Live chat has proven to be an important customer service offering especially amongst younger generations. According to a survey from the Unified Communications research and recommendations firm Software Advice, 56 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 prefer live chat to phone, compared to 27 percent of respondents aged 35 and older.
8x8 Inc.'s Virtual Contact Center has been updated, and version 8.0 is a significant upgrade from previous versions. VCC 8.0 is available now, and provides key features such as virtual queuing, customizable SMTP services, and more, and is optimized for use with mobile devices. Furthermore, 8x8 has also partnered with Zendesk, and combined its VCC with Zendesk's customer service platform for an integrated contact center solution.
Parks Associates made a study uncovering the predicted yearly growth rate of over 14 percent for the tech support of U.S. small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) from 2012 to 2016. Moreover, by 2016, the adoption of cloud services, growing network complexity, and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) shift will drive the demand for "sophisticated tech support solutions" expected to grow to around $25 billion.