Best Managed Live Chat Service To Watch In 2024

In case you are looking for a live chat service, we have already done all the research for you (you are welcome).

We also think that you should know, that as you are reading this, you are losing easily attainable website leads. These are not cold leads either. We are discussing leads that are hot and fresh out of the kitchen. If your website does not offer continuous live chat service, you are not only losing potentials sales. You ARE leaving money on the table. So, let’s get started.

Live Chat Turns Leads Into Sales

The surveys have shown that 79% of the businesses that are using live chat are experiencing positive effects on their sales, revenue, and customer loyalty. With the increasing popularity of chat, managed live chat service companies become more and more widespread as they strive to profit from the growing and profitable customer service trend.See for yourself. Enter “24/7 managed live chat service” into Google search and you will get pages upon pages of software products and customer service solutions.

All the available options are a lot to consider and time consuming. How will you determine the most suitable chat service for your business?

Don’t worry. We have put together the list of leading 24/7 managed live chat service companies. We then went above and beyond and rated them according to quality of service, features, support, and value for money.

🏆 Top pick: HelpSquad 

HelpSquad is our top pick for several reasons (not just because we’re biased either). For starters, we outperform all others in service and support. We have more features than any other live chat service on our list. Most importantly, with the previous points considered, HelpSquad also gives you the most bang for your buck.

HelpSquad Service 

When you choose a 24/7 managed live chat service plan with HelpSquad, your subscription will include an arsenal of top talent. Our agents are thoroughly vetted, interviewed, and trained. The HelpSquad team has won numerous awards in the LiveHelpNow Challenge. In addition, we have even developed a Live Chat Agent test that we use to pre-qualify our candidates (The game is also free to the public for anyone to try.).

Our professionally trained live chat agents provide around-the-clock coverage for your website. Every HelpSquad plan also offers state-of-the-art lead reporting, chat transcripts, chat interaction totals, in-chat surveys and results, peak visitor traffic times, and more. HelpSquad’s team even has the capability to conduct a monthly review of your website on request. Then, we’ll offer optimization suggestions that will generate higher lead volume.

In terms of lead cultivation, a majority of the live chat competition stops at simply securing a lead. Most provide nothing more. Whereas HelpSquad agents will actually learn about your business, assist you in creating FAQ pages for your website, and secure online orders or schedule appointments. In addition to FAQ creation, HelpSquad’s staff also continues to maintain and update each client’s knowledge base. We ensure that all the information provided to your customers is fresh and current. Even more exciting is that you will have full ownership over any of the content HelpSquad develops.

Recently, we have added even more services to our repertoire. HelpSquad now offers landing page optimization, AdWords and Facebook campaign optimization, and conversion tracking. Conversion tracking allows users to track the number of orders submitted. Then, they can define how many of those transactions were the result of live chat assistance.

HelpSquad Support 

Personalization is a major focus for us as a live chat service provider.  When you sign on with HelpSquad, you won’t have to worry about your customers speaking to robotic-sounding agents. You and your staff won’t have to experience the headache of dealing with cookie-cutter support either. Furthermore, your business will be assigned an individual account manager who will remain your staff’s committed point of contact. This open dialog approach will allow your HelpSquad account manager to directly train your assigned agents as well as ensure the highest level of quality control.

The biggest technical difference between HelpSquad and its competitors is that we own our chat software (a.k.a. LiveHelpNow).  No other company in the live chat service industry has this advantage. Because HelpSquad does not use third-party software, we have the ability to adjust our platform at any time to fit our client’s needs. Our developers are constantly releasing updates and designing new features that will ensure our clients and their customers have the best possible experience. HelpSquad’s agents also have access to numerous cutting-edge tools and features, which you can learn more about by visiting the LiveHelpNow website. For the purpose of this article, we have touched on a few of the most notable features below.

