computer. And therefore, many people check websites when they are traveling or on the go. Hence, live chat software must be mobile-friendly. Plus, it also needs to cater to all platforms and devices like Windows, iOS, Android, etc.

4. Must Provide Security

In this digital age, cyber hacking and data breaches are something that takes place quite regularly. Therefore, one must first look into aspects such as the infrastructure that will be used and the active firewall of the vendor that is providing the software. 

Why Should You Use A Live Chat Software?

Live chat software refers to messaging applications that companies use for customer support. Live chat tools and live chat support software allow customers to reach out to company representatives and get their queries resolved in real-time. Website live chat software, as well as online chat software, has been steadily gaining popularity.

This is because they are much less expensive than telephonic and email support. It requires fewer people and fewer resources and is more convenient for both the support staff and the customers. More importantly, the response time through live chat support software is a fraction of that taken by email or phone support.

Live chat tools are great to use in conjunction with other customer support channels like email and phone support.

How Do Web Live Chat Platforms Help Dealers to Stay Competitive?

Surprisingly, web live chat software can give your business a real competitive edge in whichever sector your business is. How does it do so?

1. Stellar Customer Support

Customer support actually goes a long way towards building your customer base, and when your company provides customer support that is prompt and genuinely helpful, your customers will keep coming back to you. Your customer base should grow exponentially if you take the effort to meet your customer support needs, which is something that online live chat software and live chat tools certainly help you to accomplish. Top live chat software can be used to save chat transcripts from various customers. The data from these transcripts can be analyzed to determine the weak areas in the company’s operations as well as customer support strategies. Using this, continual improvements can be made in the kind of support that the company provides to its customers.

2. Reduced Support Costs

Traditional call centers have customer support reps handling both phone and email service requests. However, it is humanly possible to handle only one customer at a time by phone or email for any customer service reps.
With online live chat software, a support rep can handle multiple queries simultaneously without too much trouble. Especially in the case of international customers, a lot of money is saved on international calls. This obviously leads to a reduction in time spent by both parties and also in the costs to the company.

3. Increased Sales and Lead Conversions

Website live chat software has the potential to increase your sales and lead conversions. Live chat tools allow your sales reps to answer any questions that customers might have about products on your website immediately.
In fact, they can be convinced to buy your products while they’re browsing your website. As soon as they have any queries, they can reach out through online chat software and get it resolved in minutes. It will help them make informed decisions faster and ultimately increase their sales.

4. Increased Sales Order Value

Sure, the best live chat tools can be used to increase the number of sales. But it can also be used to increase the average value of an order. The old trick of selling complementary products works like a charm to increase the order value.

For example, if you’re selling laptops on your website and your prospective customer uses the online live chat software to ask for help with the choices available or for expert insight into the products. Here your sales rep can give the customer appropriate advice but in addition to that, he can also recommend that the customer buy some additional complementary products. In this case, the customer can buy a laptop bag or accessories like Bluetooth, mouse, or headphones.

5. Build Customer Loyalty and Confidence

Live chat support software puts your company in the position to provide assistance to customers in a matter of seconds, and the ability to do so around the clock. Even if a customer is looking for assistance at 3 in the morning, live chat service providers can help them. The most commonly used modes of customer support are phone, email, and social media. Live chat software can provide 24/7 assistance to customers, help them make better decisions, and offer other products that might interest them or be of use to them.

It is just like having a personal sales assistant in a huge store like Macy’s. This is a well-established method of building up your customer base. When a customer feels like they are being given personal attention and that their satisfaction genuinely matters to the company, it automatically instills in them a sense of trust and confidence towards the company. On the internet, it is easy to create this loyalty by using .

Live Chat Tools: The Best Way to Manage Remote Service Teams

The gig economy is growing day by day. In fact, 34% of the US Economy in 2017 consisted of remote workers. Remote workers are quickly becoming a valuable asset to businesses that employ them. Live chat tools are a cost-effective and efficient way of managing your remote service teams. Online live chat software, website live chat software, and live chat tools help teams whose members may be scattered all over the world to be connected to the office community. It is a boon for remote teams worldwide.

A company’s support staff may consist of members scattered in different continents, but using live chat software the team members can connect as though they were in the same office. Live chat System enables remote team members to be a part of the day-to-day operations of the business even if they are working from a million miles away. It improves collaboration among teams.

The remote employees are kept updated on each development and can work on tasks, ask questions and make suggestions as if they’re present in the room.

Major Challenges While Using Live Chat Software and How to Overcome Them

No matter how advanced technology is, it is always subject to a few drawbacks.

1. Lack of Internet Connection

This issue occurs when the live chat feature also has a video/audio included in it. Such files usually require higher internet speed, but when it’s not available, issues like buffering occurs which might hamper the conversation due to distortion of communication taking place. On the other hand, if one only opts for the “text-only” option, then the chances of such things occurring reduce. 

