4 ms·

Someone please explain to me why a phone call is different to this, I'm truly blanking.

by redrove 2y ago

moritonal 2y ago
Hide's real phone-number and allows you to control when, how you receive calls. Pretty smart honestly.
- infecto 2y ago
  I am not sure any of those are really the true value. The driver imo is swapping a chat bubble with an audio call. It reduces friction a customer may have picking up their phone and dialing a number and also since the customer can see you are online and ready to chat, they know they will be able to instantly get in touch with someone. Thats the smart and valuable piece.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
sunir 2y ago
I dig this. This is what I am thinking. Much easier to click than dial. Social cost of a web link versus a phone number may be lower as well (that may be cultural but it may be true) Adds other modes like calendar or chat or AI directly in flow. No need to reveal a phone number. Video Internationally accessible (no long distance) And for HN tradition’s sake for these types of comments, no one likes rsync.
- happyopossum 2y ago
  > Much easier to click than dial. In what way is this easier than click to dial? They’re both one click, but in this scenario I need a headset/microphone, a stable Internet connection, and if I do this from my smart phone it doesn’t know I’m in a call so when I hold the phone up to my face I will likely hit buttons.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- Connect-EZ 2y ago
  [dead]
- vel0city 2y ago
  > Much easier to click than dial. I've been dialing from a click for 20 years now. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3966 https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3966
bigmicro 2y ago
A few: - assign calls to different members (round-robin, escalation) - capture lead info (name, email, etc) - don't reveal actual phone number - recording, transcription - soon, conversational AI agent (as optional backup) With a WhatsApp/phone, you can't really switch it from one employee to another easily. Managing load is harder, seeing call logs is harder. And a full call center solution is too much for a small business.

Someone please explain to me why a phone call is different to this, I'm truly blanking.

moritonal 2y ago

Hide's real phone-number and allows you to control when, how you receive calls. Pretty smart honestly.

infecto 2y ago
I am not sure any of those are really the true value. The driver imo is swapping a chat bubble with an audio call. It reduces friction a customer may have picking up their phone and dialing a number and also since the customer can see you are online and ready to chat, they know they will be able to instantly get in touch with someone. Thats the smart and valuable piece.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

sunir 2y ago

I dig this. This is what I am thinking. Much easier to click than dial. Social cost of a web link versus a phone number may be lower as well (that may be cultural but it may be true) Adds other modes like calendar or chat or AI directly in flow. No need to reveal a phone number. Video Internationally accessible (no long distance) And for HN tradition’s sake for these types of comments, no one likes rsync.

happyopossum 2y ago
> Much easier to click than dial. In what way is this easier than click to dial? They’re both one click, but in this scenario I need a headset/microphone, a stable Internet connection, and if I do this from my smart phone it doesn’t know I’m in a call so when I hold the phone up to my face I will likely hit buttons.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
Connect-EZ 2y ago
[dead]
vel0city 2y ago
> Much easier to click than dial. I've been dialing from a click for 20 years now. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3966 https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3966

bigmicro 2y ago

A few: - assign calls to different members (round-robin, escalation) - capture lead info (name, email, etc) - don't reveal actual phone number - recording, transcription - soon, conversational AI agent (as optional backup) With a WhatsApp/phone, you can't really switch it from one employee to another easily. Managing load is harder, seeing call logs is harder. And a full call center solution is too much for a small business.