LivePerson Inc. recently announced that EarthLink has launched what they are calling the industry's first proactive live chat capability developed exclusively for customer service on the company's Web site.

Powered by LivePerson's Timpani™ platform, EarthLink can now identify and engage site visitors most likely to abandon self-help or call for assistance and proactively offer an immediate, live, text-based chat with a customer support expert. By proactively offering live chat assistance to customers, EarthLink increased agent productivity by 14 percent during the initial implementation and realized customer satisfaction levels seven percent higher than similar service channels.

"EarthLink is always looking for ways to raise the bar in customer service," said David Flammia, EarthLink's director of call center strategy. "We're taking online customer service to the next level by identifying the customers most likely to need help and enabling them to resolve their issues before they pick up the phone or send an e-mail."

"More and more companies are realizing the benefits of leveraging real-time customer service as a strategic differentiator, particularly within the telecommunications industry," said LivePerson CEO Robert LoCascio. "Proactive chat will make EarthLink's already best-in-class customer service more accessible than ever before and position them well for increased customer loyalty and growth."

For more information, see the press release EarthLink Introduces Next Generation of Proactive Customer Service.