ChatKaizen

This is the great ChatKaizen WordPress plugin. It allows you to insert a small chat widget at the bottom-right corner of all the pages you want in your WordPress blog. Therewith, your web visitors can contact you in real time!

You (the subscriber) and your partners (here known as operators) await your web visitors’ inquiries from anywhere using as many Android devices as you want. Those Android devices need the ChatKaizen Android App installed. Please, read on for details.

Features

• Multiple operators: in order to better attend your web visitors, you are able to associate multiple operators to your ChatKaizen account.
• Personal service: whenever a visitor of your web starts a conversation, all operators are notified in their Android devices, but after the first operator answers, the conversation gets bound only to him/her.
• Offline drop-in: if, for any reason, there are no online operators available at a certain time to attend your web visitors, the chat widget drops-in into an email delivery form (offline messages will be sent to the subscriber registerd account via email).
• Centralized configuration: you manage all your account configuration, e.g. adding/removing operators, from your ChatKaizen site’s account dashboard.
• Visitor notifications: if the current operator suffers a network disconnection, the web visitor gets notified and inmediatly given the option to send an email to complete the current process.
• Operator notifications: a sound and a vibration is produced in the operator’s device whenever a new message enters, just like other messaging apps, like WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.
• Independent conversations: as you know, your web visitors are anonymous by default; ChatKaizen assigns a new random ID for each new conversation, keeping them separate.
• Conversation history: your Android device stores all past conversations.
• Customization: you can customize the messages and language for your chat widget.
• Instant messaging: ChatKaizen uses the XMPP protocol internally (like Jabber), to deliver messages to all parties without significant delay.

How it works

ChatKaizen consists of two components:

1. a chat widget (which this plugin provides) and
2. an Android application.

Once you install the widget on your web site (i.e. using this WP plugin) and the Android application on your Android device, they get seamlessly connected and your web visitors are able to contact you in real time.

You need a ChatKaizen account created in the ChatKaizen site. There you can get the Android application, manage your account and get detailed instructions.

Go now to the ChatKaizen site and sign up for your FREE account (currently, only Gmail accounts are supported).

NOTE: Only the subscriber (e.g. you or the person who first signed on the ChatKaizen site) needs a ChatKaizen account. All other operators need nothing but the application be sent to them and installed in their Android devices (e.g. via email, bluetooth, or any method of your convinience).

1. Upload the chatkaizen_plugin/ directory to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory;
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress admin’s interface;
3. Check that the plugin shows in your blog pages: the chat widget will display a notice Bad Configuration. This is right, go to step 4;
4. Go to the ChatKaizen site and login to your account;
5. Follow the instructions in your account’s dashboard (e.g. configure your website’s domain, etc.);
6. Copy your subscriber KEY, go back to your WordPress admin’s interface and insert that KEY in the ChatKaizen plugin settings page.
7. Customize any other settings you like in the ChatKaizen plugin settings page;
8. Get all the operators logged in with the ChatKaizen Android application (currently, only Gmail accounts are supported for the operators; just create them if you need to).
9. Done! Await your web visitor’s inquiries!

At any time, you can manage your account settings, e.g. adding/removing operators, from your ChatKaizen account dashboard.

Installation Instructions

1. Upload the chatkaizen_plugin/ directory to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory;
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress admin’s interface;
3. Check that the plugin shows in your blog pages: the chat widget will display a notice Bad Configuration. This is right, go to step 4;
4. Go to the ChatKaizen site and login to your account;
5. Follow the instructions in your account’s dashboard (e.g. configure your website’s domain, etc.);
6. Copy your subscriber KEY, go back to your WordPress admin’s interface and insert that KEY in the ChatKaizen plugin settings page.
7. Customize any other settings you like in the ChatKaizen plugin settings page;
8. Get all the operators logged in with the ChatKaizen Android application (currently, only Gmail accounts are supported for the operators; just create them if you need to).
9. Done! Await your web visitor’s inquiries!

At any time, you can manage your account settings, e.g. adding/removing operators, from your ChatKaizen account dashboard.

Is it really FREE?

Yeah, free as in a beer. We offer this option for a limited time. Our purpose is to improve ChatKaizen and maybe, one day, offer premium functions and services for a fee so we can make some profit (as our users will), but we won’t let our free subscribers down.

In the meantime, we encourage you to make a donation if you are satisfied with the service (we also need to eat!).

When will my web visitors see me online?

Only when you have your ChatKaizen Android application open and online. You can also have your ChatKaizen Android application open but remain offline, in case you just want to review past conversations.

Where do I get the offline messages?

When you sign into your ChatKaizen site’s account, you do it with an email (known as the subscriber email). You get the offline messages to this address, with its Reply-To field set to the visitor email address.

What happens if I am online with my ChatKaizen Android app but don’t notice the visitor inquiry?

He/she won’t get response. If you are online, better try to be aware of your device. Otherwise, just set it off so the offline form is shown to your web visitor.

How many operators can I register?

Currently, there is no limit. The more, the better for your web visitors experience, since there will always be someone to answer their questions.

Where does the name ChatKaizen name come from?

It comes from Chat and Kaizen. Kaizen is the practice of continuous improvement.

Kaizen was originally introduced to the West by Masaaki Imai in his book Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success. Today Kaizen is recognized worldwide as an important pillar of an organization’s long-term competitive strategy.

1. 

   Working chat widget as viewed by a web visitor browsing with a 9" tablet.

2. 

   Same conversation from an android mobile phone.

3. 

   Drop-in replacement for offline messages.

4. 

   The operator has disconnected unexpectedly.

1.0

First public version