An hour on screen costs what a minute costs

Hosted by Mrs. NetShow.

Picture a face on your website that says hello to every visitor. It greets them by voice, answers from what you taught it, and walks them to the next step you choose. Now picture a meter in the corner of that face, counting every second it stays on screen.

Most owners would start to worry. They would worry about the long visits, the slow readers, and the visitor who leaves the page open over lunch. A meter turns a friendly face into a cost you have to watch.

NetShow's live avatars have no meter on the face. The face costs $0 a minute, and it costs that whether a visitor stays for one minute or for an hour. This post explains why in plain words. It is just as plain about the part that is not free.

Where the face is drawn

There are two ways to put a talking face on a screen.

The first way is to stream it. A server somewhere draws every frame of the face and sends it down the wire, like a video call. That server works the whole time the face is visible. Its work has to be paid for, so it is billed by the minute.

The second way is to let the visitor's own device do the drawing. That is the NetShow way. Our live avatars page puts it in one sentence: "The avatar is drawn by your visitor's own browser instead of streamed from a server, so an hour on screen costs what a minute costs: nothing."

Nothing streams from a server to draw the face. No server is kept busy for every second the face stays on screen. So there is nothing to count by the minute, and nothing to bill by the minute.

What you do pay for

Being exact matters here, so here is the other half.

Your avatar is more than a face. Behind it is your agent: the part that thinks and answers. That thinking is real work. The live avatars page says it this way: "You pay for your agent's thinking on your plan, never for its face being visible."

So the split is simple:

• The face on screen has no per-minute meter, however long it stays.
• What your agent thinks and says runs on your plan, shown plainly on the plans page.

A visitor who leaves your page open all afternoon adds nothing to the cost of the face. A visitor who asks questions puts your agent to work, and that work is what your plan covers.

Why this changes how you use a face

When a face costs nothing to keep on screen, you stop rationing it. You can put it on the pages where people linger. You can let it greet every visitor, not just the ones who look ready to buy. You never have to hide it early to save money.

A busy day does not raise the price of the face either. A quiet day or a packed one, each face is drawn by that visitor's own browser.

The face still has to run well on small phones, and it does. You can pick any of the eight looks. Your visitor's phone or computer then picks the fastest look it can run, so a small phone still gets a face that moves smoothly.

A face that speaks first, and a microphone that waits

A talking face is only welcome if it respects the visitor. NetShow faces are voice-first and hands-free, and they speak first. Browsers keep a page silent until the visitor taps or presses a key, so the greeting is spoken out loud from their first tap.

The microphone belongs to the visitor. It opens only when a visitor presses Talk, and the browser asks their permission before the agent can hear them. A visitor with no microphone or speaker can type instead.

The voice matters as much as the face. The NetShow voice is included with every avatar, and your brand never speaks in a robotic browser voice. Our guide Give it a voice shows how a voice is picked.

FAQ

Is the face really free to keep on screen?

Yes, for the face. It is drawn by your visitor's own browser instead of streamed from a server, so there is no per-minute meter on it.

What is not free?

Your agent's thinking. What your agent thinks and says runs on your plan, and the plans page shows it plainly.

Does a long visit cost me more for the face?

No. For the face, an hour on screen costs what a minute costs: nothing.

Does the avatar listen all the time?

No. The microphone opens only when a visitor presses Talk, and the browser asks for permission first.

Meet a face with no meter

The quickest way to understand this is to meet one. Our live avatars page has a host who greets you by voice. It shows the eight looks, the voices, and the full reason the face costs $0 a minute. It also shows two ways to get your own. You can build it yourself: pick a plan, pick a look and a voice, and teach it your answers. Or our team can set up your avatar, teach it your business and put it on your site. Spend a few minutes there, press Talk, and ask your own questions.