A good old-fashioned discussion can often get things settled quickly, and customers agree—they prefer live chat to any other means of customer service interaction when connecting with brands.

According to the firm Econsultancy, customers report a 73 percent satisfaction rate for live chat interactions, compared with 61 percent for email, and 44 percent for phone interactions.

Thanks to Facebook’s new Businesses on Messenger application, customers can contact businesses using the Messenger app, just as they would any of their friends or loved ones.

Reaching 600 Million Users with Messenger

Facebook is spearheading Businesses on Messenger in partnership with Zendesk, whose Zopim chat product provides the customer service horsepower behind the rollout.

According to the Zopim blog, 600 million people around the globe currently use Facebook Messenger. That’s what makes Businesses on Messenger a valuable resource for any company hoping to provide real-time updates and customer service interaction on a widely-used platform.

Popular companies, like the identity theft prevention service LifeLock, already use Facebook to connect with their customers and provide notifications and service.

But a Facebook Wall has its limitations in terms of customer-service interactions.Customers contacting a business through its Facebook page must wait for a customer service representative to read their message, and when they do get a response, they may have to scroll through a lengthy thread in order to find it. Private messages on Facebook provide the same less-satisfying experience as email.

Facebook Messenger, however, is a mobile app that alerts users when they have a message.

Customers can easily sign into Messenger from their phones or tablets and receive shipping information, ask questions, or resolve complaints. Businesses on Messenger makes the customer service experience painless.

Streamlined Customer Service

Two of the first businesses to sign up for Businesses on Messenger when it first appeared in March 2015 were the online retailers Everlane and Zulilly.

These companies use Businesses on Messenger to take orders, send order and shipping information, answer questions, and resolve issues. Live chat saves these companies money and time.

A single customer service representative can interact simultaneously with as many as six customers, according to Telus International. Engaging customers via live chat costs companies about half as much as maintaining a call center, according to research from McKinsey & Company.

While few companies have yet to take advantage of Businesses on Messenger, that’s bound to change as the service becomes more well-known. Companies can use Messenger to provide fast and convenient service to customers making financial transactions.

Retailers can use Messenger to take orders, provide package tracking updates, schedule returns, and receive customer feedback.

Television and Internet service providers can use Messenger to provide tech support to customers at a fraction of the cost of telephone call centers.

Hungry customers might even be able to order take-out over Messenger someday soon.

As text-based conversation becomes more and more the norm, companies and brands will come to rely on Facebook Messenger the way they once relied on telephones to help them keep connections with customers strong.