Question 1

How much does chat or chatbot integration cost?

Accepted Answer

Between $300 and $1,800 USD, or A$400 to A$2,500. Installing an off-the-shelf widget with routing and a handful of saved replies sits at the bottom. A custom chatbot with a trained answer library, CRM writes and handover logic sits at the top. Add ongoing platform subscription on top, typically $30 to $200 USD a month depending on seats and chat volume.

Question 2

Will a chatbot actually help, or annoy our customers?

Accepted Answer

It helps when it answers a narrow set of predictable questions and hands over quickly when it cannot. It annoys people when it pretends to understand everything and traps them in a loop. We build for fast handover and measure the deflection rate honestly. If the bot cannot resolve a question within two turns, it offers a human. That single rule prevents most of the complaints chatbots generate.

Question 3

Should we use Intercom, Tidio, Crisp or a custom build?

Accepted Answer

Intercom is the strongest product and the most expensive, which is fine if you are using its automation and reporting properly. Tidio and Crisp are reasonable at a fraction of the price for small teams. A custom build only makes sense when you need behaviour the platforms cannot express, or you already have an AI service you want to route questions through. For most clients, a platform is the right call and we will say so.

Question 4

Does an AI bot need our documentation to work?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The output is only as good as the source material. We take your existing FAQs, help pages, policies and past ticket replies and structure them into an answer library. If your policies are contradictory or your help content is three years out of date, the bot will reflect that, often confidently. Cleaning the source content is usually a bigger job than wiring up the bot.

Question 5

How long does it take to go live?

Accepted Answer

Two to five days for a widget with routing and saved replies. Two to three weeks for a bot with a trained library, testing and CRM integration. Plan on a two-week tuning period after launch where you read real transcripts and we adjust the answers. That period is not optional. A bot improves fastest in its first fortnight because that is when you see the questions you did not anticipate.

Question 6

Who owns the chat transcripts and the configuration?

Accepted Answer

You own the transcripts and the account. They sit in your platform or your database, subject to your privacy policy and retention rules. If we build a custom bot, you also own the code and the answer library. One caution: transcripts often contain personal data, so agree a retention period and make sure it matches what your privacy policy tells visitors.

Question 7

What happens if nobody is available to answer chats?

Accepted Answer

The widget collects the enquiry and an email address, then sets expectations with an offline message rather than leaving the visitor waiting. If you want genuine after-hours coverage, a bot can handle the predictable questions and log the rest for morning. What we will not do is imply round-the-clock human staffing when your team is asleep.

Live chat & chatbot integration