InstantService.com revamps pricing for small businesses

[January 22nd 2001]

InstantService.com, a provider of real-time Web-based communications technology and eCRM integration for e-commerce sites, has announced the release of new "customer-centric" pricing plans according to usage that bill on a per-transaction basis.

Three plans were disclosed: Standard User plan, Low Volume User plan and a free Charity & Non-Profit plan -- all plans offer the full functionality of the InstantService offering.

Charity & Non-Profit Plan -- Registered charities and non-profit organizations gain free unlimited use of InstantService -- live online chat and customer service tools. InstantService.com is committed to supporting charitable services by providing them free-of-charge access to our leading communication technology for the benefit of their online community services.

Low Volume User Plan -- InstantService is offering a Low Volume User plan for small e-businesses that want the benefit of real-time customer service but can't justify upfront activation costs or significant monthly commitments. Users receive 100 transactions per month for $80.00, with each additional transaction exceeding the first one hundred billed at $1.00 each. A special reduced rate offer is available to e-commerce sites with existing eCRM chat technology that wish to shift to InstantService's Low Volume User plan; these sites will receive a $10.00 discount off their monthly rate.

Standard User Plan -- The InstantService Standard User plan is for medium to large e-businesses with moderate to high volume use. Under this plan, clients are billed .60 cents per chat transaction (which may, at the full discretion of the user include true co-browsing and/or community based messaging) and receive volume price discounts after the first 1,000 monthly transactions. There is an activation fee and a monthly minimum for the Standard User plan.

"We wanted our clients to gain the full benefit of real-time communications service while assisting their customers," said Mike Lande, CEO of InstantService.com. "We did not want our clients concerned about the time and the associated billing cost for resolving each customer service transaction. A flat rate volume discount per-transaction billing model appears to be the best alternative. Our clients' customers get quality service and our clients' get one low rate per transaction. Everyone wins!"

InstantService.com offers live online interaction and facilitates customer acquisition and retention by enabling companies to conduct text-based chat sessions, to push topical content to customers in real-time and to engage in true collaborative browsing. InstantService.com technology is delivered over the Internet via the ASP model, eliminating the need for e-commerce companies to purchase, install, and maintain onsite hardware or software. InstantService.com integrates with automatic multilingual translation, e-mail management applications, VoIP, ACD/CTI, CRM back ends, and a variety of other technologies.

Links
InstantService.com		http://www.InstantService.com