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Quickly start a Google Hangout with a customer from a case

Google recently launched a Hangout start button that can be easily embedded within any app or website. From their post:

That’s why we recently launched a Hangout start button that can be embedded in any app or website. Whether you’re a sales rep working in a CRM app or an engineer in a project management tool, it only takes one click to launch a Hangout and your team will automatically be invited. You can even improve customer service with the ability to quickly launch into a video Hangout with a client to resolve an issue. (emphasis mine)

This is pretty slick.

There are a ton of remote support options out there, many that are expensive, and the integration with these can be pretty involved.

I like Google hangouts because it’s simple and free. And Google has made it super easy to add a button to your app. Check out the documentation and examples.

Within Dovetail Agent

We can easily add a Google Hangout button to Dovetail Agent 5:

case

or to Dovetail Agent 4:

case4

Code

Pretty simple to add a Start Hangout button:

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script>

<div id="placeholder-div2"></div>

<script>

  var email = $("#e_mail").val();

  gapi.hangout.render('placeholder-div2', {

    'render': 'createhangout',

    'topic':'Case ' + $("#id_number").val(),

    'widget_size': 72,

    'invites':"[{ id : " + email + ", invite_type : 'EMAIL' }]"

  });

</script>

Clicking the Start Hangout button will open a new hangout window, allowing you to text chat, voice chat, and even screen-share to help resolve a customer issue.

Very cool.

What do you think?

Do you currently use a remote support / screen-sharing / chat / video chat app for your support operations?

If so, which one? How’s it working?

Would you use something like Google Hangout to communicate with a customer?