ChatBeacon is a customer conversation platform that combines AI chatbots, live agent chat, co-browse, screen share, video chat, and visual conversational commerce in a single per-seat product. ChatBeacon has been built and supported in the USA since 2005.

How fast can I get ChatBeacon running on my site?

Under 5 minutes. Paste the ChatBeacon code snippet on your website and the AI chatbot starts learning from your content immediately. A concierge team can also walk you through setup at no extra charge.

What does the ChatBeacon AI chatbot train on?

Your website pages, uploaded documents, PDFs, FAQ articles, and knowledge base content. ChatBeacon's AI scans your content, learns your brand voice, and delivers answers that sound like you wrote them.

What happens when the AI can't answer a question?

The conversation transfers to a live agent with the full chat history, visitor details, and AI summary, so the customer never has to repeat themselves.

Does ChatBeacon offer a free trial?

Yes, a 14-day free trial, including full access to AI chatbot, live agent chat, co-browse, and visitor intelligence.

Can I install ChatBeacon on my own servers?

Yes. ChatBeacon offers fully managed cloud, dedicated cloud, and on-premise installation using your own Microsoft SQL Server database. This is used by banks, credit unions, healthcare, and government.

Is ChatBeacon HIPAA compliant?

ChatBeacon offers HIPAA-aware deployment with PHI masking and on-premise options for organizations that need to keep protected health information inside their own infrastructure.

Is ChatBeacon SOC 2 compliant?

ChatBeacon offers SOC 2-aligned deployment with audit logs for financial services and other regulated industries.

Does ChatBeacon support SSO and Microsoft Entra ID?

Yes. Microsoft Entra ID and SSO are supported as add-ons for secure agent provisioning and authentication.

How many languages does ChatBeacon support?

45+ languages with real-time translation. Customers can write in any supported language and agents respond in their own language; ChatBeacon translates both directions automatically.

What integrations does ChatBeacon offer?

ChatBeacon integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zendesk, Shopify, WooCommerce, and thousands more through Zapier, plus a public API for custom workflows.

How is ChatBeacon different from Tidio?

ChatBeacon does not impose conversation quotas, offers on-premise and dedicated cloud deployment, and includes co-browse, video chat, and PictureData. Tidio does not offer these capabilities.

PictureData is ChatBeacon's visual conversational commerce technology. It connects to your live Shopify or WooCommerce inventory and returns visual product matches inside the chat from natural-language queries.

Recall CRM is ChatBeacon's conversational context hub — a chat-originated CRM that keeps customer history, preferences, intent, and AI insight connected across every interaction, so when a human steps in they see the full story instantly.

ChatBeacon FAQ

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General

What is ChatBeacon?

ChatBeacon is an AI-powered customer engagement platform combining chatbots, live agent chat, co-browse, video chat, PictureData™ visual shopping, and Viewport 360 analytics.

How long does setup take?

Most teams are live in under 5 minutes. Point us at your domain, configure your greeting, paste one line of JavaScript. No training period needed.

What industries use ChatBeacon?

Banking, credit unions, healthcare, education, e-commerce, auto dealers, insurance, SaaS, government, real estate, legal, travel, and more.

How is ChatBeacon different from Intercom?

Per-seat pricing (no per-resolution fees), on-premise deployment for regulated industries, and native co-browse, video chat, and PictureData™ that competitors don't offer.

Is there a free trial?

Yes! Free trial with no credit card required. We'll also build a custom AI chatbot on your content during a live demo so you can see it in action first.

Where is ChatBeacon based?

Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. SmartMax Software has been building communication technology since 1990 — over 35 years of innovation.

🧠

AI & Chatbots

What AI model does ChatBeacon use?

OpenAI GPT-5.4 via AgentKit workflows. Domain-grounded web search ensures every answer comes from your live website — always current, never stale.

Do I need to train the chatbot?

No training needed. Our AI uses domain-grounded web search that reads your live website in real time. Update your site, and the AI knows instantly.

Does the AI hallucinate?

We use multi-layer guardrails to validate every response against sourced content. If the AI can't verify a fact from your domain, it won't say it.

