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Chat Smarter at Penn State
John Meier, Science Librarianand
Jimmy Vuccolo, ITS
Chat Widgets
• Customer Service on the Web• What’s a Widget?• How Do I Get a Widget?• Widget Best Practices• Preliminary Research Findings
Customer Service
Customer Service on the Web
Customer Service
Customer Service
Copyright: Jerry Wong / xcode @ flickr.com
Customer Service on the Web
What’s a Widget?
Javascript or Flash code
<object width="160" height="250" ><param name="movie" value="http://widget.meebo.com/mm.swf?QcfqzYHgOH"/><embed src="http://widget.meebo.com/mm.swf?QcfqzYHgOH" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="160" height="250"></embed></object>
For your website
Where Do I Get a Widget?
• Meebo• AIM Wimzi• Plugoo• Digsby
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/10_chat_widgets.php
Widget Best Practices
• Different types of widgets
• Placement
• Staffing
• Customer Service
Different Types of Widgets
• Single user– Personal– An instance on each
page– Hard to make referrals
• Chat “room”– Public– Single instance– Can have any number
of users or staff online
Placement
• Embedded– Highly Visible– Small appearance
• Linked– Less Visible– Larger in size
• Popup– Less Visible (linked)– Any size– No problems if user
browses in other window
Staffing
• Individual– One person– One chat account
• Shared– Multiple people– One chat account
• Chat “room”– Multiple people– Each with own chat
account
Staffing
• On Desk– On chat while at service
desk– Many interruptions
• On Call– On chat while in office– Limited times
• On… whenever– Most hours online– Inconsistent hours– Don’t forget to be “Away”
Customer Service
• Chat Etiquette– Similar to email etiquette including “think before
you hit SEND”– Choose an appropriate screen name
• “Virtual Reference” Best Practices– Introduce yourself promptly and offer to help– Use shorter messages but stay professional
not ok 2 use abbr. as in txting– Make sure you have contact information if you need
to follow up
Preliminary Research Findings
• Study of widgets on Penn State Library web pages
• Co-Investigators are Helen Smith and Sam Stormont
• IRB Exempt status• 16 questions (most qualitative in nature)– Demographic– Quality of service– Comments
Survey Results
• Who?– Undergrads 67%– Faculty 13%– Graduate 7%– Other 13%
• Where?– University Park 42%– Other campuses 58%
Survey Results
• Who?– Undergrads 67%– Faculty 13%– Graduate 7%– Other 13%
• Where?– University Park 42%– Other campuses 58%
• Why?– Need help looking for a
specific item 60%– Project or paper 27%– For my research 13%
• How did you find it?– Found on my own 40%– Librarian 40%– Other 20%
Survey Results
• Over 90% of responses– Were very satisfied with the information or
materials found– Located what they asked about– Rated the response time of the librarian as very
fast– Described the service as very friendly– Indicated the librarian understood what they
wanted– Likely to use the service again
Comments
I really liked online service because it helped me out from home. I didn’t have
to visit the library.
This is an excellent idea. BRAVO PSU Library.
very helpful service! makes things quicker and easier to find if I am having trouble
on my own.Awesome!
Summary of Chat Widgets
• Customer Service on the Web– Use widgets
• What’s a Widget?– code
• How Do I Get a Widget?– vendors
• Widget Best Practices– Location, location, location
• Preliminary Research Findings– good
Jabber
• Introduction to Jabber
• Jabber @ Penn State
Introduction to Jabber
• What is Jabber?
• Goals of Jabber
What is Jabber?
• Initiative to produce an open source, XML-based instant messaging platform– XMPP Protocol (Extensible Messaging and
Presence Protocol)
Goals of Jabber
• Open - anyone can write their Jabber software using the open specifications that define how Jabber works
• Decentralized - anyone can run their own Jabber server and connect to other servers on the network
Goals of Jabber
• Secure - strong encryption, authentication and identity features help to ensure confidentiality, privacy and prevent spam
• Flexible - the same Jabber transport used or IM can also be used to exchange any data
Jabber @ Penn State
• Humble Beginnings
• New Service
• Your Jabber Identity
• Client Support
Humble Beginnings
New Service
• chat.psu.edu– Beta since 2006– Based on Jabber2d implementation of Jabber– Load balanced on front-end and back-end– Secure TLS/SSL by default– Uses Penn State Access Account authentication
Your Jabber Identity
• Communication between Jabber users is done using their Jabber id– Google: [email protected]– Penn State: [email protected]
Client Support
• Popular Jabber Clients– Adium– Pidgin/Gaim– iChat– Trillian Pro
• Configuration instructions can be found in the ITS knowledge base– http://kb.its.psu.edu/psu-all/hd/jabberconfig/
Conference Server
• Allows groups of people to be in the same chat session– conferences.chat.psu.edu– Your handle is your Access Id
chat.psu.edu Futures
• Software change from Jabber2d to eJabberd
• Group/class restrictions capability for the conferences server
Comments! Questions?
Thank you for your time.
• John Meier, Science Librarian, [email protected]/Meebo/Gtalk/Twitter/etc: johnmeier1
• Jimmy Vuccolo, ITS, [email protected]
