Apple Business Chat Expands Beyond United States to 10 Countries and 30 More Brands

[WatchFromAfar]

No, just a continuation of what is standard industry practice. Business chat doesn't change that. What is does do is offer a potentially much better customer experience by ease of access/use and a method of communication that most people have switched to (over telephone and email). It would be great if when you called, emailed or chatted with a support person they were at the store or business, but it hasn't been that way for large companies for decades now. It's just too inefficient to have decentralized support. Companies couldn't afford to offer support for most items they sell if it wasn't centralized, and usually out sourced.

You're describing a call centre

 

[bluecoast]

I wonder how many people will accidentally end up sexting businesses?

 

[malvicus]

Where is the announcement?



QUOTE="MacRumors, post: 26606069, member: 3"]


Apple Business Chat, a platform for businesses to provide customer service through iMessage, is now available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Japan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The feature launched in the United States earlier this year.

The international expansion coincides with 30 additional businesses adopting Apple Business Chat around the world today, adding to 15 brands in the United States that have been using the platform, which remains in beta.

For example, luxury fashion brand Burberry is integrating with Apple Business Chat worldwide to enable clients to check availability on items nearby, ask questions about the size and fit of clothing and accessories, and get help placing an order. Customers can also inquire about special events like fashion shows.

And hotel chain Four Seasons, which began using Apple Business Chat in July, is expanding its adoption of the platform to reach 88 properties across the globe. Four Seasons will be able to communicate with real people at each property in more than 100 languages, with response times averaging 90 seconds or less.

The full list of brands launching Apple Business Chat today:

North America1-800 Contacts
DIRECTV NOW
Fairmont Hotels, including the Claremont Club & Spa in Berkeley
Kimpton Hotels
Freshly
Mall of America
Macerich malls, including Scottsdale Fashion Square and Santa Monica Place
Men's Wearhouse
Jos A. Bank
Overstock.com
Quicken Loans
West Elm
Hendrick Automotive Group
Lithia Group
SnapTravel (US & Canada)WorldwideBurberry (Worldwide)
matchesfashion.com (UK)
NH Hotels (Europe)
nPower (UK)
Robins & Day (UK)
buddybank (Italy)
Engie (France)
La Redoute (France)
AXA Insurance (Switzerland)
Swisscom (Switzerland)
Vodafone (Germany)
Credit Suisse (Hong Kong and Singapore)
Telstra (Australia)
Harvey Norman (Australia)
KDDI (Japan)Apple Business Chat launched in iOS 11.3 in March, enabling iPhone and iPad users to ask for information, schedule appointments, make purchases, and complete other customer service tasks directly in the Messages app.

Business Chats must be initiated on an iPhone or iPad, but they can be continued on any other iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch signed into the same Apple ID. You can start a conversation by searching for a business in Maps, Safari, Siri, or Search and tapping on the Messages bubble where available.

Other brands using Business Chat include Apple itself, DISH, Aramark, Four Seasons, Harry & David, American Express, Discover, Hilton, The Home Depot, Lowe's, Marriott, Newegg, T-Mobile, Ameritrade, Wells Fargo, and 1-800-Flowers.

Business Chat requires iOS 11.3 or later. Also note that while the feature has expanded to additional countries, availability varies by brand. For example, when we tried to message Apple through Business Chat in Canada, an automatic reply indicated that the feature remains unavailable in that country.

Update: This article has been updated with additional information from Apple's announcement.

Article Link: Apple Business Chat Expands Beyond United States to 10 Countries and 30 More Brands[/QUOTE]

 

[RickDEGH]

I search “Dish Network near me” in either spotlight search or Safari, and the option appears that has their website, a phone call button, and a messages button, which should initiate the Business Chat. “Near me” was needed, as it doesn’t show up without that.

Thanks. Can confirm works on Vodafone Germany, but you’re going to be chatting with a bot!

 

[comakut]

From the "About Business Chat" screen on iMessage:

You can use Business Chat to interact with Apple and other businesses in the Messages app, including making payments using Apple Pay. Business Chats have a grey background to distinguish them from iMessages and standard SMSs. Business Chats are encrypted between your device and Apple’s servers and when Apple transmits them to the business.

Businesses cannot start a Business Chat conversation with you; only you can. If you no longer want to receive messages from a particular business, you can delete the conversation. Once you delete a conversation, that business can no longer communicate with you over Business Chat unless you start a new conversation with them.

When you chat with Apple, Apple will receive a Business Chat ID associated with your Apple ID. This information may be used to support your interaction with Apple.

When you chat with another business, they are provided with a session identifier. Other businesses may also receive limited additional information. For example, if you search in Maps for a bank and start a Business Chat, the business may be informed which branch you chose. This information when held by that business, as well as other information you provide to a business, is governed by their privacy policies. We encourage you to learn about the terms, privacy policies and practices of businesses you chat with to understand how they use and share this information.

Business Chats, including the message content, may be used by Apple to improve the service, fulfil your requests, provide the relevant product or service, troubleshoot, or prevent fraud. [emphasis mine]

At all times, information collected by Apple will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy which can be found at www.apple.com/privacy.​

So Apple is saying that they can and may actually read the messages between me and the business. Amazing for a company that claims to care so much about privacy. After this, I cannot trust Business Chat to interact with my bank, for instance. I'd rather use the bank's own chat platform where no third party will be snooping into the chat session.

 

[frankly]

And it's even worse if you read @LandRovers post above yours. It would be better if you could search the business name right from messages.

I've searched MacRumors' previous articles, and I don't think there is one detailing the… nuance… required to get Apple Business Chat to work. Might be some thing to consider, @Joe Rossignol.

E.g. Home Depot → Spotlight search for "Home Depot"
Dish → Spotlight search for "Dish Network near me"
American Express → (still haven't figured that one out)

This has been my problem with this ridiculously implemented service from day one. It has the potential to be something that I would absolutely LOVE, but it has failed again and again. The idea that customers should have to search in so many different ways for each business and then not end up finding a way to connect at all in the case of some businesses, is ridiculous on its face.

I appreciate you taking the time to figure some of these out. The way Apple has implemented this is senseless, and I'm really surprised that MacRumors keeps talking up a service that is so poorly implemented. It is like they aren't even reading our responses to their article.

 

[ardent11]

Any in Australia figured out how to message Telstra? I’ve had a quick look on their website but couldn’t find it.

Harvey Norman on the other and you can find a ‘Chat with Messages’ button on their Contact Us page and searching for ‘Harvey Norman’ on Spotlight also shows a Chat button on their result.