Accelerating I.T. Support in Senior Living: The Impact of Chat-Based Assistance

Posted on May 8, 2025 by LeadingAge Minnesota

At slashBlue, we’ve worked closely with senior living communities for years, and we understand a fundamental truth: when technology fails, it quickly becomes a care issue.

Communities rely on connected systems to manage medications, communicate with families, and ensure timely care for residents. That’s why fast, reliable tech support isn’t a luxury, it’s essential.

In 2024, we launched chat-based help desk support designed to make getting assistance more immediate, more flexible, and more efficient. The results exceeded our expectations—most notably, a 45% reduction in ticket resolution time for senior living communities.

Why We Moved to Chat Support

Feedback from our users made one thing clear: speed matters most. In fact, over the last 12 months of NPS Interaction Surveys with clients, over 50% of survey comments mentioned speed or timeliness of service, even when our average response time was already measured in minutes.

We knew we could do better.

How the Chat System Works

Our new chat feature is available across all devices: phones, tablets, and computers. Users simply type their issue into the chat in plain language (no tech jargon required), and our smart assistant gets to work.

Here’s what happens:

1. Instant Ticket Creation: As soon as a user starts the chat, a support ticket is automatically generated.
2. AI-Powered Intake: Our AI assistant collects all relevant details in a conversational way—like a real technician would—so live agents don’t need to repeat questions.
3. Seamless Human Handoff: Once the information is gathered, a live support agent joins the chat to resolve the issue.
4. Flexible Communication: If the user needs to pause the conversation to attend to a resident, they can resume anytime, no more phone tag, back and forth e-mails, or waiting on hold.

This flexibility became the single biggest contributor to our time savings.

Even in cases of total connectivity loss—like building-wide internet outages—users could still access support via chat on their smartphones, ensuring uninterrupted communication with our help desk.

Behind the Scenes Efficiency

For our I.T. teams, the benefits didn’t stop with faster resolutions. Chat transcripts are automatically logged into the ticket system, eliminating the need for manual notetaking. Upon ticket closure, a summary is generated based on the conversation—freeing up technicians to focus on solving problems, not documenting them.

Measurable Results

• 45% faster resolution times in senior living communities
• 78% overall improvement across all client sectors
• 95 Net Promoter Score (NPS), reflecting high user satisfaction
• 60% of tickets are submitted via chat, with a 40% adoption rate in just the first month.

The high adoption rate tells us users are not only comfortable with chat support—they prefer it. It’s quick, intuitive, and respects the demands of their time.

Ready to Improve Your Support Experience?

For senior living communities aiming to improve I.T. responsiveness, chat-based support provides a model worth considering. Whether integrated into existing systems or as part of a fully managed service, the evidence points to meaningful gains in both speed and service continuity.

For further details on implementation and outcomes, visit slashBlue’s chat support page.