As the technology improves, Mr. Weiner says, interactive Internet voice communication will improve as well. From a sales perspective, the appeal of this setup is obvious. As any salesman will attest, it often takes a little nudge to close a sale with even a determined buyer. Without interactivity, that little nudge is impossible on the Internet. Since many companies are taking to the web as a sales and marketing medium, finding a way to interact with a cybershopper is crucial.
Technical support is another area that can benefit from the technology.
The web is an excellent and cost-effective way to provide tech support, especially given the fact that a very high percentage of support queries involve the same answers. But not all questions can be answered through a FAQ, which leaves a site visitor to use either keyboard or phone to get through to a technician, or fire off an e-mail. Since this data arrives within seconds, the agent can stay on the line to answer any questions the client may have. WebExchange users do not have to have special software to run it. Although the Kids Help Phone is not part of either sales or tech support, it has been using WebExchange for a few weeks.