The main feature of the product is that it supports an
unlimited number of operators, departments and client chats. You have the
ability to configure operating hours for each day. Moreover, the product
automatically transfers chat requests to the next available operator if the
concerned operator is not available at that point of time. Customers can leave
a message if there are no operators available to attend to the chat session.
With the help of the product, administrators can configure an automatic logout
such that the operator is automatically logged out after a fixed number of
missed chats to ensure that future chats are not routed to the non responsive
operator. Some of the other interesting features are the implementation of a
load balancing algorithm, advanced statistics and display of chat image
buttons.
The product ships with an advanced AJAX based chat interface
and support browsers such as Internet Explorer, FireFox, Netscape, Opera and
Safari, including down level browsers. It ensures that a functional chat
interface is rendered for those clients using older browsers that do not
support new AJAX features. A nice feature of the product is that it has the
ability to print or e-mail chat transcripts. One of the interesting features of
the product is that the operator console displays a tray icon to indicate
status and the balloon tool tip for notifying new chat requests. Moreover, the
console will be dropped to the tray automatically as soon as you click the
Minimize button and, hence, it will reduce the taskbar space. Version 1.1 of
the product comes with custom data exchange support as well.
The product generates alerts with sound and flashing windows
when a new chat request is made so that operators can quickly attend to the
chat session. Moreover, you can easily change the status message of the end
user chat image using the operator console (Settings | System Settings | Missed
Tab). I, however, found that the status message doe not update properly with
the customized message. I hope the vendor will pay attention to this factor
during the release of the next version of the product.
The product provides a facility for an administrator to view
a summary of all operators along with the corresponding chat status count and
also integrates nicely with .netCART shopping cart. In addition to integrating
with .netCART, there is a data exchange API provided so you can modify in
real-time data in your own web application. Also operators can manage images
and files and can respond to missed chats through e-mail from within the
product. You can explore a list of all the core features of the product at http://www.dotnetlivehelp.com/features.aspx.
The vendor provides excellent support through e-mail and
also through live chat which is itself the product. The documentation for the
product can be downloaded from http://www.dotnetlivehelp.com/dotnetlivehelp.chm.
Although the documentation is not comprehensive, it provides sufficient
information to work with the product. I feel that the vendor should provide more
information regarding customizing the product.