Customer support is a critical aspect of any business, and having an efficient and effective customer support system is essential for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. One such software solution that can help businesses improve their customer support is LiveAgent.
LiveAgent is an all-in-one help desk software that provides businesses with a variety of tools for managing customer interactions across multiple channels. It offers features such as ticket management, live chat, call center support, social media integration, knowledge base management, and more, all in one unified platform.
With LiveAgent, businesses can streamline their support processes and respond to customer inquiries more quickly and effectively, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, LiveAgent provides businesses with reporting and analytics tools, enabling them to gain insights into their customer support performance and make data-driven decisions.
In this article, we’ll provide an in-depth look at LiveAgent and its key features, benefits, use cases, and more. We’ll also compare it to other customer support software solutions and provide user reviews and testimonials. Finally, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide on how to get started with LiveAgent and offer best practices for using it effectively. Whether you’re a small business owner or a large enterprise, LiveAgent can help you improve your customer support and take your business to the next level.
Key Features of LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a comprehensive customer support software solution that provides businesses with a variety of features to manage customer interactions across multiple channels. Here are some of the key features of LiveAgent:
- Ticket Management System: LiveAgent’s ticket management system allows support teams to efficiently manage and prioritize customer inquiries. When a customer sends an inquiry, it is automatically converted into a ticket, which can be assigned to a specific agent or team for resolution. Agents can view the status of the ticket, add notes, and collaborate with other team members to resolve the issue.
- Live Chat: LiveAgent’s live chat feature enables real-time communication with website visitors. It provides customizable chat widgets that can be placed on a website, allowing visitors to initiate a chat with a support agent. Agents can handle multiple chats simultaneously and use canned responses and pre-defined workflows to resolve common inquiries more quickly.
- Call Center Support: LiveAgent also offers call center support, allowing agents to make and receive calls within the software. This feature includes call recording, call forwarding, and the ability to route calls to specific agents or teams based on the caller’s needs. This allows businesses to provide a more personalized and efficient phone support experience for their customers.
- Social Media Integration: LiveAgent’s social media integration allows businesses to manage customer interactions on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Agents can view and respond to customer inquiries and comments within the LiveAgent platform, providing a unified platform for managing customer interactions across multiple channels.
- Knowledge Base Management: LiveAgent’s knowledge base management feature allows businesses to create and manage a library of articles and frequently asked questions (FAQs) that customers can access to find answers to common inquiries. This can help reduce the number of inquiries and tickets that agents have to handle, leading to increased efficiency and productivity.
- Customizable Chat Widgets: LiveAgent provides customizable chat widgets that can be placed on a website, allowing businesses to tailor the chat experience to their brand and website design. Businesses can choose from a variety of chat widget designs and customize the colors, fonts, and other design elements.
- Multi-Brand Support: LiveAgent’s multi-brand support feature allows businesses to manage customer support for multiple brands or products within one platform. This can help businesses save time and resources by providing a centralized platform for managing customer support across multiple brands.
- Reporting and Analytics: LiveAgent provides businesses with reporting and analytics tools, allowing them to gain insights into their customer support performance. Businesses can track metrics such as response time, ticket volume, and customer satisfaction to identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.
- Security Features: LiveAgent provides businesses with robust security features, including SSL encryption, two-factor authentication, and IP restrictions. This ensures that customer data and communications are protected and secure.
Overall, LiveAgent provides businesses with a comprehensive platform for managing customer interactions across multiple channels. Its features can help businesses improve their efficiency and productivity, respond to customer inquiries more quickly and effectively, and gain insights into their customer support performance.
Benefits of LiveAgent
LiveAgent offers a range of benefits for businesses looking to improve their customer support operations. Here are some of the key benefits of using LiveAgent:
Improved Customer Satisfaction: LiveAgent’s unified platform for managing customer interactions across multiple channels can help businesses respond to customer inquiries more quickly and effectively, leading to increased customer satisfaction. Additionally, features such as live chat and knowledge base management can provide customers with quick and easy access to the information they need, further improving their satisfaction.
Increased Efficiency and Productivity: LiveAgent’s ticket management system and other features can help businesses streamline their support processes and improve their efficiency and productivity. Agents can handle multiple tickets and chats simultaneously, use pre-defined workflows and canned responses to resolve common inquiries more quickly, and collaborate with other team members to resolve more complex issues.
