AHS Website Chat Feature — Tool Research & Requirements

Overview

During the October 2025 monthly marketing review, AHS expressed interest in adding a live chat feature to their website. The conversation surfaced specific UX preferences, a prior negative experience with Facebook Messenger, concerns about AI accuracy in a regulated industry, and two alternative platforms to evaluate. This is currently classified as a want, not a need — training event attendance is the higher priority — but research is ongoing.

Desired UX

A floating icon in the bottom-right corner of the website (not an intrusive pop-up)
Clicking the icon opens a chat interface where visitors can ask questions (e.g., "What services do you offer?" or "Am I at risk for asbestos?")
Messages should route to AHS staff in near-real-time

Prior Implementation: Facebook Messenger

AHS previously used Facebook Messenger as the chat backend. It was abandoned due to high spam volume — the majority of incoming Messenger notifications were Facebook account-flagging messages and irrelevant spam, making it impractical to monitor for genuine leads.

"I'm going to tend to ignore it… I'm not looking at it the second it comes in, because it's probably that." — Gina Richardson

Facebook Messenger should remain an option only if spam filtering can be meaningfully addressed; otherwise, deprioritize.

AI Auto-Response: Open With Caveats

AHS already uses basic keyword-triggered auto-responses in Facebook Messenger (e.g., answering "how much does testing cost?"). They are open to AI-assisted responses but have a firm requirement:

All AI-generated answers must be vetted for factual accuracy before deployment.

The concern is specific to their industry: asbestos regulations vary by state, and incorrect information (e.g., stating vermiculite contains asbestos when that is only true under Wisconsin law) could constitute misinformation or create liability.

"There's so much misinformation out there in the world about asbestos… I would only do it without the questions being a question that I get all the time and then me writing the answer." — Gina Richardson

Recommended approach: Use a curated FAQ model where AHS pre-approves each Q&A pair rather than a general-purpose LLM responding freely.

Vendor Candidates

HubSpot (Free Tier)

Has a free live chat widget
Most effective when HubSpot is also used as the CRM
AHS currently uses MarketSharp as their CRM, which limits native HubSpot integration value
Paid tiers run ~$99/month

RingCentral

AHS already uses RingCentral as their VOIP/phone system (formerly Charter)
Has built-in texting capability (though capped at 10 texts at a time for outbound)
May support chat routing — worth investigating whether the existing subscription includes a web chat widget
Advantage: consolidates communication into a platform AHS already monitors

Facebook Messenger

Previously used; deprioritized due to spam issues (see above)
Could be reconsidered if a spam filter solution is identified

Open Questions for Further Research

[ ] Does RingCentral's current AHS subscription include a web chat widget, or would it require an upgrade?
[ ] What is HubSpot's free chat widget feature set, and can it route to RingCentral or email without requiring HubSpot CRM adoption?
[ ] Are there lightweight standalone chat tools (e.g., Tidio, Crisp) that integrate with non-HubSpot CRMs and support curated FAQ bots?
[ ] Can Facebook Messenger spam be filtered effectively enough to revisit as a backend?

Action Items

[ ] Research RingCentral web chat capabilities within AHS's existing plan (@Sebastian Gant)
[ ] Evaluate HubSpot free chat widget as a standalone tool, independent of CRM (@Sebastian Gant)
[ ] Draft a shortlist of 2–3 options with pricing and spam-handling notes to present to Gina and Bob (@Sebastian Gant)
[ ] If AI responses are included in any proposal, define the FAQ vetting workflow with AHS before implementation

Priority Note

As of the October 28 meeting, this initiative is explicitly lower priority than filling the November 19 Madison training and December 11–12 Kalahari training. Do not propose implementation until training email campaigns are resolved.

"Those are wants, not needs… Getting those training goals is the priority right now." — Sebastian Gant