Live Website Support for the Educational Industry Among the fastest growing industries, the educational sector is set to see consistent growth over the course of the next decade or two. Schooling (K-12th grade) numbers are expected to increase from 55.1 million in 2006 to 74 million by 2015, “The education and health sectors have shown consistent growth despite the global economy crisis. With US and other developing nations offshoring blue collar work, there is an increased demand for specialists and higher education”, say one industry analyst from Chicago. According to the data collected by franchise help, the educational industry is expected to see an average growth rate of 5% in US alone. However, online courses and training software are expected to capture a share of the total market revenue. With the education service sector growing exponentially, there is a surge in student exchange programs and international admissions. Prospective students from all over the world apply to colleges and universities in the Western and European regions. “International admissions can be a major source of revenue for universities. However, due to lack of supporting infrastructure, the service quality is often compromised,” explains Jack Martin, an e-marketing consultant. Martin brands customer interaction and communication as service essentials and given the complexity of university based admissions, urges schools to adopt live website support. Where telephone and email has existed as the primary service channel, universities have struggled in providing effective support. However, with an increase in online traffic and development of advance web support tools, universities today can enhance their service cycle. “When we talk about engaging students, there is no better medium than the internet. It’s global, cost effective and right in their (student) comfort zone”, explains Martin, adding, “This is one of the prime reasons why live support for website works for the education sector.” With chat being a popular medium of communication, universities can utilize live website support to help candidates go through the registration process, fill out forms, learn about the fee structure, transfers, courses, etc. “It is more cost effective to provide live website support than have staff attending telephone calls and replying to mails. Queries can be resolved on the spot and the support burden can be reduced significantly,” explains Martin. However, his real reason for backing live support for website is to help promote a support platform for online admissions. “Universities have moved towards web based admissions but they do not have an adequate support system in place. Email is just not that efficient anymore!” claims Martin. Live support for website is though a popular choice for virtual universities and online tutoring academies. With a cloud based infrastructure, such institutes are more conditioned to provide online support and service, “Virtual universities focus on convenience, and live website support offers just that!” says Martin. However, support is not all live chat should been limited to, institutes can utilize it as a communication platform for enrolled students and alumni. Students can receive updates, event details
and much more. With the increase in demand, universities must look to adapt, and live support for website can be the first step!