AskIt!, www.askit.com , provides a web based service for
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) for web sites that may be a
good alternative for small web based companies to better serve
their online customers.
By typing in a question (either natural language or by
keyword) and clicking on the AskIt! button, the service searches
for similar questions previously asked and answered that are in
the database. There is also a list of Q & A's listed by category.
The database grows over time as more Q's are entered into the
database.
If the customer is unable to find exactly what they are looking
for, they can submit their question and receive a personalized
answer by e-mail from the web site owner. The owner also has
the option of submitting the question/answer pair to the
knowledgebase, making it less likely to have to manually answer
that question again.
AskIt! is an outsourced solution, which means there is no
software to implement, no hardware to configure, no programming
required. The administrative interface is online.
The basic service level is free (with a $50 set up fee) for up to
500 page views of the FAQ / Search page, with the "Premium"
20,000 page view per month service level costing $500 per month.
Many site owners will simply create their own FAQ pages, but
there are others who may wish to use this more elegant type of
customer service feature.
For more on Customer Service Options, see
"Customer Service - The Current "Black Hole" of E-commerce -
and How to Avoid Getting
Sucked In" in the April 30 newsletter, available online at
ibizcenter.com/internet_business_informer_4-30-00.htm
