Microsoft announced some new features today that allow the addition of Windows Live Messenger Chat to any website. A nice post about it can be found on TechCrunch. Like Facebook Connect and other similar offerings, this is really just a way to add some social interaction to a website. So why should readers of this ContactAtOnce! blog care and what does it mean for them? A couple of things….
First, in case it isn’t obvious, the type of “social interaction” enabled by Live Messenger and similar software solutions is very different from the shopper-merchant chat interactions enabled by ContactAtOnce!. For social interaction both users must have previously set up userid’s and logged into the Live Messenger service, and the chat sessions are neither measured nor recorded. No reporting. No CRM integration. Etc. So although it is a useful and interesting solution, it is not in any way a replacement for ContactAtOnce!.
Second, this type of announcement highlights the continuing growth of chat usage. Even though it is a different type of chat, the fact that more and more of the world’s population is using chat as a wayto communicate (rather than email or the phone) means only one thing…that businesses looking to sell those people stuff, be it a car or attorney services or whatever, better offer chat on their website and within their web-based advertising. What happens to businesses that don’t offer chat? The shoppers will find another business website that does. Thats’ what!
Chat is changing the way that people communicate with each other socially (Microsoft’s announcement is proof), and businesses need solutions like ContactAtOnce! to capitalize on the chat trend and increase sales .
Windows Live Messenger Now Lets You Add Chat to Your Website - Should You Care?
Microsoft announced some new features today that allow the addition of Windows Live Messenger Chat to any website. A nice post about it can be found on TechCrunch. Like Facebook Connect and other similar offerings, this is really just a way to add some social interaction to a website. So why should readers of this ContactAtOnce! blog care and what does it mean for them? A couple of things….
First, in case it isn’t obvious, the type of “social interaction” enabled by Live Messenger and similar software solutions is very different from the shopper-merchant chat interactions enabled by ContactAtOnce!. For social interaction both users must have previously set up userid’s and logged into the Live Messenger service, and the chat sessions are neither measured nor recorded. No reporting. No CRM integration. Etc. So although it is a useful and interesting solution, it is not in any way a replacement for ContactAtOnce!.
Second, this type of announcement highlights the continuing growth of chat usage. Even though it is a different type of chat, the fact that more and more of the world’s population is using chat as a wayto communicate (rather than email or the phone) means only one thing…that businesses looking to sell those people stuff, be it a car or attorney services or whatever, better offer chat on their website and within their web-based advertising. What happens to businesses that don’t offer chat? The shoppers will find another business website that does. Thats’ what!
Chat is changing the way that people communicate with each other socially (Microsoft’s announcement is proof), and businesses need solutions like ContactAtOnce! to capitalize on the chat trend and increase sales .