Online customer service is getting easier

This article is from Askly’s early days, when the company was called TranslateWise.

Everyone likes quick, competent service in an online store. Yet for many online businesses, providing it has been a challenge.

TranslateWise is an Estonian startup that reached the final of Ajujaht, a TV startup competition. It has built a customer-friendly chat window.

When needed, the chat translates the conversation between the support agent and the customer in real time. That puts multilingual support within reach of smaller online stores too.

You can’t take several phone calls at once, but you can easily handle 3 live chats in different languages.

Online stores already using the new chat include ONOFF, Büroomaailm, Medifum, Kehapood, Green4ever and Aatrium.

“We’re trying to make serving customers a little easier. We offer a carefully designed support tool that works on any website and is as simple as it gets.”

Sandra Roosna, founder of Askly

What live chat is, and why it helps

Live chat is a real-time conversation between a customer and a support agent. It isn’t a chatbot.

Customers no longer want to wait long for an email reply. And if they leave your store for Gmail or Facebook, their attention can easily drift.

Quick questions can be settled by phone, but a support agent has to be ready to pick up within seconds.

You also can’t send pictures or links over the phone. That makes it harder to point out promotions or cross-sell.

Live chat is a convenient alternative to email and phone:

• It gives support agents more flexibility, because a chat message doesn’t need an answer within seconds.
• It can help you sell more.
• It makes support work more enjoyable.

A chat tool built around local businesses

Online stores can choose from many chat tools, such as Zendesk, Intercom (now Fin), LiveChat, tawk.to and Tidio.

“Our head office is in Estonia, and the success of local businesses is our main focus. We offer good customer service ourselves, in Estonian. And we’re building an affordable tool for every company, based on what our customers need.”

Sandra Roosna, founder of Askly

Customers like the new chat

“Without the Askly chat window, we would certainly have missed out on some laptop sales. It’s convenient to use and to connect to our website. We like that the Askly team is always there to help when we need it.”

Virgo Rikk, head of Laptopid.ee

Shoppers are happier too. They no longer have to think:

• “Ugh, another bot that doesn’t understand me…”
• “That chat window keeps popping up!”
• “I just want to ask something. I don’t want to share my details!”

Affordable, even for new businesses

We made the new chat window affordable for everyone, even if you’re just starting out. It comes with a free trial and no commitment.

It can be installed on any website in a few minutes, with no developer needed.

The chat window brings together:

• multilingual live chat
• an email form
• click-to-call
• FAQs

These options help keep visitors on the product page. They also make it easier to get help before buying.

The team wants Estonian online businesses to succeed. It’s happy to share what it has learned with stores that start using the chat.

“We only want to see our solution in online stores that truly care about their customers. We believe good customer support matters, and multilingual chat can only help. A website may be in only 1 or 2 languages. Even then, the translation feature gives support agents the confidence to help every customer.”

Sandra Roosna, founder of Askly

TranslateWise is now Askly

TranslateWise has since become Askly. Its chat has grown into one AI agent for web chat, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs and email.

Your team can still reply in its own language, while customers read the answer in theirs.