HelpOnClick Review: Live Chat For Larger Teams

Criterion	Rating	Comments
Ease of use		The interface is not very intuitive, the menu lacks explanations.
Setup		As easy as copying and pasting, however, when applying changes to the chat client you sometimes have to re-install the code on your website.
Appearance customization		There is one basic widget which comes in different colors. Additionally there are chat icons, which we found a bit old-fashioned.
Chat features
-Chat client (that customers use)		There is the dynamic widget (which we recommend) as well as the icons that will trigger a pop-up once the visitor clicks it. You can display a photo of the operators' with both variants.
-Chat agent console / use of instant messengers (IM)		Offers a convenient console with a lot of functionality. A desktop app is available as well. Does not support instant messengers like GTalk or Skype.
-Proactive chats & Triggers		Visitors can be invited to chat manually or automatically. Trigger variables are time spent on site, the URL and/or the referrer. More options would be good.
-Offline mode		Use it as a contact form while nobody is online. The button can also be hidden.
-Shortcuts / canned messages		You can create pre-defined messages and add them very conveniently via the menu.
-Create chat protocols		It will create a history of past chats and also let's you send a transcript to your visitors.
Tracking & live analytics		Monitoring will show you what visitors are doing on your website and where they are from.
Internationalization		You can customize all of the backend text. But it will not switch languages automatically. You have to decide on one main language.
Integrations	Yes	Offers a range of CRM and Helpdesk integrations. Examples are Salesforce, Zoho and Zendesk.
More features
-Working in a team	Yes	You can transfer or invite other agents to ongoing chat sessions.
-Mobile support	Yes	An iPhone and iPad app is available.
-SSL encryption	Yes	Can be activated.
-Ban users	Yes	You can ban by IP address.
-Log creation	Yes	Creates a searchable archive.
Support	Live chat, FAQs and email	The FAQs are very limited. It's best to contact them via live chat.
Overall rating	3.5/5	Very strong on functions but not very intuitive for the operator.

© ChatToolTester Matrix

Conclusion

Once you get the hang of it and everything is set up properly, HelpOnClick is a great support tool. Your operators have a convenient way of using pre-defined messages to speed up the chat experience for your customers. The way we see it HelpOnClick's focus is more on larger companies that want to set up the system on different websites and departments.

To fully understand how the admin interface works will take longer than comparable providers. The help section is pretty limited and the structure of the menus can be confusing. Important points of the menu are in grey color on a grey background for example. We were also missing an automatic way to show an agent as offline -- with other providers you can switch an agent into offline mode if they are away from their desk.

Although a few areas should be improved, all in all we are quite happy with the price/performance ratio.

> Try HelpOnClick on your website - 14 day free trial (no credit card required).
 

Updates

05-08 Mar 2013 - Initial tests
 

Last updated: 08 Mar 2013 | Robert Brandl