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Talk to your customer from your
Webpage
To decrease "drop-offs", e-retailers must accede to the demands
by customers for toll free customer assistance and beyond that
Live, online customer assistance. A Singapore based company called
ComEase.com Pte. Ltd sought to come up with a solution for these
issues and the result is a new VOIP technology called "ClickNTalk".
As part of a three part Web Communication Suite is an icon which
can be embedded into a merchant's website. This simple blue button
enables customers to talk to sales agents live and in real time.
The installation is quite easy and does not require special software
or hardware to be downloaded by the merchant or the customer.
The merchant is not required to change his existing phone number
or service provider. ClickNTalk is simply a phone pad, which transfers
the call to a ComEase.com telephone affiliate, and the phone call
is then transferred to the phone number of the merchant. Merchants
do not have to pay extra phone charges for this, merely their
usual phone service provider fees.
In fact, the merchant doesn't have to pay anything for this service.
As part of a promotion to increase awareness of Voice over IP
technology in the USA and its position as innovator in this area,
ComEase.com is offering "ClickNTalk" for absolutely free.
Who uses "ClickNTalk"?
Some industries benefiting from "ClickNTalk" are: Travel agencies,
on-line gift catalogues, financial institutions, consultancy firms,
communication companies, computer-related businesses, wholesalers
and information providers. ComEase.com plans to expand its user
base to include government agencies, embassies, consulates, stock
brokerage firms and many other business and non-profit agencies.
Where is ClickNTalk Being Used?
ComEase.com began an in-house product development program with
Technology partners in Singapore. It has been developing multimedia
communications applications since 1995. In 1996, a video conferencing
solution with simultaneous voice, video and data over PSTN, ISDN,
LAN TCP/IP and Internet was developed and marketed. ClickNTalk
then expanded into service in Taiwan and Japan and in February
2000, the USA office was launched. (In Asian countries, where
this service is well-known and popular, e-merchants are paying
for this service.)
Where is ClickNTalk Going?
ComEase.com plans to expand its service to Malaysia, Hong Kong
and South Korea before the end of this year. These countries have
been selected for their liberalization of the telecommunication
industry, their burgeoning e-Commerce market, the rapid rate of
Internet and computer penetration and their Internet infrastructure.
By 2001, ComEase.com plans to expand to Europe and other Asian
countries.
What about the competition?
Business to customer communication over the web is not new. Since
1992, companies have utilized instant messaging, which is simply
an e-mail transfer of the customer's question to a customer service
agent. Instant messaging may be regarded as a "misnomer" considering
that the customer may not get a reply until tomorrow's (or a later)
e-mail delivery. (Since e-mails are regarded as legal contracts,
a company lawyer may have to review the reply.) More timely is
the "graphic text chat" where a customer types in questions and
the CSR types back answers in real time. Some of these services
tout "talk to a real person NOW" or start a "human" chat now.
The language here may also be questionable since it is not voice
communication as is generally understood by the public. Also,
e-merchants are shelling out from $1,000 to $10,000 a month for
the text chats and "talking trolleys", which do not have the human
element of the ComEase.com product. On review of the product,
we find it particularly easy to install and the download is brisk.
Will Voice over IP enhance customer service?
How often has a web-surfer found his way to a perfectly designed
website, grabbed a shopping cart, taken a wrong turn and become
hopelessly lost? Traditionally, e-merchants have expected the
customer to get off line and call their 1-800 number for help.
Unfortunately, in the real world, the customer just goes to a
more user-friendly site.
ComEase.com believes a bonus feature of their Web Communication
Suite can decrease "drop-offs". ClickNSurf, also known as the
co-browser, enables the merchant's representative to lead and
guide customers to special products or items of individual interest
as well as helping the customer to "navigate" the site. In a brick
and mortar store, it would be similar to leading the customer
to a special rack, aisle or table. Mr. John Tan, Chief Executive
Officer, ComEase.com maintains, "In order to turn eyeballs into
revenue, Internet e-commerce websites must provide a new level
of customer experience. The provision of customer service is not
new, whether it is a brick and mortar business or that of an e-business.
If shoppers have queries over a product or services, they would
prefer if they have someone to speak to to allay all their doubts."
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