Where can I find an ASP.NET Webforms-compatible chat client with hooks to add additional functionality?

Question

I have a client looking to add chat functionality to their Webforms-based site. They would like the following additional features (beyond the usual chat stuff):

• When a client conversation is started, the customer service rep is presented with a view of the order the customer is inquiring about. (As determined by the page on which the customer clicked the chat button.)
• All chat transcripts are logged and retrievable. (The client would like to allow both the customer and customer service rep to view chat transcripts.)

Technical details:

• The site's written in ASP.NET 4
• Must be IE6 compatible

Based on these requirements, can anyone recommend a vendor (or that my company should roll its own)?

Answer 1

I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but the CodeProject has several examples of chat applications for ASP.NET, many of which you can edit and use as you like.

http://www.codeproject.com/info/search.aspx?artkw=asp.net+chat

I think you'd have an easier time working off one of these examples and adding on the logging and Order display functionality you're looking for. This would save you the cost of purchasing a solution and allow you full control over how the application functions.

Answer 2

SightMax has a pretty good client and excellent support. At $999 for 10 operators, it's affordable. It also a web service interface and the pre-chat form is customizable, so there are hooks to do the customizations described above.