Lodging Interactive debuts live-chat customer service

Lodging Interactive rolls out CoMMingle Live, the real-time, live chat service for hotels and resorts. CoMMingle Live uses state of the art live chat technologies and the company's own live chat agents. All operations are handled in the U.S. and agents are trained to engage with customers as an extension of the property's own operational team.

"In 2016 Customer service has become the new marketing as social media networks continue to evolve into direct consumer to brand communication platforms," said DJ Vallauri, Lodging Interactive's founder and president. "Our CoMMingle Live service enables hotels and resorts to humanize their properties and to build loyalty with customers by providing a level of online customer service never before experienced in our industry."

During a three month beta test, CoMMingle Live increased group RFP requests by nearly 40 percent and online direct bookings by 12 percent. Customer satisfaction levels and ongoing engagement also grew at a rapid pace.

"CoMMingle Live enables us to provide the highest level of customer service even before our guests arrive," said Ed Reagoso, general manager of the Wilshire Grand Hotel. "I've been amazed at the level of customer engagement we've been able to achieve which helps us build long term loyalty."

CoMMingle Live is easy for hotels to implement by simply placing a snippet of code onto their website. The CoMMingle Live technology is fully mobile enabled and automatically launches when consumers visit a hotel's website. The service captures the consumer's full name and email address prior to launching into the live chat session.

"As an added benefit for hotels, CoMMingle Live creates a valuable database which can be used for future marketing programs," Vallauri said.