How many languages are supported?

45+ languages with real-time bi-directional translation. Visitor writes in Spanish, agent reads in English — automatically.

Can the AI hand off to a human?

Yes. AI detects buying signals, complexity, or frustration and routes to the right agent with full conversation history, AI summary, and suggested responses.

What percentage does AI resolve?

Typically 70% of conversations are fully resolved by AI. The remaining 30% are handed off to agents with complete context — zero repeat for the customer.

👥

Live Chat

What is co-browse?

Agents see the customer's screen in real time — highlight fields, draw annotations, and guide them through forms. No downloads, no plugins. PII auto-masking included.

Is video chat included?

Yes. Agents can start face-to-face video calls directly from the chat window. Works on desktop and mobile browsers.

How many agents can use it?

Seats are counted by concurrent operators, not named users. Launch covers up to 4 at once and Grow up to 10. Scale is unlimited, and on-premise follows the published seat ladder from 5 operators up to unlimited.

Can I route chats by department?

Yes. Route by URL, country, visitor tags, department, business rules, or custom logic. Queue management with overflow handling included.

Can agents chat from mobile?

Yes. The operator console works on mobile browsers, and we have mobile-optimized views for agents on the go.

🔒

Security

Is ChatBeacon SOC 2 certified?

Yes. SOC 2 Type II certified. Annual audits by independent third parties. Full report available under NDA.

Do you support HIPAA?

Yes. HIPAA compliance with a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) on Scale and on-premise deployments. All data encrypted via Azure.

Can I run it on-premise?

Yes. Full on-premise deployment with your own MS SQL database, so data never leaves your network. It is a one-time perpetual license from $1,599, not a cloud tier, with 30% annual maintenance and free white-glove install.

Is ChatBeacon GDPR compliant?

Yes. Full GDPR compliance including data processing agreements, right to erasure, data portability, and consent management.

How is data encrypted?

AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit. Hosted on Microsoft Azure with US data center options. SSO via Microsoft Entra ID.

💰

Pricing

How much does ChatBeacon cost?

Cloud is priced per operator, per month: Launch at $39 and Grow at $69, with Scale quoted to your setup. Launch covers up to 4 concurrent operators and Grow up to 10. Prefer to own it outright? On-premise is a one-time perpetual license from $1,599 for 5 operators, with 30% annual maintenance and the first year included.

Do you charge per AI resolution?

No. Per-seat pricing only. No hidden per-resolution, per-message, or per-contact fees. Unlimited AI conversations included.

Is there an annual discount?

Yes. Annual billing saves up to 15% compared to monthly. Launch drops from $39 to $33 per operator per month and Grow from $69 to $64. Scale is quoted to your requirements.

Is there a long-term contract?

No. Monthly plans cancel anytime. Annual plans are billed yearly and hold for the term you bought. Add operators any time and they go live immediately; reductions take effect at your next renewal.

📸

PictureData™

What is PictureData?

The world's first AI visual shopping assistant. Customers describe products in natural language, and the chatbot finds matching items from your Shopify or WooCommerce store.

Which platforms does it support?

Shopify and WooCommerce with real-time inventory sync. Prices and availability always current. More platforms coming soon.

Can customers upload photos?

Currently PictureData uses natural language descriptions to match products. Photo-to-product matching is on the roadmap.

Is PictureData included?

PictureData is a flat add-on on any plan, cloud or on-premise: $139 per month plus a $295 one-time setup and onboarding fee. It is not priced by catalog size.

⚙️

Technical

How do I install ChatBeacon?

Paste one line of JavaScript on your site. Works with any platform — WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, React, custom builds, and more.

Is there an API?

Full REST API with CRUD endpoints for chats, visitors, agents, bots, and analytics. Webhooks for real-time event notifications. OAuth 2.0 authentication.

Does it work with Zapier?

Yes. 3000+ app connections via Zapier. Triggers on new chats, leads, escalations, and custom events. Also native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, and more.

What is the uptime SLA?

99.9% uptime SLA on all cloud plans. Scale adds a single-tenant dedicated server with a priority SLA and a named success manager.

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