<H1> AT&T Offers Website Help</H1><I>Parsippany, N.J. </I>- A service that AT&T is launching this month offers Websites an easy way to provide immediate customer service to those lost in the middle of an online transaction.
AT&T's instant Answers service allows users to click on a help button and immediately receive a phone call from a customer-service representative looking at the same Web page as the user. The agent could talk a traveler through an online booking transaction, for example, as well as offer additional information and online images.
"The Web is great for giving information, but when it's time to transact, people often still like a human connection," said AT&T marketing director Tony Tomae. "The phone is a great evolutionary step on the way to electronic commerce. With instant Answers, users surfing a site can get a call back right then, at the height of their interest, from an agent who says, 'I see you're at the Reservation page; what seems to be the problem?' "
In addition, if a customer is reluctant to enter his credit card information, the agent could take it over the phone, or if the traveler is trying to book the exit row or a special meal, the agent could take care of it on the spot, Tomae said.
Using the system's "Page Push" feature, the agent could "push" additional Web pages-maps of the traveler's destination city or hotel, for example, or pictures of cars available for rent-onto the user's screen.
The iA system will be rolled out to five trial customers-including TeleService Resources, the AMR subsidiary that handles reservations for Small Luxury Hotels of the World-in October and November, with a controlled rollout to target markets, including the travel and financial industries, beginning in January.
AT&T plans to use a transaction fee based on "a combination of the number of calls and the number of minutes of talk time," Tomae said.