Live chat is a conversation window on a website in which a visitor exchanges written messages, in real time, with a person from the business. For years, it was the most common form of conversation on a website: a button in the bottom right corner, and a colleague who replies during opening hours.
How it works
The visitor opens the chat widget and writes their question. It appears in a tool on the business side, where a colleague sees it, picks it up and replies. Messages appear on both sides within seconds. If no one is available, the tool usually offers to leave a message or an e-mail address.
This approach has obvious strengths: a human understands nuance, makes decisions and reassures a worried customer. It also has limits. Someone has to be at the screen during the advertised hours. Repetitive questions, opening hours, rates, terms, keep the team busy at the expense of more complex requests. And outside opening hours, the visitor finds no one.
Live chat, chatbot and AI assistant
The three notions are often confused. They describe who answers in the window:
| Tool | Who answers | When |
|---|---|---|
| Live chat | A person from the team | During the hours when someone is available |
| Scripted chatbot | A program following a planned path | At any hour, on the planned questions |
| AI assistant | A language model answering from your documents | At any hour, on the topics the documents cover |
Today's tools often combine all three. The assistant answers first; when the question goes beyond its documents or calls for a decision, the conversation passes to a person, live if someone is available, later if not. This is human handover.
Live or later: knowing what you promise
The word "live" creates an expectation. A visitor who sees "Chat with us" expects an answer within minutes. If the team cannot keep up that pace, it is better to be clear:
- Show real availability: "Online" during staffed hours, "Reply within one working day" outside them
- Let the assistant answer documented questions while the team is busy or away
- State how the reply will come when the conversation passes to the team: here, by e-mail, or both
- Do not promise a response time the team does not meet in practice
A well-announced delayed reply satisfies more than a promise of live chat that is not kept.
What good live chat requires
- A designated team for each time slot, with a stand-in for absences
- A shared inbox where every conversation arrives, with its history
- Prepared replies for frequent situations, adapted to each case
- Notifications so no conversation goes unanswered
- Opening hours configured and visible to the visitor
- A target response time tracked internally, even if it is not displayed
Live chat for an SME
For a small team, staffing live chat all day is often hard: the person answering also has other tasks. An AI assistant that handles routine questions and passes on the others greatly reduces the load. The team only steps in when its presence adds something, and the visitor gets an answer even in the evening.
Live chat in KernChat
In KernChat, the assistant answers first. When it hands over, or when a team member decides to take a conversation, that person replies in the same window as the visitor, who sees the reply arrive in the ongoing conversation. Opening hours and the target response time are set per organization, and the assistant tells the visitor when the team will be able to reply.