- Set specific coverage hours
- Control how chat cascades from in-library departments to the cooperative
- Depending on local staffing, contribute to cooperative, or not
- Review all co-op transcripts and provide ratings and feedback
LibAnswers with LibChat
Multi-Platform Communication System
Online Reference & Helpdesk Solution
Meet your patrons where they are! Create custom FAQ Groups for unique user groups, conduct online chats via LibChat and screensharing, record reference statistics in Reference Analytics, and much more!
Key LibAnswers Features
- A robust built-in ticketing system
- Customizable & searchable FAQs
- LibChat widgets with 24/7/365 coverage
- Reference Analytics for reference transactions
- Assess the quality of your services with QoS Stats
- LibChat screensharing, file-sharing, and more!
Communicate with Users Anywhere, Anytime
Route all library questions into one place and track the status of all patron inquiries. Question sources include email, SMS, LibChat, and web forms. Create macros, email templates, and notifications to optimize response time and accuracy.
LibChat is the most full-featured chat system, used by thousands of libraries worldwide. Comprehensive chat functionality, screensharing, file-sharing, proactive chat widgets, and integrated workflows make LibChat an easy choice. LibChat widgets bring library reference to any webpage.
LibAnswers Chatbot can serve as your first point of contact with chat patrons routing them to ready-reference answers or to live operators. Our Chatbot is rule-based, which means that you can control the entire user experience for your patrons. Save staff time with LibAnswers Chatbot.
Organize your social media activity and posts in one place - on LibAnswers dashboard. Post tweets, facebook messages, get statistics on social media activity... LibAnswers provides and easy-to-use social media management functionality for your library's online presence.
Create a knowledge-base portal with FAQ entries containing videos, rich media, documents, and any info necessary for your users to find the answers they need. Share FAQs with widgets or integrate them into 3rd party search and discovery layers with our robust API.
Patron privacy is important to you, so it's important to us, too. Privacy features include patron data encryption and PII data scrubbing. Collect only basic information, or in-depth data from patrons. Springshare never shares, sells, or distributes library or patron data.
Global 24/7/365 Chat Cooperative
The Global Chat Cooperative includes hundreds of participating librarians and in-house Springshare MLIS librarians, delivering the highest quality reference coverage for libraries.
Institutions in the Cooperative Can:
Multi-Channel Online Reference
With LibAnswers, patrons enjoy a seamless experience, regardless of how they have submitted their question. Whether they send in a text message, an email, or a question via social media, they'll get a reply from the library to that same channel.
Aggregate All Incoming Questions into One Inbox:
- LibChat widgets on any webpage
- SMS/Texting via local area code number
- Customizable web Question Forms
- Social Media integration
- Dedicated local email addresses
Full Helpdesk Functionality
LibAnswers is a fully-featured helpdesk system. Questions sent via email or customizable web forms are fed into an incoming dashboard as tickets. Staff can collaborate on answers, assign or transfer a ticket to a specific librarian, leave an internal note, and more.
- Create multiple queues and departments for different ticket types
- Assign tickets, leave internal notes, change ticket statuses
- Send files and other multi-media with ticket answers
- Create macros and templates to help with workflows
- Detailed analytics on turnaround times, peak load periods, etc.
FAQ/Knowledge Base Builder
- Organize FAQ entries into logical groups
- Full-text search capability
- Detailed analytics on FAQ usage
- Turn tickets into FAQ entries
- Include rich media (video/audio) and files
Powerful Reporting & Statistics On Reference Activity
- Quality of Service statistics for tickets & chats
- Filter ticket stats by source, status, owner, queue, etc.
- Explore patron search queries with Query Analyzer
- Reports on turnaround times, slow/busy periods, etc.
- Track FAQ usage over time – daily, monthly, yearly
- Examine reference patterns & statistics with Reference Analytics
- Reports on SMS channel usage and SMS activity
- Analyze your social media engagement statistics
Quality of Service Indicators Help Ensure Exceptional Service
Create surveys asking your patrons to rate the service they received, and automatically send survey questionnaires after every closed ticket or at the end of each chat transcript. Randomize the recipients and sending times to get a comprehensive survey sample size population.
Step up the Quality of Service analysis with the industry-standard NPS® Surveys inside LibAnswers. The NPS® Surveys module enables you to create and conduct NPS® surveys and measure the progress of official NPS® scores.
Librarian-Created Chatbot Flows
Chatbot can serve as the first point of contact with chat patrons, routing them to ready-reference answers. Chatbot is rule-based, not AI-based, which means that you will have the opportunity to control the entire user experience.
Use LibAnswers Chatbot to:
- Guide patrons through pre-selected options
- Present and search library FAQs
- Connect patrons to events, guides, and A-Z resources
- Route to LibWizard survey or forms
- Transfer patrons to live chat operators whenever needed
Ready for the Next Steps?
Join thousands of libraries worldwide who use LibAnswers to improve and enhance customer service, and ensure every question from a patron gets answered accurately and efficiently. We'd love to share more info, examples of real-world usage, and organize a demo for you and your colleagues.