vCita – Engage Your Online Visitors

Custom websites are great for promoting businesses and offering information to potential clients, but that doesn’t always correlate with increased sales. VCita is a tool that companies can use to turn their website visitors into actual customers. The application encourages website visitors to approach the businesses they’re checking out and facilitates online meetings in a safe and productive environment.

If you’ve ever looked at your website statistics and wondered why visits to your site aren’t translating to purchases or sign-ups, then vCita is the app for you. The way you use vCita will depend on the type of business you run. If you’re a consultant, for example, then you may want to use the app to encourage website visitors to schedule consultations and meetings with you and your staff. Add a vCita widget to your website or post a link to a standalone contact page in a prominent position that visitors will see. On the widget, visitors can click “Send a Message” to contact you via email or “Set a Meeting” to scheduling something over the phone or video chat. As a business owner, you can respond to these messages and confirm video meetings or phone conference calls directly through the system using the vCita scheduling calendar. If you usually charge for these types of meetings, then vCita can help with payment collection, as well. Just set your payment preferences and your work hours – vCita will handle the rest.

Once you’re up and ready to go, customers can meet you for meetings in vCita’s video meeting room or using the system’s private phone conferencing center. VCita verifies each client’s payment method before the meeting takes place, and payment transactions will occur as soon as the meeting is complete. You can also use vCita to send payment requests for flat rate services that you provide, as well.

Practical Uses:

• Encourage online visitors to get in touch with your business
• Schedule paid consultation meetings with clients
• Get paid for the time you spent advising a customer on his new business venture
• Let potential customers schedule meetings with you at a time when you’re available

Insider Tips:

• Users can choose between video chats or conference calls
• vCita works with any browser that supports Adobe Flash
• Payments are credited to users’ accounts within two days of when a meeting takes place
• vCita will sync with Google Calendars

What we liked:

• Contact requests and scheduling issues can all be managed from the dashboard
• vCita can request and verify payments from clients before services are rendered
• Consultants can use vCita to increase interactions with customers
• The application works on smartphones

What we didn’t like:

• Users can only set one hourly rate for all clients, although there are some options available to get around this limitation

Alternatives:

• None

Company Info:

• Launched: 2011 (Beta)
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Israel
• Founded by: Itzik Levy
• Web site: http://www.vcita.com

Costs:

• Free plan
• Business plan is $21.95/month on a month-to-month contract