By now you’ve probably heard that Meebo is discontinuing its chat service on July 11, 2012. The good news is that LibChat will be ready before then. The even better news is that is it so super awesome that even if Meebo wasn’t cancelling their chat, you’d still switch to LibChat in a heartbeat!
We know what you’re thinking: “So Springy friends, 1) what can it do and 2) when can we get our hands on it?!”
Well, LibChat’s awesomesauce is made of:
- full integration into the LibAnswers reference workflow (including new question / SMS notifications right in the LibChat window!);
- 1-click integration into LibGuides / CampusGuides (embed chat on every public page; embed individual chat in your profile);
- simple integration into any webpage – put your chat at point of need;
- several widget types – easy to use & not Flash based, so they work on non-Flash supported devices (we’re lookin’ at you, Apple);
- multiple queues – create as many as you need (individual & department based);
- chat transfer: transfer in-process chats from one librarian to another (making referrals easy peasy!);
- customizable canned messages;
- transcripts: all chat transcripts are saved & can be analyzed; patrons can also email the transcript to themselves with one click;
- full statistics, including patron ratings;
- …and more!
Of course, one of the prime ingredients in Springshare’s awesomesauce is our outstanding support. Anyone caught by the Meebo chat shut-down can certainly appreciate the full value of having a library-focused company develop & support a library-centric reference solution.
True, it’s not free like Meebo was, but remember that you get what you pay for with free. With real-time reference being an important piece of the library’s mission, we feel it is very important to offer not only a great product, but also incredible service & support and continued product development.
This is where Springshare excels, and we are proud of the fact that we have built a sterling reputation for support & service in the library market. LibChat is no exception, and our clients – new and old – can expect the same awesome service / product / developments from us. We will never abandon you or let you down.
Excited yet? Want to see it in action? Alrighty then – let’s do it!
- Are you going to ALA? Stop by booth 712 and chat with us! Check out all of the awesome features and get your library signed up.
- Not going to ALA? No problem! Email sales@springshare.com and ask for a demo for your library.
LibChat will launch in early July – before Meebo shuts down. Chat with you soon! 🙂
Will I be able to see which guide my users are on? With meebo, I couldn’t see this, just a list of guest names and I had no idea what ones were being used.
You will! Whenever a new chat comes in, you’ll be able to see which guide (or website) the user is using to chat with you. Check out a quick screenshot here. You’ll also be able to view detailed aggregate statistics, so you can see which pages are used most frequently.
Marvelous! Will the stats say how long they stayed on a page?
Not precisely – meaning, it’s not simple for us to report on how long a user viewed a particular web page (without a major overhaul to our statistics package), so in terms of how long a user looked at a page that contains a chat widget, we probably won’t be able to get you this report.
However – it will be pretty simple for us to add statistics tracking for how long a user engages in a chat (ie the time between when a user clicks “Chat!” vs. when they disconnect from the chat), so we’ll definitely build this into a future update. Hope this makes sense!