HelpSquad Key Features 

• SMS Two-Way Texting: The SMS/MMS two-way texting (or SMS chat) feature will allow your customers to text HelpSquad agents from their mobile devices as opposed to utilizing the chat window on your website. Though other 24/7 managed live chat service companies have this feature, HelpSquad is the only service that is capable of using your existing business phone number to text your customers. Why? HelpSquad has contracts with leading mobile providers that allow them to link your business number with SMS chat.
• Google Business Messenger: HelpSquad’s Google Business Messenger integration makes it easy for customers to chat directly from your Google listing. This handy feature allows them to talk to representatives without juggling between platforms, enhancing both efficiency and accessibility. It’s all about quick responses and practical solutions to their questions or issues, improving overall satisfaction and helping your business meet its service goals effortlessly.
• Overflow Option: If your team prefers to have greater control over customer interactions, you are able to field your company’s chats using HelpSquad’s software. You can even choose to limit the HelpSquad team’s participation to overflow chats or off-hours chats.
• CRM Integrations: HelpSquad’s software is compatible with any CRM platform on the market.
• Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Email Capabilities:HelpSquad’s communications with your customers won’t be limited to website visitors that are using the live chat platform. Our software also gives agents the ability to field customers’ social media communications like Facebook messages and e-mail inquiries.
• Whisper Mode: Clients are given access to the HelpSquad operator console to oversee chats in real time. If need be, you will be able to send invisible, whisper messages to discreetly communicate with on-duty agents.
• Additional Features: Automatic or Manual Chat Tagging, Intelligent Visitor Triggers, Secure Forms (HIPPA and PCI Compliant), Language Translation (Agents can speak any language instantly), Enterprise Level Reporting, Pre- and Post-Chat Surveys, Slack Integration

HelpSquad Pricing 

Plans start at $185/month

HelpSquad has 3 different sales and support plans available for purchase. These plans are tiered to accommodate fledgling startups, thriving small businesses, and everything in between. Every plan includes their #1 rated chat software, a personal account manager, 24/7 live chat coverage, and FAQ creation and copywriting.

Pick #2: ApexChat

ApexChat Service

With its headquarters in the San Francisco area, ApexChat is a US-based company. The company’s live chat service runs on its own software. Users report ease of operation, and the ability to work on agent scripts to adjust them to their customers’ needs. Some ApexChat reviews point to “bare bones” reporting, poorly qualified leads delivered, and server connection trouble. ApexChat offers Live Chat Agents in English and Spanish and Virtual Assistant services.

ApexChat Support

The company’s website features an FAQ page and the ability to connect with a company representative via phone, live chat, email ticket, or text. Chat software is included in the packages, but the company does not provide chat code installation support. The service also lacks the availability of dedicated agents or customizable account training.

ApexChat Key Features

• 30-second response time: Similarly to HelpSquad, ApexChat agents are standing by. Chat connects immediately and an agent is available to help.
• Reporting: ApexChat allows for Google Analytics integration for customer activity reporting. However, unlike HelpSquad, ApexChat live chat service does not include weekly reports or enterprise-level reporting.
• SMS Text-to-Chat:  ApexChat has the ability to capture visitors’ mobile numbers and offer the use of their preferred texting app.
• Additional features: lead forwarding, native Salesforce and Hubspot intergations, website visitor tracking, and proactive chat greetings. For a full list of feature comparisons of HelpSquad vs. ApexChat visit our comparison page. 

ApexChat Pricing

This live chat service comes with a hefty price tag. ApexChat offers a 50-chat package at a cost of $15 per chat. For comparison, HelpSquad’s 50-chat package costs $3.70 per chat. Unlike HelpSquad, ApexChat offers neither a free trial nor an annual contract option.

Pick #3: Smith.ai

Smith.ai Chat Service

Located in Palo Alto, CA, Smith.ai employs agents all across North America.  The Smith.ai live chat agents answer questions, screen leads, and schedule appointments 24/7. Custom AI chatbots can assist with screening basic questions to maximize meaningful interactions. Users pay for relevant chats only, and the vendor promises easy setup on all website platforms. Instant chat transcripts are available and sent to an email and CRM.

Smith.ai Support 

The company’s website features an extensive collection of articles that coverts many support topics. Live chat is also available should a visitor have a question.Smith.ai provides chat installation support and 24/7 live chat service. Packages include live chat software. However, the live chat services do not include customized account training or dedicated agents service. 

Smith.ai Features

As far as features, Smith.ai offers appointment booking, a chatbot, and lead forwarding. HIPPA and PCI compliance, Google Analytics integration, proactive chat greetings, website visitor, UTM, and conversions tracking. Ticket management can only be done through email with this company. Smith.ai, unlike HelpSquad, lacks instant chat translation, enterprise-level reporting, and a 30-second answer time guarantee.

