AIM/ICQ/MSN/Y! - Which one do you prefer?

[Operator]

When it comes to live support (via IM), which program do you prefer most?

Edit - I opt for a poll and the poll never came out :(. So which one do you prefer?

I would choose aim -- very nice gui and very easy to use.

[JeremyV]

For live support? I would guess AIM since it is probably most widely used, although I don't think it is something I will do anytime soon. The only time I give support via AIM is for a few old friends who host with me and have me on their list, which IMO is pretty annoying since I use my AIM for casual use, not business issues.

I also have one other client who somehow found my AIM from a hosting forum or something somewhere, so he always bothers me on AIM for support related issues. Again, not a big fan of that and would rather have them email or submit a ticket. But some people never listen :(

[shaunewing]

I'm with Jeremy; even though I use MSN for personal I'm fairly reluctant to use it for any business issues.

I'd much rather email or helpdesk as it allows us to prepare a useful answer rather than being pressed for an answer right then and there.

Some of our customers have found me on various forums where I act on a personal level (not business). I get a little annoyed when they send me various PMs on those boards with support issues.

At least with our helpdesk, if I'm not around (ie: gone off for the day/week/whatever) then somebody else will answer but if it's a PM then they have to wait until I get back.

--Shaun

[elevation]

I use all four of them -- in Trillian Pro.

[Protollix]

I prefer ICQ - I guess that's me being "set in my ways" :p, but AIM would come second.

I can never stay connected to MSN.

I however use trillian to monitor them all at once :)

[DarktidesNET]

AIM via Trillian. :)

[Karen]

I personally don't use either of them. I would rather have clients use the helpdesk, since I am not the only one responding to support issues. What good does it do if I am not on the computer for a few days?

With the helpdesk, the tickets are logged so any one of the support staff can refer to an issue if they have to.

Not to mention, I have noticed that MSN (and probably others) comes pre installed with popups and ads.

Regards,
Karen

[UH-Matt]

Although I use messengers, I wouldnt advertise them as an official means of support for our company.

Karen gave the main reasons for NOT going this route. Its better to have a proper means of tracking/logging convesations with customers.

Having said that, I have never stopped anyone contacting me over a messenger - I just dont encourage people to rely on me personally being online.

It also gets annoying when you have 3 staff online for support doing nothing, yet everyone decides to bug YOUR personal messenger.

[Robert]

We currently use Trillian (which logs all conversations).

We have not yet decided to purchase a live chat program for our website but are planning on to soon.

[DarktidesNET]

Well, I don't buy the 1 person on AIM. We have the following all manned:

DarktidesSales
DarktidesBilling
DarktidesNET
DarktidesBryan
DarktidesChris
DarktidesJulian
DarktidesDevin

If they're not being used I'm kicking some butt ... :p

We also have forum, email, tickets ... but honestly, none are used (email sometims) AIM is the customer choice for us personally.

[hostpath.com]

I don't use any IM products whatsoever any longer.

[FindSP.com]

Well, I'm using usually ICQ but I prefer the Yahoo interface...

ICQ became quite a monsterous program. and the lite version is way too lite,,

[Binx]

Originally posted by Karen:

I personally don't use either of them. I would rather have clients use the helpdesk, since I am not the only one responding to support issues. What good does it do if I am not on the computer for a few days?


I agree with Karen. We used ICQ back in '98. As we grew we realized messengers weren't the best means of support. No tracking tickets, plus once that employee is off the clock so is the messenger. I think messengers are good for general help or faqs but I don't think they are good for support issues.

[101sales]

I've used IM's once for support - found they were more of a time waster than anything. Customers never had support questions, they just wanted to talk about what they did with their site last night, and have us comment on it.

We've since gone to an online chat system and have never had that problem. We figure they don't have the little icon in their system tray saying we're online at the moment. Far less convenient to have to type in our URL and click the "Live Help" button :D??

[Homeiss]

Trillian = All

[Binx]

Originally posted by 101sales:

I've used IM's once for support - found they were more of a time waster than anything. Customers never had support questions, they just wanted to talk about what they did with their site last night, and have us comment on it.

We've since gone to an online chat system and have never had that problem. We figure they don't have the little icon in their system tray saying we're online at the moment. Far less convenient to have to type in our URL and click the "Live Help" button :D??

Ha 101Sales! :p: Oh, I remeber that too well. Chatted about their kids, dates, problems, you name it. While we like to be a personable company, it took far too much time away from real support issues.

[elevation]

Originally posted by Binx:

Ha 101Sales! :p: Oh, I remeber that too well. Chatted about their kids, dates, problems, you name it. While we like to be a personable company, it took far too much time away from real support issues.

Heh, it happens a lot to me as well! I once talked to a client for 5 hours straight about everything under the sun.

