The personal touch has been added to e-commerce web sites thanks to a Sussex firm.

Southwick-based Centacom has developed a way for customers and sales staff to chat while viewing web pages together.

Managing director Steve Barrett said: "The main problem with the internet is it's a cold and flat environment.

"The usual reason 60 per cent of people logging on go away without buying a product is they have a question they want answered before parting with their money and there has been no way to get extra information immediately.

"We have created a way to change the static nature of the internet."

The Centacom technology, talk 'n' view, provides a real time link between a potential purchaser looking at sales information on a company web site and a customer service representative.

The customer can click a button to be connected by a microphone or headset to a sales person who will also see the web content displayed simultaneously on their own computer.

People using computers without sound capabilities can access the service using a chat text-box to send and receive information.

Mr Barrett said: "There has been technology before which allows people to look at web pages and discuss them at the same time but it has used two telephone lines which is costly and impractical for most people.

"Previous systems have been 'push' only, with one end directing the other. Talk 'n' view allows two-way interaction. A sales rep for a car firm might say to a customer, 'I see you are looking at the green model, but how about this interior?' and lead the customer to a page showing selected interior options. The customer can reply, 'I saw something I liked better earlier' and lead the sales rep elsewhere on the site.

"It allows people to find the information they want at the time they want to buy. This also means companies can keep their main site simple and provide more in-depth material, as needed, from web pages stored separately."

Security fears have played a huge part in deterring online shoppers, with many people reluctant to type credit card details into web site sales forms. Mr Barrett said: "This system will make a major difference to e-commerce. Customers can relay their payment details to the sales person they have already been speaking with rather than an anonymous form.

"We have placed encryption security in place throughout the system to make sure financial information stays confidential."

The company has been working on the technology for 18 months. Now talk 'n' view has been launched commercially and companies such as the Mole Valley TVR car dealership and Sussex County Cricket Club will be installing Centacom applications on their sites.

Neil Lenham, Sussex CCC marketing manager, said: "We are one of the few clubs to have a web site which we develop in-house and we are always looking at ways to make it better. We will be using the system to talk with people about corporate hospitality, sponsorship and membership.

"We have a team from Australia coming over this summer and we can talk through the plans with our friends across the world."

Mole Valley managing director Charles Eyston said: "To put every detail about our cars on the web site would make it unusable. This way, we make sure our customers have access to everything they need to make an informed decision."

www.centacom.com
www.sussexcricket.co.uk