Pricing

The 50-chat package costs $300 per month at Smith.ai. Per chat volume pricing is also available, but, unlike HelpSquad, Smith.ai does not offer annual packages or a free trial.

Pick #4: DeskMoz

DeskMoz Service  

24/7 managed live chat service, DeskMoz, is based in India. Their team boasts 12 years of experience in the customer support industry, and they staff agents on three different shifts to guarantee continuous coverage. Their representatives utilize LiveChat, Inc.’s live chat service software, which is included for free with all of their subscriptions.

DeskMoz Support 

Every DeskMoz live chat service plan comes with a dedicated account manager and at least two dedicated live chat agents per shift. The number of agents can then be increased or decreased depending on visitor traffic. Deskmoz’s representatives are thoroughly screened prior to hire. Prerequisites to employment include an IQ test, a speed typing test, a chat skills test, a grammar test, and a personal interview. Their staff is then trained to pursue sales and field queries from existing customers.

DeskMoz clients may contact their account manager at any time via Skype chat or email. However, phone and video chat are only available by request and must be scheduled in advance. In addition, this live chat service company operates under the premise that you know your business best. Thus, FAQ creation and copywriting will be left up to you and your staff. The DeskMoz team will then study your FAQ content, as well as your website, and use that knowledge to field questions from your customers.

DeskMoz Features 

• SMS (Text) Lead Forwarding: Unlike the HelpSquad SMS feature, DeskMoz agents only have the ability to text you leads. Your customers will not be able to text you directly. DeskMoz’s team will attend the chat with your customers, collect their contact information, and then text you the collected details. You can then reach out to the customer at your convenience.

• Facebook Interactions (with LiveChat software purchase): DeskMoz can provide chat support to your Facebook page as well. However, in order for them to do so, you will have to purchase your own license of LiveChat’s software. You can provide DeskMoz’s team with the login credentials of your LiveChat account.  They will then answer the chats from your Facebook page in addition to fielding chats from your website.  
• CRM Integrations: DeskMoz currently has API Integrations available for Active Campaign, Agile, Freshdesk, Hubspot, Intercom, Lead, Squared, Mailchimp, Nimble, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Salesmate, Sendgrid, Sugar CRM, Zendesk, and Zoho. Additional integrations can also be achieved via Zapier, which is a tool that allows two different applications to work together.
• Unused Chat Carry-Over: Unused chats are carried over to the next month, ensuring you get the full amount of interactions you pay for.
• Additional Features: Chat transcripts, White Label (a.k.a. Chat window customization), E-mail & Ticket Answering

DeskMoz Pricing 

Plans start at $199/month

DeskMoz has 4 different support plans ranging in price from $199/month to $1,000/month. Every plan includes free chat software, real-time messaging, chat transcripts, monthly carryover of unused chats, and lead forwarding via SMS and email.

Pick #5: LeadChat

LeadChat Service 

Boasting a reputation for producing results for thousands of companies (from small businesses to Fortune 500 giants), LeadChat leverages their 24/7 managed live chat service team to increase its clients’ qualified lead inquiries within 24 hours. Their agents are based in Australia, the United States, and Southeast Asia. They utilize LiveChat, Inc.’s chat software to respond to your website visitors 24/7 within 10 seconds.  The goal is to make your visitors feel welcome and engaged as soon as they hit your homepage. 

LeadChat Support 

For client support, LeadChat does have a U.S. and a U.K. phone number listed on their website. Our experts conducted a few exploratory calls.  It appears that these numbers are merely linked to an automated voice message line. You won’t actually be able to speak with a live person at will. Instead, you are presented with the option of leaving a message for a callback. However, their phone recording readily admits that you will receive a faster response by emailing them at support@leadchat.com.

LeadChat Features 

• Proactive Pop-Up Engagement: LeadChat utilizes artificial intelligence to determine the optimal time to automatically deploy the chat window and begin a conversation with your visitors.
• Professional Chat Script Writing: A specialized team of chat script writers will properly prepare your LeadChat live chat service team for battle.
• Ad Tracking & Attribution:  LeadChat’s software has the capability to track leads back to their Google Ad source. So, you can determine which campaigns are generating the most website traffic.
• LeadChat Chatsystem CRM: All plans include Chatsystem CRM, a customer relationship management platform developed by LeadChat. If you have already implemented a CRM software, they can push leads into your existing system as well.
• Additional Features: Chat Window Personalization/Branding, Reports & Analytics

LeadChat Pricing 

Plans Starting at ?

