Chat With Companies on Their Sites Using Facebook Messenger

Facebook wants to make it a little more convenient for you to connect with brands online to get questions answered and customer service issues sorted out.

A beta Customer Chat plugin will allow businesses to bring the capabilities of Messenger into their websites. As a customer, this means you'll be able to chat with businesses on their own websites via Messenger (on the web and in the mobile app), and transition back and forth without losing the conversation history.

"This makes it easier for customers to continue the conversation with a business whenever and wherever it's most convenient for them," the Facebook Messenger team wrote in a blog post.

The new plugin also supports Messenger features like payments, rich media, and more, the Messenger team added. Several businesses have already signed on to adopt the new feature, including Adore Me, Air France, Argos, Aviva, Bodeaz, Goibibo, Keto Mojo, KLM, Mermaid Pillow, Spoqa, Total Activation, Volaris, and Zalando.

Businesses interested in adding the Customer Chat plugin to their website can head here and sign up to be notified when it becomes broadly available.

This new feature comes after Facebook this summer started rolling out ads inside its Messenger app worldwide. Clicking one of these ads will either send you to the advertiser's webpage or a Messenger conversation with the company.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes.

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app.

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth.

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light.

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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