UPDATE FEB 3, 2015: Casengo adds WhatsApp to customer service software popup: true.
As we’re getting ready for beta (more about that later on), we thought we’d let you know how the alpha phase is turning out. Last week, we threw in a couple of new testers at the deep end, wanting to make sure that Casengo is as self-evident and user-friendly as we’d like it to be. Well, without being told what to do, our group of musketeers got most of the functionalities to work well – but we’re not quitethere yet. First things first: everyone was really excited about what makes Casengo unique, which is its hybrid messaging. Davey called it “WhatsApp for businesses”, and who are we to object to that? Casengo: WhatsApp for businesses – hell yeah! According to Michel, the system “totally rocks”, and he said he could tell that Casengo’s developers spent a lot of time thinking about the mechanics behind customer service before they built the platform. Mark was, for his part, impressed by Casengo’s persistency: ‘It’s amazingly solid already.’
What is going well?
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Interface: the testers absolutely loved it, with its big buttons right where they should be. The testers instinctively knew what each button was for, which sounds obvious but isn’t, though we know it should be! The ‘feedback button’ (equally obvious but not mainstream yet) won high praise, too: by clicking it, you can send your comments and suggestions to our developers the second you think of them.
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Hybrid messaging: apart from a tiny sync detail, it works exactly like it will during beta. You no longer need to decide whether to chat or email; Casengo makes that decision for you.
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Case management: you can see which cases need review or follow up at first glance. That’s because the Service Levels are easily created, our testers confirmed, and we made sure the status of each case is obvious right away. Also, testers noted that the agent app and the knowledge base are perfectly integrated, which pumps up productivity big time.
What isn't quite right yet?
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Because hybrid messaging requires a frame of mind that not yet everyone can handle, we need to add some ‘old school’ functionalities to bridge the gap between old-fashioned call center applications and ours. For instance, when a customer wants to chat, there’s no alarm or other sound (yet) that will alert you when the chat request is made. Our testers didn’t like this one bit…
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It’s not possible (yet) to have private conversations with your colleagues using Casengo. That’s a calculated decision: the focus should be on your customers, not on each other (which is exactly why it is possible to discuss particular cases with your colleagues). What should prevail: productivity or chitchat? That’s one of the questions we’ll ask you during beta (sign up here if you haven’t already).
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Even though Casengo is intuitive, we found that some users suffer from so-called ‘cold feet’. That’s perfectly understandable, so we’re adding a quick tour to drive away the cold. Curious about how hybrid messaging actually works? We’ll share a screencast in one of our next blog entries.