[proxy]

MSN would have to be my preffered instant messenging option.

[UH-Matt]

I used to be a bit of a sceptic and only use ICQ. One day i decided to install this Trillian and give it a go.

That was over a year ago - trillian makes the world go around! Why have 1 when you can have all 4 :)

[sprintserve]

Yup. Trillian looks all the same for all 4 :) And we provide all 4 too.

[Hoobastank68]

Hi, i didnt have time to read all replies, but i prefer ICQ, AIM really isnt as prefered as its really easy for people to spam you through aim, check out aimfilez.com , it has many working spamming programs for AIM, ICQ is a lot more SECURE and same goes for MSN, YIM is also very unstable, you can easily get hacked if you are in a chatroom for YIM, AIM is worst when it comes to security.

This happened to me twice, i was on aim, with AWAY Message on, and i was spammed like crazy, even putting an away message wouldnt help, the same Accept Download from user keeps poping up, so i signed off immediately, signed on again, blocked the person, then he used 10 other screennames to spam at the same time, though i understand he can only make 5 screennames a day. Its really ridiculous how many spamming tools there are out there for AIM and YIM, few for MSN, and probably None for ICQ!


Any suggestions on how to prevent this from happening?

[Jay Suds]

That's odd. I never receive SPAM on AIM. I get a few a day on ICQ though ....

[Hoobastank68]

When i say spam, i mean you receive 123456789 Messages at the same time from over 5 screen names, that forces you to shutdown!

[markblair]

In my experience, ICQ is a huge security risk. I haven't used their service since it was bought out by AOL but I remember even before that time, hackers consistently were able to gain access to your information on ICQ. I don't like MSN because it is a huge resource hog. My preference for personal use is Yahoo and occasionally AIM.

[Hoobastank68]

Actually AIM is very insecure when it comes to being spammed, what it does, you can check out www.aimfilez.com , they got tons of those spamming tools, it sends many messages from different clones of aim with different ScreenNames, and it keeps spamming until you have to shutdown, or theres another one where they insert illegal characters into aim, and your AIM will say something like Illegal Characters found in conversation, ERROR, and AIM SHuts down by itself...

AOL really didnt do that good of a job.....ICQ is trust me, a lot better and secure when it comes to people wanting to spam you.

[hostthebest]

I will use Live support or helpdesk it look more prof.

[Presage_Reg]

I agree. Trillian for all. That's what I use. Works absolutely great.

Not all our customers use the same IM client. So I feel it is up to us to accomodate them as much as is possible. So... Trillian helps me in this regard.

[Adam]

I use AIM/MSN and just about to go get Y!. ICQ has been great but i think its outdated now -why? I dont know i just do.

Would i give customer support over IM? Heck of course, customers comes first but do i really want to? No i prefer via forums etc. As stated in previous posts, allows you to give a well educated answer etc.

[alchiba]

Originally posted by UH-Matt:
It also gets annoying when you have 3 staff online for support doing nothing, yet everyone decides to bug YOUR personal messenger.

LOL. Yep, I hate that! I use the AIM and ICQ mainly for sales and PR, so it is very awkward when this happens. I can usually nudge these people over to the support desk but not always. While support over IM seems like a cool idea from the customer's perspective, I've learned that the time-to-resolution curve can often be much longer this way.

[Niklas]

--> MSN <--

[ats-tech]

I agree, Trillian is my IM of choice. I have a friend that really likes Miranda, but I could never really get into that one.

[beley]

I don't offer support via instant messenger but use it a lot, I use Trillian and have an account w/ AIM, Yahoo, ICQ and MSN Messenger :)

[FastNetServers]

I dont prefer offering LIVE SUPPORT through IM..simply because it looks unprofessional...this is just my view :)

[Spencer]

I just use Trillian.

I access AIM/ICQ/Y!/MSN/IRC all at once.

[Spencer]

Originally posted by FastNetServers:

I dont prefer offering LIVE SUPPORT through IM..simply because it looks unprofessional...this is just my view :) I think it is almost a must nowadays. I do more live support over instant messenger clients than anything else and we offer telephone, email, support desk, etc. I think people prefer being able to be able to message you and not have to wait. It is sometimes a problem if there are many people messaging at once, because this leads to you wishing you did NOT NOT offer instant messenger support. :D But on the whole I think I am happy that we do.

[FastNetServers]

I must agree with you that you have a good point here...but I guess I am so used to the branded things :)

[hostthebest]

That is truly

Originally posted by Olternit:

I think it is almost a must nowadays. I do more live support over instant messenger clients than anything else and we offer telephone, email, support desk, etc. I think people prefer being able to be able to message you and not have to wait. It is sometimes a problem if there are many people messaging at once, because this leads to you wishing you did NOT NOT offer instant messenger support. :D But on the whole I think I am happy that we do. :p: :p: