Intelliworks Introduces Online Chat Solution Integrated with CRM

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 07/22/09

Intelliworks has launched a new Web-based tool designed to optimize student service and inquiry management on college and university Web sites. Intelliworks Chat enables higher education admissions and enrollment departments to offer real-time responses to prospective student questions directly from their institution's Web site. The new program allows the institution to integrate those chat sessions with Intelliworks' constituent relationship management (CRM) system and attach cases to individual contact records. It's available as software-as-a-service or as a desktop application.

Intelliworks Chat allows users to:

  • Direct students to relevant Web content via "page push";
  • Respond to common questions with canned messages;
  • Select operator permissions and manage chats based on department or function;
  • Locate visitors instantly via Google Maps integration;
  • Connect chat with Google Analytics to see where chats are taking place;
  • See previous chats for return visitors.
  • Hide chat when offline or log inquiries via e-mail when chat is offline;
  • Control chat button visibility based on operator availability;
  • Ban users by cookie and IP address to avoid abuse;
  • Customize chat invitations and create multiple templates for each department;
  • Use pre- or post-chat surveys to collect information on constituents; and
  • Save and send chat transcripts with individual prospects.

The chats are protected with SSL encryption.

"In working with colleges and universities across the country we identified the need for better communications with prospective students across multiple channels. However, admissions and enrollment departments rarely have the resources to dedicate a full-time staff member to this kind of online communication." said Todd Gibby, Intelliworks CEO. "We found that existing chat solutions, while feature rich, offered difficult to use interfaces that made adoption among part-time chat agents difficult. We believe Intelliworks Chat will lower the barrier for many colleges and universities looking to engage students on their Web sites by providing higher education professionals with an intuitive interface for chatting and tracking interactions with prospects."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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