The difference between synchronous and asynchronous messaging

• Accessibility

In a business setting, one of the biggest pros for synchronous messaging is that there’s a guaranteed response. This is also one of the clearest differences between synchronous and asynchronous messaging.

When a customer sends a message, they aren’t left waiting, wondering when (or if) they’ll get a reply.

The instant response of synchronous messaging, then, demonstrates high accessibility for customers.

• Efficient

Synchronous messaging is efficient for conversations centred around problem-solving and answering questions.

This is because real-time responses allow real-time problem-solving, and real-time answers.

It’s also best for airing frustrations and taking comments. It’s easier to make someone feel heard and understood when you’re actively engaging them in a synchronous conversation.

• Important to customers

Another difference between synchronous and asynchronous messaging is their popularity for customer service use.

Unlike asynchronous chat, synchronous chat has a long history of business use.

And this can be seen in the importance placed on instant responses. 44% of customers say that having someone at the other end when messaging businesses is very important.

• Availability issues

Synchronous messaging requires both parties to be online at the same time. It also requires attention from both parties for the duration of the conversation.

As such, synchronous messaging requires effective queue management for customer service agents, and a block of time from customers.

Synchronous messaging, for this reason, isn’t always possible for 24/7 support. But, this is an issue shared by both synchronous and asynchronous messaging.

The difference here is that asynchronous messaging lets you start your conversation outside of office hours and wait for a reply. Meanwhile, synchronous messaging requires you to wait to start your conversation when an agent can reply.

Chatbots can help to bridge the gap for simple queries when agent availability dips.

• Premature chat closure woes

Another difference between synchronous and asynchronous messaging revolves around closed chat management. With synchronous messaging, closing a chat marks the end of the chat.

This means that with synchronous messaging, you can’t reopen the same conversation, even if you closed it by accident. Plus, message threads aren’t saved when a chat session ends. So, if you need to continue your conversation, you must start a new chat.

This can prove annoying to customers. Particularly if they’re forced to repeat themselves upon the start of a new synchronous messaging session.

Fortunately, it’s possible to mitigate these issues. Chat transcripts and chat history can streamline the experience for reconnecting users.

• Chat messages saved

Synchronous messaging doesn’t save conversation threads as standard. Asynchronous messaging, on the other hand, revolves around the function.

The whole idea of asynchronous messaging is that you can hop in and out of a chat — closing your chat window as needed, without losing context or progress.

So, an accidental chat closure doesn’t mean potentially starting from scratch.

• Flexible for agents

Synchronous and asynchronous messaging also place a different level of pressure on agents.

Asynchronous messaging is far more flexible than its counterpart, as agents don’t need to respond to customers right away.

This means that they can check the message, find out any info they need, and reply when they aren’t busy with other things.

• Flexible for customers

This flexibility also extends to customers. Synchronous messaging requires customer time and attention for the duration of the chat.

Asynchronous messaging, meanwhile, lets customers simply message in a spare moment. Then, they can get on with their day.

There’s no time commitment because the chat slots around their life.

• Long wait times

Asynchronous messaging is akin to email, in that it involves wait times. Using it in a business setting means customers send their questions into your branded void, and then wait for a reply.

There’s no way to know for sure that someone has seen it.

This can be frustrating — often, when customers get in touch, they do so to get answers, not wait for an agent to feel like replying.

Similarly, solving a problem can involve many messages with long waits between each one. So, it can take hours or even days to solve an issue.

• Often intrusive

Asynchronous messaging platforms can prove intrusive for customers. Many of them require links to social media profiles, representing data a customer might not want to share with you.

Others, (like WhatsApp, for instance) need a phone number. Others even request a download, taking up space on customers phones.

This marks another difference between synchronous and asynchronous messaging. Asynchronous often involves more intrusive data sharing.