According to LeadChat Representatives, “pricing depends on a couple of different factors like the volume of leads, the number of engagements and how many concurrent chats are taken on your website. We have per hour plans (eg. $1 per hour for our agents) or per lead plans (eg. $15 per lead captured).” Thus, you will have to contact them for specific pricing that will then be based upon your business’s needs. (Sidenote: We did try to get specific pricing. See results in the screenshots below.)

Pick #6: Simplr.ai

Simplr.ai Managed Live Chat Service 

Simplr Chatbot is a next-generation tool for conversational commerce that leverages generative AI to replicate the effectiveness of human customer service agents. With the ability to handle complex, multi-touch conversations and simultaneously engage with multiple customers, Simplr Chatbot is an advanced conversational commerce tool that uses generative AI model to mimic the knowledge of human customer service agents. Simplr chatbot has the capacity to handle complex, multi-touch conversations and simultaneously interact with many customers, thereby, revolutionizing the customer experience (CX) management field.

Simplr provides a fully-managed chatbot solution, handled by a dedicated team of data scientists who are responsible for the setup, management, training, improvement, and updates of your generative AI chatbot. The company’s innovative Cognitive Paths™ ensure the safe and efficient operation of your chatbot while keeping the conversation grounded. With Simplr, 90% of customer interactions can be automated without compromising on the quality of customer service.

Oh, the sweet irony of Simplr.ai! Once a champion of human-powered live chat outsourcing, they’ve now decided to turn their backs on us mere mortals in favor of their shiny new toy – the chatbot. Farewell, human touch, hello automation! We hardly knew ye. Meanwhile, customers gear up to make chit-chat with a piece of sophisticated code that probably has more languages under its belt than they do, but likely can’t appreciate a good joke. Ah well, such is the relentless march of progress, right? Out with us unpredictable, sometimes coffee-deprived humans, and in with the flawless, tireless bot. What a time to be alive!

Simplr.ai pricing page does not indicate pricing options.

Pick #7: GreeChat

GreeChat Service 

Comprised of an experienced team of agents, GreeChat serves a variety of customers from large corporations to small businesses. They are a 24/7 global entity that works with clients from the U.S., the U.K., and Australia. However, we found it difficult to pin down which chat software they use. Their live chat window states that they are powered by chat software from AreaTen.com. Yet, AreaTen.com says their chat window is powered by GreeChat. We hunted around on Google and figured out they also use LiveChat, Inc.’s software. 

GreeChat Support 

One characteristic that sets Greechat apart is that they have live chat agents specifically dedicated to the Real Estate, Automobile, Medical, Education and Legal industries (which could be worth looking into if you fall within one of these categories). However, Greechat’s support seems even more difficult to gauge than OctaChat’s. The live chat agent on their website would give out little to no information about the type of support they offer their clients. Their website agent did mention that they do not provide a direct call-for-support option with a GreeChat plan (as seen within the chat window images). As far as the number of agents dedicated to a plan, their policy is as follows: “Resourcing depends on each client’s requirements. We are flexible and customize our solutions to suit your business.”

GreeChat Features 

The only feature GreeChat specifically mentions on its website is CRM integration. Since they utilize LiveChat, Inc.’s software, it is safe to assume that they have access to all of LiveChat’s software features. It is just unclear which tools their agents utilize and are trained on. If their website were more descriptive and their online representatives were more informative, there is a possibility that they could fall higher on our list.

GreeChat Pricing 

No trace of pricing was available or even mentioned on GreeChat’s website. We tried placing an inquiry via the chat window on their website. They promised to have a representative get in touch as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Regardless of which service you feel fits your needs, you can’t go wrong by adding 24/7 managed live chat service to your business website. 75% of consumers say they would prefer to use live online chat as opposed to calling to speak to someone over the phone. Furthermore, not only are you going to make your customers happy, but 51% of them are more likely to make a purchase when your website has live chat. It’s a win-win. So, what are you waiting for?