With the launch of their live help service Boldchat in 2003, Wichita Kansas-based Bravestorm, LLC looked promising. With four different (Rackspace.com hosted) service offerings (Enterprise, SMB, Pro, Basic) online businesses should have no trouble finding the appropriate solutions for them (jump to common live help software questions & comments at bottom of this review).

Getting started with Boldchat was easy - I selected the service level desired (pricing done per Agent (licensed) with discounts on multiple Agents), downloaded the 6MB setup file (Microsoft Windows console software), and installed it on my computer. Requiring Internet Explorer 6 (or higher) web browser, Windows XP/Vista operating system, and the .NET framework, the setup of the console software was straightforward. After installation and double-clicking the desktop icon, I was greeted with the welcome page showing the latest information on Boldchat.

A helpful user guide within the console took me through the basics of setting up live help, and all the console functions. To add the 'chat now' image and real-time monitoring on my website I needed to generate the HTML/Javascript coding from the console software. The menu-choice options to do this are shown on the webpage after you sign up for the Boldchat service; it can also be found on the HELP guide within the console itself. If I wanted to track conversions, that was also done with specially encoded HTML generated by console.

The Boldchat service comes with all the features you expect from a live help service: real-time monitoring of website visitors, ability to accept/block chat requests, Agents being able to see each other in the console (and their respective status), unlimited canned messages, fully customizable chat windows, customizable chat alerts, and more. Explorer, Safari, Firefox, and Opera web browsers are said to be compatible with the chat window that opens on visitor web browsers.

Several console features that stood out:

• 'Answer Next' to continue opening chats in order received, 'Website Business Hours' so regardless of the Agent/Operator status 'chat now' image buttons won't show unless business hours criteria were met.
• Ability to have multiple operators join chat; and Agents chatting amongst themselves. 'Operator Discussions' function allows Agents to chat with each other privately during or after a live chat session.
• During creation of HTML for chat image, selecting the 'Email Signature Button' allowed me to add a chat now button to my Microsoft Outlook Email Signature (must be HTML-based email otherwise won't show properly).

The Basic version (which is truly basic in its available features) at $29/mo. comes with live chat, chat history, pre-chat survey, push pages and basic real-time monitoring (browser and IP address only) - no pro-active invites. The full geo-location information (country, city, state, ISP, region, etc.) of website visitors, pro-active invites capability (including 'Auto-Invite Ruleset, where you set the criteria for chat request pop-ups), web analytics and detailed reporting are only available in $49 Pro version (and higher service offerings).

-Dave Swanson

> visit www.boldchat.com

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Submit A Question Or Comment

Question submitted: How can I set up Answer Next on Boldchat?
Webmaster response: It's done through the Boldchat Agent console software. From the main menu, click on Setup > Account Setup > General > Operators. From here either create a new operator account or edit an existing one. Find the "Operator Service Settings" and put a check next to "Use Answer Next" (enabling this option will allows the operator to answer unanswered chats in the order the chats were started by website visitors).