Cost Savings: By providing a centralized platform for managing customer support across multiple channels, LiveAgent can help businesses save time and resources. Its automation features and workflows can also help reduce the workload for support teams, leading to cost savings.
Improved Communication and Collaboration: LiveAgent’s ticket management system and other features can help improve communication and collaboration among support teams. Agents can view the status of tickets, add notes, and collaborate with other team members to resolve issues more quickly and effectively.
Customizable and Scalable: LiveAgent provides businesses with a customizable platform that can be tailored to their specific needs and requirements. Its multi-brand support feature also makes it easy for businesses to manage customer support for multiple brands or products within one platform. Additionally, LiveAgent can scale with businesses as they grow, providing the flexibility and scalability they need.
Reporting and Analytics: LiveAgent provides businesses with reporting and analytics tools that can help them gain insights into their customer support performance. Businesses can track metrics such as response time, ticket volume, and customer satisfaction to identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.
Use Cases for LiveAgent
LiveAgent can be used in a variety of industries and for a range of use cases. Here are some examples of how businesses can use LiveAgent:
E-commerce
LiveAgent can be used by e-commerce businesses to manage customer support across multiple channels, including email, live chat, and social media. It can help businesses provide a seamless customer support experience, improve their response times, and increase customer satisfaction.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS businesses can use LiveAgent to provide customer support for their software products. Features such as ticket management and knowledge base management can help support teams resolve common issues more quickly and efficiently, while live chat and call center support can provide customers with real-time assistance.
Telecommunications
Telecommunications companies can use LiveAgent to provide phone and online support for their customers. Its call center support feature can help route calls to specific agents or teams, while its social media integration can help companies manage customer inquiries and comments on social media platforms.
Healthcare
Healthcare providers can use LiveAgent to manage patient inquiries and support requests. Features such as ticket management and knowledge base management can help healthcare providers provide accurate and timely information to patients, while call center support can provide patients with real-time assistance.
Education
Educational institutions can use LiveAgent to manage student inquiries and support requests. Live chat and social media integration can help schools and universities provide students with real-time assistance, while ticket management and knowledge base management can help support teams resolve common issues more efficiently.
Travel and Hospitality
Travel and hospitality businesses can use LiveAgent to manage customer inquiries and support requests across multiple channels. Its live chat feature can help travelers get real-time assistance, while its ticket management system can help businesses prioritize and resolve support requests more efficiently.
Comparison with Competitors
LiveAgent competes with other customer support software in the market, including Zendesk, Freshdesk, and Help Scout. Here’s a comparison of LiveAgent with its main competitors:
- Zendesk: Zendesk is a popular customer support software that offers a range of features, including ticket management, live chat, and social media integration. However, LiveAgent offers more features for a lower price point, including call center support, knowledge base management, and multi-brand support.
- Freshdesk: Freshdesk is another customer support software that offers features such as ticket management, live chat, and social media integration. However, LiveAgent’s pricing is more competitive, and it offers more features, such as call center support, built-in CRM, and multi-brand support.
- Help Scout: Help Scout is a customer support software that offers features such as ticket management, knowledge base management, and live chat. However, LiveAgent offers more features for a lower price point, including call center support, built-in CRM, and multi-brand support.
How to Get Started with LiveAgent
LiveAgent has received generally positive reviews from its users, with many praising its comprehensive features, user-friendly interface, and excellent customer support. Here are some user reviews and testimonials:
“We switched to LiveAgent from Zendesk and have been extremely happy with our decision. LiveAgent offers more features at a lower price point, and their customer support is excellent. The interface is easy to use, and we love the multi-brand support feature.” – Sarah M., Marketing Director at an e-commerce company.
“LiveAgent has been a game-changer for our customer support operations. The call center support feature has allowed us to improve our response times and provide real-time assistance to our customers. The knowledge base management feature has also helped us reduce the number of support requests we receive.” – John D., Customer Support Manager at a software company.
“We’ve been using LiveAgent for over a year now and have been extremely happy with the platform. The live chat feature has been a game-changer for our business, and the ability to integrate social media channels has allowed us to manage customer inquiries more efficiently.” – Emily P., Owner of a small business.
“LiveAgent has helped us streamline our customer support operations and improve our response times. The ticket management feature has allowed us to prioritize and resolve support requests more efficiently, while the built-in CRM has helped us manage customer relationships more effectively.” – Mark L., Operations Manager at a telecommunications company.
LiveAgent pricing
LiveAgent offers flexible pricing options with two main categories of plans: Business and Enterprise. The platform also offers a 7 or 30-day free trial, depending on whether or not a company email is used, so businesses can try the platform before committing to a plan. Additionally, there is no credit card required to sign up for a free trial.
For those who choose to continue using LiveAgent, there is an option to save up to 20% by opting for annual billing. LiveAgent also offers the ability to upgrade and pay as you go, with no contracts or setup fees. This means that businesses can choose to cancel their plan at any time without penalty.
The Small Business plan is the most affordable option, starting at $9 per agent per month billed annually or $12 per month billed monthly. This plan includes 1 incoming email account, 3 outgoing email accounts, 10 departments, 1 live chat button, chat satisfaction surveys, 1 API key and integration, knowledge base, customer service, and white glove setup.
The Medium Business plan is a more versatile option with additional features such as 10 incoming email accounts, 10 outgoing email accounts, call center support, 20 departments, interactive voice response, product training, custom domain hosting, 20 event rules, 10 time rules, and 5 SLA levels. This plan costs $29 per agent per month billed annually or $35 per month billed monthly.
The Large Business plan is the all-inclusive option with sky-high limits and full capabilities. This plan includes everything in the Medium plan, as well as 40 incoming email accounts, 40 outgoing email accounts, 1 WhatsApp account, 50 departments, multi-knowledge base, senior account manager, 2 knowledge bases, 100 event rules, time report, 10 SLA levels, and audit log. The Large Business plan costs $49 per agent per month billed annually or $59 per month billed monthly.
For businesses with specific needs, LiveAgent offers an Enterprise plan that includes all features from the Large plan, as well as exclusive services like a dedicated key account manager, priority support, assisted WhatsApp integration, custom billing setup, scheduled release management, service review call and reports, up to 40 custom roles, multileveled knowledge base, and assisted channels integration. The Enterprise plan costs $69 per agent per month billed annually or $85 per month billed monthly.
Finally, LiveAgent also offers a Free Business plan with limited features. This plan includes 7 days ticket history, 1 incoming email account, 1 outgoing email account, 3 departments, 1 chat button, 1 custom filter/agent, customer portal, knowledge base, and white glove setup. This plan is ideal for businesses that are just starting out and want to try the platform before upgrading to a paid plan.
Frequently asked questions
What is LiveAgent software?
LiveAgent is a cloud-based helpdesk software that provides a comprehensive solution for managing customer support. It is designed to help businesses of all sizes to communicate with their customers via multiple channels such as email, live chat, phone, social media, and customer portals. The software combines all communication channels into one place, allowing businesses to manage and respond to customer inquiries more efficiently.
LiveAgent offers various features such as ticket management, automation, knowledge base, time tracking, and reporting. With ticket management, businesses can easily track and organize customer inquiries from various channels. Automation allows businesses to automate repetitive tasks such as ticket routing and tagging, saving time and increasing efficiency. The knowledge base feature enables businesses to create a self-service portal where customers can find answers to common questions without the need for human intervention.
LiveAgent also provides real-time chat translation in over 100 languages, making it easier for businesses to communicate with their customers around the world. Additionally, the software offers call center support, including interactive voice response (IVR), call recording, and call distribution.
What companies use LiveAgent?
LiveAgent is used by a wide range of companies across various industries and regions. Some of the well-known companies that use LiveAgent include:
- BMW – a global automobile manufacturer that uses LiveAgent to provide customer support in multiple languages.
- Yamaha – a multinational corporation that produces a range of musical instruments, audio equipment, and other products. Yamaha uses LiveAgent to manage customer support inquiries.
- Huawei – a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and services. Huawei uses LiveAgent to provide customer support to its clients.
- KFC – a multinational fast-food restaurant chain. KFC uses LiveAgent to manage customer inquiries and support requests.
- University of Oxford – a world-renowned university based in the UK. The University of Oxford uses LiveAgent to provide support to its students and staff.
- Allianz – a multinational financial services company that provides insurance, asset management, and other services. Allianz uses LiveAgent to manage customer inquiries and support requests.
- American Red Cross – a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and other services. The American Red Cross uses LiveAgent to manage its customer support operations.
These are just a few examples of the many companies that use LiveAgent to manage their customer support operations. LiveAgent’s versatility and comprehensive feature set make it an ideal choice for businesses of all sizes and industries.
Is LiveAgent a CRM?
LiveAgent is not a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software in the traditional sense. Although it has some CRM-like features such as contact management, ticket tracking, and customer history, LiveAgent is primarily a help desk and customer support software.
LiveAgent is designed to help businesses manage their customer support operations by providing a central hub for all customer inquiries, regardless of the channel they come from (email, phone, live chat, social media, etc.). It allows businesses to organize and prioritize customer inquiries, automate repetitive tasks, and collaborate with team members to resolve customer issues quickly and efficiently.
That being said, LiveAgent can be integrated with CRM software such as Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Zoho CRM to enhance customer data management and streamline customer support operations. With these integrations, LiveAgent can pull customer data from the CRM, display it in the LiveAgent interface, and sync customer interactions back to the CRM for a more complete view of the customer journey.
What is Live Agent in Salesforce?
Live Agent is a live chat support application that is part of the Salesforce CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform. It is a powerful tool that allows businesses to engage with their website visitors in real-time and provide immediate customer support.
With Live Agent, businesses can set up a live chat window on their website, which customers can use to connect with a customer support agent in real-time. The agent can answer questions, provide assistance, and resolve issues quickly and efficiently, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Live Agent is integrated with Salesforce’s Service Cloud, allowing businesses to manage their customer support operations from a single platform. This integration enables businesses to track and manage customer interactions across multiple channels, including live chat, email, social media, and phone.
Some of the key features of Live Agent in Salesforce include real-time chat monitoring, customizable chat windows, automatic chat routing to the right agent, and pre-chat surveys to gather customer information before a chat session. It also provides analytics and reporting features to help businesses track their chat performance and identify areas for improvement. Overall, Live Agent in Salesforce is a powerful tool for businesses looking to improve their customer support operations and provide an exceptional customer experience.
Who are the typical users of LiveAgent?
LiveAgent is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of businesses and organizations, from small startups to large enterprises. Its typical users include:
- Customer support teams: LiveAgent is primarily designed for customer support teams who need to interact with customers and website visitors in real-time. It enables support teams to respond to customer queries, resolve issues, and provide exceptional customer service.
- Sales teams: LiveAgent is also useful for sales teams who want to engage with potential customers and prospects in real-time. Sales teams can use the live chat feature to answer questions, provide product information, and assist with the buying process.
- Marketing teams: LiveAgent can be used by marketing teams to engage with website visitors, answer questions, and provide information about products and services. It can also be used to generate leads and drive sales.
- E-commerce businesses: LiveAgent is a popular choice for e-commerce businesses that need to provide real-time customer support to their customers. It can be integrated with e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Magento, enabling businesses to provide live chat support to customers who are shopping online.
- Service-based businesses: LiveAgent is also useful for service-based businesses that need to provide customer support to their clients. It can be used by businesses in industries like IT, healthcare, education, and more to provide real-time support to their customers.
What level of support does LiveAgent offer?
LiveAgent offers multiple levels of support to its users.
First, there is a comprehensive knowledge base available on their website that includes articles, videos, and tutorials on how to use various features of the software.
Second, LiveAgent offers email and live chat support, where users can get in touch with the support team directly for assistance with any issues or questions.
Third, for customers on the Enterprise plan, there is a dedicated key account manager who provides personalized support and assistance with integrating LiveAgent into the customer’s business processes.
Overall, LiveAgent is known for providing prompt and helpful support to its users, regardless of the plan they are on.
Conclusion
LiveAgent is a comprehensive customer support platform that offers a range of features to help businesses manage their customer support operations. With features such as ticket management, live chat, call center support, and knowledge base management, LiveAgent provides a customizable and scalable solution for businesses of all sizes.
The platform’s multi-brand support feature also makes it an ideal solution for businesses that manage multiple brands or websites, while its competitive pricing and excellent customer support make it a strong competitor in the customer support software market.
Overall, LiveAgent is a valuable tool for businesses that are looking to improve their customer support operations and provide excellent customer service. With its user-friendly interface, customizable platform, and comprehensive features, LiveAgent can help businesses streamline their support operations and improve their overall customer satisfaction.