Twitter unveils new features to support business accounts

Twitter has rolled out features that would make it easier for companies to use the social media platform for customer support services.

The new features, announced yesterday, allow business accounts to indicate that they provide customer service through their official Twitter account.

The micro-blogging platform adds that information to suggestions when people search for a business, mention a business in a tweet or search for it in direct messages.

With the new option enabled through a new customer support settings page, the words ''provides support'' would become visible on the company's profile.

When companies activate the feature, they also activate the account's ability to receive direct messages from anyone - even those who were not following it.

Also, even direct message button had been enlarged to make it more prominent.

''This release builds on previously released Direct Message links and Customer Feedback cards to help businesses provide better service on Twitter. Each has shown great success,'' Twitter said in a blog post Thursday. ''Early use has also shown that customers who are sent a Direct Message link follow through to actually send a message roughly 30 per cent more often than those who are asked to send a message via text only.''

Additionally, companies can now also add business hours on their profiles.

According to commentators, the changes would help Twitter position better to compete with Facebook, which had rolled out a feature to its Pages users in the past that showed Facebook users how responsive the business was to customer inquiries.

The new roll out comes after Twitter launched a clutch of customer service features earlier, including Direct Message links and Customer Feedback cards.