What is live chat? Third-party tool or custom-built?

Live chat has been one of the most talked-about website tools lately. It has been shown to have a big effect on conversion rate (CR) and it is excellent for marketing and customer care. Many people still don't understand how each type of live chat works, so it is hard to pick the right product and partner for growing a business through a website. Today MONA explains the difference between third-party live chat and custom-coded live chat. Let's get into it.

Many businesses have already replaced manual live chat with an AI customer care assistant that reads messages, replies at the right moment and picks up customer needs 24/7 on its own.

What is live chat?

Live chat is best understood as an upgraded form of text messaging: a tool for real-time online conversation. It lets you answer questions, advise and support customers instantly through direct messages.

How does live chat work?

When you open a website, a chat window appears and you can type your questions into it. The site may also greet you first, using automation that triggers invitations by rule. For example, the chat window can pop up when a customer has been on the checkout page for more than five minutes, or show messages like "Hello, how can we help?" or "Our agents are away right now. Please leave your details and we will get back to you soon." When a visitor asks something, the site manager is notified and can reply. Automatic replies keep customer support working even when the site manager is not there.

So is live chat important?

Yes. Statistics show that around 53% of customers prefer chatting to calling, because chat offers more useful features and is faster, more convenient and more effective than phone calls, email or other social channels. It also pays off for business: it changes how sales conversations start, and the share of prospects who turn into direct customers is around 51%.

Benefits of live chat.

Here are the main benefits of live chat: No need to pay forThe traditional way to support and care for customers is by phone. That raises support costs, because each call serves only one customer, while with live chat you can help several customers at once and save staff time. For complex questions, a phone call often means the customer has to call back a second time, while live chat can usually solve the problem on the first contact. Higher profitAs mentioned above, it can turn prospects into customers directly, which also saves cost. Improve customer loyaltyyour customers see your business differently thanks to quick, convenient exchanges, even when you are not there. You build trust not only with loyal customers but also with prospects. Understand customer problems betterSome customers face voice barriers (staff can't hear them clearly) or language barriers, some don't know how to explain their problem over the phone, and some are shy about calling for personal reasons. Live chat solves all of these. Chats are also recorded, so managers can see whether support staff solved the problem, which helps them manage the team. Faster problem solvingHandling time drops to seconds or minutes, and links and attachments can be sent right away. More convenient for customersWhat is better than asking a question and getting an answer immediately, without being redirected from page to page like on social media channels, or waiting painfully long for an email reply? Remember that speed, convenience and immediacy also build customer loyalty. Stay ahead of competitorslive chat brings big benefits, yet on average only 9% of 1,000 business websites offer it. Reach out to customers first when a customer lands on a site with live chat, a message window pops up with something like "Hello, how can we help you?" This is a proactive way to approach customers. It makes them feel welcome and makes your site feel friendlier. Reports on chats and visitsIt analyses and reports clearly on figures such as chat volume and performance, which pages visitors view most, where they come from, and more. More customer feedbackthe moment a customer joins a chat, the response rate goes up. Now that you can see live chat is useful, let's look at the two most common types (third-party live chat and custom-coded live chat) and how they differ, so you can choose the right one.

Third-party (intermediary) live chat software

This means the website integrates a third-party live chat program. When a visitor arrives, a small chat window invites them automatically. If they have a question, visitors sign in to the chat through a linked account such as Facebook, Twitter or others. On large, complex e-commerce sites, the live chat software may only work for people with site admin rights and be limited for others, such as sellers on a marketplace. If you want third-party live chat, just ask your web design company to integrate it into your site, then register an account and start using it. If your site runs on an open-source platform, you can add the extension yourself. It is quick and convenient. Third-party live chat saves money because most are free yet cover the basic features you need, such as activity reports, visitor feedback and fast chat, enough to support and care for customers well. If you want more advanced functions, you pay extra.

Custom-coded live chat software on your website

Where third-party live chat needs a separate login, custom-coded live chat can sign users in through the website's own platform. Because it is built specifically for you, it fits your purpose better. Conversations and key analytics are all stored on one server, and management is easier with a dashboard on the web server. In return for these advantages, the cost is fairly high. Think of the coding problem like this: first, how do you make it fast and reliable? When a command (a question, a search, a click) is sent, the web server has to be told straight away and send back a response instantly. Then come related issues such as scheduled automatic messages, file sending, chat rooms and groups, security and integrations, and more advanced features like voice and video calls. The last complex issue is allowing multi-directional interaction between admins and customers, sellers and admins, sellers and buyers, and sellers and other sellers. All of this takes a good server, regular maintenance and experienced developers. That means very high cost, possibly hundreds of millions of VND or more, depending on the scale and the advanced features you need.

Chatbot and live chat

To understand how chatbots and live chat relate, we first need to know what a chatbot is. Chat bot is a web-based software program that uses artificial intelligence and messaging to interact with customers automatically. Chatbot vs. live chat: What they have in common: both are built to interact with customers quickly and conveniently, and both run on websites, messaging apps, voice platforms and similar channels. Differences: Live chat: person-to-person interaction. Chatbot: a pre-built set of answers tied to a list of ready-made questions. Person-to-machine interaction. Pros and cons

Chatbot	Live chat
Pros: works 24/7 and saves on facilities and staff. Cons: rigid language and less flexible at handling unusual situations.	Pros: flexible language and situation handling. Cons: limited working hours, and business owners must pay for facilities and salaries.

The best solution today is to combine live chat and chatbot, so the weaknesses of each are covered. You know what your website is missing, but … you is never are not a website management expert and lack the skills for:

• Build a pixel-perfect design that looks exactly the way you want
• Build the features you need to attract users
• Speed and security optimization
• Meet every SEO requirement
• …

MONA Media offers website optimization and upgrade plans tailored to your needs so your website turns out exactly the way you want.

Conclusion

Live chat is important and useful, so use it on your website. Which type to choose depends on your needs and capacity. If you want custom-coded live chat, be ready to budget a significant amount; in return you get advanced features and security tailored to what you want. If your site is small, go with third-party software because it is free, and its features are basic. It is also the most common choice for live chat today. You can further improve customer service by using a chatbot and live chat together. That covers what we wanted to share today: what live chat is, how it works, its benefits, and the difference between the two common types. We hope you find the information useful and put it to good use.