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If you are a customer who is trying to reach a company, not being able to navigate through the phone menu and waiting for hours before you can speak to a live representative will leave you frustrated. With the help of live chat software, business owners can give their customers the option of getting a high level of customer service.

Kicking off the week, 72 percent of the participants in an Internet shopping survey conducted by LogMeIn (News - Alert) said live chat was their preferred method of communication and 67 percent said they would be more receptive to being proactively invited to engage in a live chat.

So, how is BoldChat’s proactive live chat different than other live chats? A recent BoldChat video shares the inside track. Proactive live chat offers different options to engage and it can be done manually or automatically.Many of the features focus on customizing the services to meet the needs of the customer and the business. Additionally, the self serve option combined with BoldChat’s professional service staff is a bonus. Even after the proactive chat is installed, companies can go into the application and make changes. If they face a challenge, they can call BoldChat for assistance – something rarely offered in a live chat solution.

As customers happen upon a site looking for an answer to a question, they don’t always know where to look to find the information they need. BoldChat has built a platform designed to enable communication between a company and its customers to drive a quality customer interaction and increase conversions.

In other news, on Cyber Monday, LivePerson (News - Alert) , Inc., a provider of intelligent engagement solutions that increases conversions and improves the customer experience online, hosted over 860,000 live chats— an increase of 30 percent from 2011 and a new daily record for the company. In addition to the record breaking number of live chat interactions, LivePerson clients utilized engagement tools, delivering personalized offers and click-to-call invitations.

The solution offers a cloud-based platform that enables businesses to proactively connect in real-time with their customers. The platform also enables customer interaction via chat, voice, and content delivery at the right time and through the right channel, including websites, social media, and mobile devices. LivePerson’s intelligent engagement is driven by behavioral analytics, producing connections based on an understanding of business objectives and the needs of customers.

"Consumers today are demanding real-time assistance whenever they are connecting with a brand, especially during the busy holiday season," said Robert LoCascio, founder and CEO of LivePerson. "The millions of personalized interactions we enable through our platform is a testament to both the value and demand for real-time intelligent engagement. Our customers are not only creating a meaningful customer experience, they are driving new levels of business success."

Lastly, as companies begin to encourage BYOD to work and more employees begin relying on cloud and IP-based services, it’s important to keep personal cell phone numbers and work phone numbers different. RingCentral unveiled that it is adding a new feature to its cloud-based business phone service. The new service will allow employees and business associates to call, text, and fax to a business number.

If an employee is using their own personal device, they can route the calls from the business number to their mobile device. So, the caller will be able to reach the intended party using one number without realizing they called the associates personal phone.

“This is the industry’s first SMS for business phone systems,” said Matt McGinnis,RingCentral (News - Alert) director of product marketing. “Texting for work gives you more efficiency, flexibility, and empowerment. You can really leverage your business number to improve customer contact, colleague collaboration, etc.”

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO Miami 2013, Jan 29- Feb. 1 in Miami, Florida.  Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.