Live Chat
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What live chat is
Live chat appears as a chat window, often opened from a bubble in the corner of a page. A visitor types a question and an agent replies in the same window while the visitor is still on the site. Agents work from a dashboard that shows waiting chats, the page the visitor is on and, in many tools, earlier conversations. Live chat is often part of a larger helpdesk that also handles email and tickets.
How it works
Most live chat setups share a few mechanics:
- Routing: new chats go to available agents, sometimes by team or language.
- Availability: outside working hours the window usually switches to an offline form.
- Concurrency: one agent often handles several chats at once, which affects how fast each visitor gets a reply.
- Bots in front: many teams let a chatbot answer first and pass harder cases to a person, which is called human handoff.
Example
A visitor on a furniture shop's site asks whether a sofa fits through a narrow doorway. A sales agent replies in the chat, asks for the door width and suggests a model with removable legs. The personal advice helps, but only because someone was online at that moment.
Live chat versus an AI chatbot
For businesses the choice is often not one or the other: AI can cover routine questions so that people focus on the conversations that need them.
| Live chat | AI chatbot | |
|---|---|---|
| Who replies | A person | Software using your content |
| Availability | Staffed hours | Any time |
| Strengths | Judgement, complex cases, empathy | Instant answers to common questions |
| Needs | Staff, shifts and training | Good content and clear instructions |
How intoCHAT relates
intoCHAT is not a live chat tool and has no agent inbox. Its chat window is answered by an AI agent trained on your content, at any hour. For visitors who need a person, the lead form collects an email address or phone number and intoCHAT emails you an alert, so you can reply outside the chat.