PIC Indolor: Counting for contacts

Help for enquirers using an online contact form to manage the length of their message.

The Site

PIC Indolor, an Italy-based healthcare products company, helps enquirers using its online contact form to manage the length of their message.

The site’s universal ‘contact us’ link leads to an online form that includes a dropdown menu for defining the type of enquiry and a blank field for typing in a “description”. This is labelled clearly with the advice that there is a limit on message text of 2,000 characters; and once you begin your message, an adjacent panel counts down the number of characters remaining as you type. The option of attaching a file is offered for longer messages via a Choose File button beneath the question ‘Is the text space insufficient?’.

The Takeaway

PIC Indolor’s character counter is something of a novelty and helps to make its contact form more memorable and less intimidating – how many users, even adept texters, can easily convert characters into the common message currency of words, let alone gauge what length of message that will ‘buy’ them? Coupled with the option to attach a file – potentially useful for sales or product requests – it sends out the positive message from the company that it is attentive and wants to be helpful.

There is, though, a potential price to weigh against the value. It’s not hard to imagine job seekers, marketers and junk mailers seizing on the Choose File option to get their messages into PIC Indolor’s in-box. At the least, it will need to monitor the level and type of usage and review the benefits periodically.

First published on 27 September, 2007