What's New In The World Of Technology?

Communication technology continues to develop at a fast pace. Digital systems are converging to generate near-perfect tools that better connect consumers, companies, and even the government.

The Rise Of Multichannel Communication Platforms

In 2022, we’re witnessing the rise of multichannel communication tools. Developers are creating platforms that allow businesses and other organisations to chat with stakeholders, independent of the chat applications installed on their devices.

Click4Assistance’s Messaging tool is a good example of this in action. The software integrates with Facebook Messenger, SMS, and WhatsApp, funnelling all chats to a single dashboard. Company representatives can then communicate with customers regardless of the messaging system they are using, negating the need for them to switch platforms.

Chatbots Are Finally Blooming

For a long time, chatbot functionality was limited. However, thanks to advances in technology, they are now blooming.

Chatbots are taking advantage of machine learning and developing skills to provide customers with answers in a matter of seconds. Furthermore, as they collect more data, their answers become more relevant. They’re still not able to provide the depth of service that a customer services rep might, but they can answer common, repeated queries that arise frequently.

Click4Assistance’s AI chatbot is a case in point. The system uses natural language processing to understand the different ways users pose questions. It knows, for instance, what visitors mean when they ask things like “how much is product A?” or “how does licensing work?”

Form Bots are also becoming relevant. These work in situations where you want to assign customers into particular categories. The bot begins by asking a question and then presents the user with a selection of multiple-choice answers. The user then selects the options that apply to them, eventually arriving at an answer, agent, or service that can help them.

In-Chat Insights Are Becoming All The Rage

Web live chat software makes it easy for customers to communicate with you via your website. However, in the past, developers didn’t make it easy for company reps to display additional information to customers.

That situation, though, is now changing. Thanks to innovative new technology, operators can now cast payment options, product information, and promotional content into the chat environment.

Click4Assistance’s smartCast software is a good example of this in action. It allows both site visitors and operators to expand the chat window with an accompanying casting panel. Operators can then display product or payment information in real-time, or schedule automatic promotional messages while customers queue for reps. The idea is to make the chat experience more engaging while negating the need to leave the chat environment.

More Video Chat Integration On Websites

Brands are now slowly starting to accept the power of video chat integration on their websites. Benefits include:

• Greater engagement with customers
• More efficient than text-based chat
• Instantly creates trust by letting customers speak with real reps
• Can resolve issues quickly
• Increases customer satisfaction
• Improves the online shopping experience
• Enhances remote team technical support

However, until recently, relatively few tools were available. Fortunately, that’s now changing. Software is becoming more advanced, offering website visitors more options.

Click4Assistance’s Video Chat solution shows how this technology is developing. It allows both one- and two-way communication between team members and visitors to your website. Brands use it to build trust, demo their products, and make all-important eye contact with customers. It transforms an impersonal text experience into something far more engaging.

Cloud-Native Collaboration Solutions

Cloud-native collaboration solutions rose to prominence in 2020, following the advent of the pandemic. These allowed entire teams to move online and work remotely.

Meeting Rooms software from Click4Assistance shows what this technology is capable of. Companies, for instance, can now use SaaS solutions for virtual conferences, open days, focus groups, webinars and product launches. Tools let users join private meetings (where they need to enter their username or password) or public meetings (which just require following a link to gain access). Technology provides both chat and moderation functions, plus more niche tools, such as the ability to host auctions.

Visitor Monitoring

Lastly, we’re seeing the rise of visitor monitoring tools that give firms a deeper understanding of how and why their customers want to communicate with them. Monitoring, for instance, lets firms identify hot leads. It also allows them to see which customers convert. Live Chat from Click4Assistance also provides ghost text functionality so you can see what visitors are typing before they click send.