2. No Immediate Response

When a company invests in Live Chat Software, they also need to take care of immediately responding to queries. If the response is not given on time, the customers are likely to not come back. Hence, representatives must act alert and ensure that they reply quickly in order to uphold the image of the company. 

It is obvious that with the changing times, companies too need to be technologically advanced in order to fight the increasing competition. And adopting systems that help a company connect with its customers is indeed a smart investment.

Types of Live Chat Software

There are different types of business live chat solutions, and they do not have the same features. For example, businesses and other websites do not have the same requirements, and as a result, the best live chat software for websites will not be suitable for business. However, let’s have a look at the types of live chat software here:

1. Text Support Software

Some live chat solution only provides customer support through texting, and some of the best live chat software for websites fall into this list. It will not provide any video or voice call customer service but will only include plain text. Big companies that need online chat support software can opt for an app that can provide both voice and text services.

2. Text, Voice and Video Support

Some customer support chat software has support agents working for them who are able to give service in voice calls or video calls. With this type of live chat service, a company can provide more personalized service to their customers. When a company needs to have a transaction of a large amount of money online, having this kind of live customer support software is suitable. However, online chat support software like this can be costlier since they include human support. 

3. Text, Voice, Video, and Co-Browsing

Co-browsing is an excellent feature provided by the best website chat software. Co-browsing comes from the idea of screen-sharing, but they are not quite the same. It can help with form filling as the support team of an online chat support software. 

The Future of Live Chat Software

Live chat software is on an upward growth trend throughout different sectors. A lot of companies like to integrate their Customer Relationship Management software with live chat tools and online chat software in order to improve customer support and also to increase lead generation.

1. 43% of companies that used live chat tools, live chat support software or even live chat software open source, reported that they understood their customers much better within 1 year of using online live chat software.

2. In 2016, the live chat software market was valued at $590 million. In 2023, it should hit a valuation of $997 million.

3. The market will grow at a CAGR of 7.5% by 2023.

4. Demand for live chat systems grew by 8.29% in 2017 and will continue to surge. For every 100 customers visiting companies’ websites, there are 8 additional members each month, which is some really steady growth.?

Latest Trends of Live Chat Software

1. CRM integration

By using CRM, you can get the background information of a customer. That way, you can provide more personalized support to each customer with your online live chat support software. CRM integration has been the trend of online chat support software, and it will be more and more used as businesses care for giving more personalized results. 

2. Automated pop-up texts

It has been a trend for such software for a long time. When someone visits your site, they will get a pop-up text that will show them that they can easily get assistance from your customer support team. 

3. Self-hosted vs. cloud-based

Self-hosted and cloud-based live chat software are not so similar, and they have a key difference in their services. On-premise or self-hosted live chat service uses the server from your own. It means you need to provide the program with storage that it will use to store data. On the other hand, cloud-based live support software uses a third-party server, and it is a better option that best chat software use. Cloud-based programs have been the trend of recent years in almost every technology, and it remains the same in the best website chat software.

4. Fast and easy customization

Each brand needs to introduce itself and have a unique feature that will distinguish them from others. With the customization feature of the best website chat software, each brand can sprinkle in their unique designs and looks to the live chat service. You can personalize your chat banners, languages, colors, styles, fonts, etc., and make the app the best website chat software.

5. Price

Customer support is an important section of a company. That is why going for the cheapest is not always the best idea for getting the best live chat app for websites because they cannot provide so many features with a limited budget. That is why people are looking for live support apps that are giving a great service within a limited budget. 

6. Onboarding

People do not want to spend days learning the features that are provided by online chat support software. That is why onboarding has been an important trend. The options of the online chat support software need to be easily understandable, and you do not have to deal with making complex codes in the live chat customer support software. As a result, you can enjoy the service of online chat support software faster and efficiently. 

7. Mobile support 

Mobile support is essential for all businesses. The number of people accessing the web using their phones has been higher in recent years, and that is why it is very important for a service to be ready for mobile phone support in any circumstances. Also, if the customer support app is available as a mobile app, you can use it from your phone to provide excellent service to your potential clients from anywhere. As a result, it makes the app the best live chat app for the website.

8. Security

Cyber hacking is not an uncommon thing and happens almost all the time. That is why security is a very important measurement that should be taken into account by every live customer support software provider. The infrastructure and servers of the live chat customer support software company, their data backup plan, active firewall, privacy policy, etc. should be on point before you use a service.

9. Support

It can be an irony to explain how important the customer support of the best live chat app for a website is, but all I can tell is that it is an essential feature. The support of the live chat customer service software should be available 24/7, and you should be able to contact the online chat support software company by text or call from phone or computer.

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