RefTracker Contact Methods
Client Contact Freedom When You Use RefTracker
RefTracker is a true Virtual Reference system - not just an email reference system, or a chat reference system, but a system that facilitates client contact in a variety of ways so that you can use the most appropriate method for the task at hand. With RefTracker you control the variety of communication methods that you offer to your clients, and you have the freedom to use any of those methods to contact your client, as appropriate to answering their question.
Imagine the freedom of being able to receive a question through your web pages or via a chat session, request and receive a clarification from your client by SMS/Texting them, offer them an online cobrowsing or Instant Messaging session to interactively explore the question, and then deliver an extended answer via an email message that provides hyperlinks to useful online information and attachments containing information from offline resources. RefTracker gives you this flexibility and more!
Select the contact methods you want to offer, with more to come:
- Face to face and extended in person research services
- Traditional phone contact, mobile phone contact, Voice over IP (VoIP) via Skype, and mobile phone SMS/Texting using Altarama's Reference by SMS.
- Post and fax through library defined print functions
- Question input through library defined web forms that can be used in web pages and chat sessions
- Responses via email including attachments and the ability to quote URL's
- Any cobrowsing product can be launched from within RefTracker, and RefTracker web forms can be used in cobrowsing products to allow questions to be completed offline.
- Instant Messaging products can be launched from within RefTracker, and RefTracker web forms can be pushed to the patron, or filled out by staff during Instant Messaging sessions to allow questions to be completed offline. IM networks supported include MSN, AOL, and Yahoo. RefTracker even solves the problem of having to work with multiple networks, by opening the right IM client for the patron currently being served. And Altarama even provides advice and example web page links to reduce the time taken to set up Instant Messaging for library reference services. Click here for more information about using Instant Messaging for online reference.
Although providing this variety of client contact options is important, it is even more important to note that RefTracker is not just a tool for communicating with your clients - it is a complete solution for improving the delivery and management of your library request answering services using both new online communications methods and traditional reference processes and contact methods!
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