ABA Bank Marketing - April 2012

Beyond Live Text Chat: Adding Audio and Video

Once a bank has experienced live text chat, it typically asks:
“What else can we do with this technology?”
There are several features that banks can add on, says Sam
Heiney of Netop. The primary ones are audio and video live
chat. Audio enables the customer to speak with—in addition to
send text messages to—a customer service representative. The
audio is voice communication that is done over the Internet
using voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). Since the audio
is encrypted, it is more secure than a normal telephone call.

Another option is one-way video, in which the customer is able to see the customer service representative while either talking or sending text messages. This heightens the intimacy with the customer and also enables the CSR to communicate visually—by pointing to a section of a document, for example.

In many cases, one-way video communications is prefer-
able. Since customers will not be seen, they can bank from
home while dressed casually—in their pajamas, for example.
But the video connection still creates the impression of a
face-to-face conversation.

Currently, when visitors access the bank’s website they see a box on the lower left of the main page that encourages them to click there in order to activate live chat. The function is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. until 12 noon.

Since live chat was introduced last October, the bank has received between 10 and 40 customer-initiated chats a day. Most chats are service related and are similar to the ones the bank receives through telephone: requests to reset online banking passwords; questions dealing with specific accounts; queries about the bank’s hours of operation, etc. “I think this is to be expected since we’re using chat in a reactive mode only right now,” says Bayer.

The bank benefits because customers report that they like having the availability of chat. “It’s another way for folks to interact with the bank. Some people would rather type than pick up the telephone,” notes Bayer. Another plus is the fact that the technology is not that expensive and adding it is not a major undertaking. Since many consumers are already familiar with live chat—having used it through major retailers such as Amazon or L.L. Bean—the bank does not have to take any special steps to educate consumers about the technology. “It’s not considered leading edge anymore,” Bayer observes.

At the moment, the live chat queries are answered by generalists in the call center. Eventually, the bank plans to develop a routing list of bank employees who would be able to respond to more detailed or complex questions.

Live chat helps to differentiate the bank from its peers. The other banks in the market that offer it tend to be larger.

Bank marketers who are thinking about live chat should have a goal and a sense of where they want to go with it. “You need a plan, and you have to prioritize the order of the things you want to do, as you would with any new technology,” says Bayer.

The bank’s live chat vendor, LivePerson, New York, says that the technology is a good source of instant customer feedback. “It gives banks a better flavor for what their customers are experiencing,” says a spokesperson. Normally banks start conservatively and then add on other capabilities, such as voice or video. n