Using the real-time text chat and Web collaboration solution eGain Live, the insurer's call centre agents can now deliver instant assistance to online customers when the user asks for it.

To get connected to a call centre agent, customers click an online help button on the company's Web site. Users can then access one-to-one text chat, multi-user conferencing, phone call-back, screen or page pushing, synchronised browser escorting and form filling via a standard Web browser.

Ian Christopher, business project manager at Legal & General, says: “Our customer feedback since installing eGain Live has been very positive. We are using the chat and Web collaboration tool to answer questions about insurance policies, pensions and investments. We will be rolling the service out to support all online products in the next few months.”

Legal & General is joining a small but rapidly growing number of UK companies providing live support over the Internet. A recent survey conducted by Hewson Consulting reveals that currently only 9% of the 140 UK Web sites surveyed offer Web chat or phone callback.

Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of international marketing at eGain, says live Web interaction provides a cost effective way for companies to manage customer enquiries and offer a higher level of online service.

“Unlike traditional telephone support, call centre agents using text chat can successfully manage two to four customer interactions simultaneously," he says. "Also, if a customer has only one phone line, at home for instance, the customer can receive real-time online assistance without needing to break the Web connection to make a phone call."

eGain Live is part of the eGain eService Enterprise suite, an integrated solution enabling companies to transform their call centres into multi-channel contact centres. The software suite enables agents to support customers via phone, email, Web self-service and live Web collaboration.