Virtual Communications – Types and Advantages

Last Updated: October 6th, 2006
WebsiteAlive Editor Eric Yu contributed to this article.

For the service side of their operations, companies can choose to go with a variety of different methods. Each method offers its own advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately the decision will depend on several factors, including cost, customer needs, and employee abilities. Companies can determine whether one type of program will work better by conducting surveys of existing clients or by doing a cost-benefit analysis of one product or method over the other.

There are three main types of communication methods that a company can choose to use when interacting with their clients – text chat (also known as live chat), voice or telephone, and email. These three methods fall into two different types of interaction – synchronous or asynchronous. With synchronous interaction the customer and company representative converse instantaneously, like that found in text chat and over the phone. Asynchronous interaction, like email, means messages are sent back and forth between the two individuals with extended time frames between messages.

Synchronous programs, of course, mean a more immediate response back to the client. This generally means better customer service results and a higher customer satisfaction rating. However, it also means your customer service representatives must be better trained and more knowledgeable about the products that the company provides.

Asynchronous programs, on the other hand, mean that you can retain a much smaller support staff because there’s an allowable time delay between a customer message and the company’s response. The downfalls of this method, however, are that customers don’t receive the immediate response they may need and as a result customer satisfaction ratings may not be as good as with other programs.

Each individual type of program also provides their own benefits and drawbacks:

Text Chats

Advantages: Text Chat or Live Chat systems mean that a single customer service representative can respond to multiple customer requests or comments at the same time. This in turn means lower costs to the company. The fact that text chats also facilitate a synchronous interaction between the two parties means customers generally are more satisfied with the results from a Live Chat experience.

Additionally, customer service reps using Live Chat can be provided with scripted responses and/or a large database of well researched solutions to problems that they only need to cut and paste to provide to an individual. Live Chat programs generally are the best solution for companies if they only have one or two options for the ways they plan to communicate with customers by.

Disadvantages: Since Live Chat systems don’t generally come standard with a computer or office building, chances are high that a company will have to pay for additional software and/or hardware equipment in order to provide this service.  

Voice

Advantages: The primary advantage of phone or voice support programs is that it’s not reliant upon a computer from the user’s end. If part of your customer base are technophobes or don’t have access to a computer when they need to contact you, this method is really your only option. Hardware companies or those where even if the customer has access to a computer, it may not be accessible at the time they need to contact you (or it may be what the customer’s calling about), will need this form of support. Similarly, some customers may feel uncomfortable walking through steps off a computer screen. In order to retain a good customer support rating you may need this option to satisfy those customers.  

Disadvantages: Each customer service representative can only assist one customer at a time, so the overhead of hiring enough individuals to support your customer base may not be at all feasible. Additionally, these agents will need to be much better versed than others in the way a product works or is handled, as they won’t have the delay, even if only a fraction of a second, to access a computer database to obtain the solution. Consumers on the phone can generally tell a lot easier when a representative on the phone doesn’t know the details of a product or service, as opposed to online reps where doing so is harder since pauses between statements are expected.

Email

Advantages: Since the delay between an email and a response is expected, this generally means more time to research and correctly answer any questions or solve any issues a customer may have. Additionally, the number of employees needed to manage and maintain an email support system is significantly lower than any other form of support. These employees can also send detailed instructions easier since customers can print the instructions out and follow them rather than trying to do that over the phone or step by step with an individual.

Disadvantages: The inherit delay in email support inevitably means lower customer service ratings. It also means any customer who doesn’t have access to an email address or computer on a regular basis may be at a disadvantage.

Regardless of which program you choose, make sure to do extensive research into which program best fits your company and its clients. Choosing the wrong one may mean decreased customer satisfaction and in turn lower sales.

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