Chat Widget Overview and Set-up Instructions

To use chat, you must be on a plan that supports queues and chat—this includes our Sales Engage, Enterprise, Growth, and Connect plans. Before initializing the chat, a FormReactor must be filled out.

Watch the Chat video walkthrough.

Chat Overview

1. Chat widgets require queues, so you can determine where to route chats based on your unique schedule and agent customizations. 
2. Agents require chat licenses to answer chats (pricing depends on your current plan).
   • We charge per chat license on every renewal basis.
   • Licenses may be shared, transferred, or reassigned to different agents but cannot be used concurrently.
   • Licenses are purchased per account. 
3. CTM Chat is HIPAA compliant. 
4. There are additional Agent Routing Rules customizations available (queue-based) that allow managers to determine what activity type and load in Queue an agent can handle, including:
   • Chat only
   • Calls only
   • Chats and Calls
   • Max concurrent activities (determines how many activities your agents can support at the same time)
5. Chat Customizations available in Chat widget settings include:
   • Colors for your chatbox
   • Chat Widget placement on your site
   • Auto start message that will display to the customer when they join your chat
   • No agent available message
   • Chat Activity timeout: what time frame can the customer be idle before the chat times out?
   • Chat agents per the second timeout: how many seconds should we ring an agent before we move to the next agent in the queue?
   • Chat overall ring time timeout: how long a chat can ring before timing out. For example: if you set it to 300 seconds, the chat will try to connect with an agent for that length of time before displaying a “No agent available” message.
6. Agent Customizations available in the User profile:
   • Auto chat greeting message, so individual agents can customize their own greeting message
   • Alias chat name
   • Canned responses/macros
7. Media Support
   • Max size is 150MB
   • Supports JPEG, JPG, PNG, GIF

*NEW 

The instructions below will now appear in a step-by-step guide (wizard). Within the wizard you can freeze/unfreeze the top portion that contains explanations of the current step below by clicking the freeze panel icon in the upper right corner. 

For our more experienced customers, we have added an Exit Wizard button that when clicked will end the wizard session and resume set up in the long form setup. 

If you wish to never use the wizards, we have also added an option to turn them off within the Account Settings page under Behaviors. 

How to Install Chat

1. Pre-requisites:
   1. One Agent Queue
   2. CTM Tracking code installed on the desired site
   3. User Licenses for each agent using Chat

To start using the chat widget, go to Flows → Chat Widget in the CTM app.

• The Chat Widgets page contains a list of all the chat widgets created. You can also navigate to the User Licenses page to keep track of your agent licenses for a chat or create a new Chat Widget.

• On the User Licenses page, the admin can update Chat Licenses for different agents, deactivate licenses, or buy more.

• On the User Licenses page, the admin can update Chat Licenses for different agents, deactivate licenses, or buy more.
• This is the Buying Licenses page. Select users for whom you want to buy licenses and press the button to continue. You will be charged immediately and then billed for the license(s) on a 30-day renewal basis.

• Go back to the Chat Widgets page and select the New Chat Widget button to begin customization and setup. This requires selecting an Agent Queue to attach to the widget so routing chats to agents can be determined, which can be done in the Chat Flow section on the page.

1. 1. Enter a name and optional description for your widget.
   2. By default, the chat widget will prompt your customers for some basic information when the chat begins.  Use the checkboxes to enable or disable each field the customer would be asked to fill out.
      • Note: the phone number field requirement cannot be removed here.  See step 17 if you wish to remove this.
   3. If you leave any of the fields enabled, you can customize the field's label, mark whether it is required, and set it to half-width.
      
      
   4. By default, the button to submit their information and start the chat is “Submit.”  Use the “Submit button text” field to change this label if needed.
   5. You can add optional text at the bottom of the chat prompt form with the “Footer text” field.
   6. Use the “Check for errors as the user enters information” toggle if you want to validate the information that is entered while the customer is filling out the form.  Otherwise, validation will occur when they attempt to submit the form to start the chat.
   7. In the last field in the Basic Setup section, you can set how frequently the same person can submit a chat request.  By default, this is 30 minutes, but you can adjust this limit as needed.
   8. Select → Save Changes.
   9. Scroll to → Chat Flow section of the page.
   10. Chats are routed to agents in a queue.  Use → Agent Queue drop-down to select the queue of agents you want to be answering chats.
   11. Auto-start message is the message that will show customers as they start a new chat.  Enter a standard message when a chat begins.
   12. Time to answer field designates how long the agents have to answer a chat before it’s considered unanswered.  By default, this is set to one minute.
   13. No agent available message shows to the customer when the chat isn’t answered within the time limit set.  Use this field to enter a message for no agent available.
   14. If you have another method of contacting you, e.g., an email address or phone number, include it in this section.
   15. Max idle time controls how long a chat is allowed to remain active with no activity.  After this time expires, the chat will automatically end.  By default, this is 30 minutes.
   16. Select →  Advanced to open the panel.
   17. By default, all chatters are asked for their phone numbers to start a chat (this cannot be toggled in the Basic Setup). Use the → Remove Phone Number if no phone number is required for chat.
   18. Save Changes.

Advanced Settings

Custom Fields

If you want to ask your customer for information that isn’t included in the basic fields, you can add a custom field to the pre-chat form.  See the Custom Fields section for more information.

Custom Styles

To customize the appearance use the Custom Styles section to adjust the style, color scheme, and text alignment.

For advanced customization, use the Custom CSS field to apply your custom appearance.

Embedding the Chat Widget

After customizing and saving the New Chat Widget, the embed code section should now appear. Copy and paste the code onto your desired website page.

The Chat Widget should now appear on your site.

You can customize Agent Routing Rules in Queues per agent.

• • Agent Customizations can be found under User profile.

• Chat Schedule defines chat widget behaviors during certain hours
  • Toggle On/Off Button Hide When Offline – This will hide chat during offline hours. This is based on your schedule attached to the Call Queue.

Answering Chats

Agents who are answering chats must be in available status using the softphone.  New chats will appear in the Activity log with a flashing chats icon to distinguish from calls by a yellow chat icon.  

Best Practices for Setting Up Chat

Given Agents can be on both a call and chat at the same time. It’s important to reduce instances of overlapping activities where they may not be able to manage too many conversations. 

Definitions

• Activity
  • Chat
  • Call
• Active Agents
  • An agent is either on a call or chat
• Dialable agents
  • Agents available to dial/route the activity to

How to Reduce Overlapping Activities

Edit the Agent Routing Rules (Flows → Queues → Edit Agent Routing Rules) to decide the type and load amount of activities an agent can handle. This must be done per agent, per queue.

• Reduce the number of queues in use. Agents in multiple queues are more susceptible to receiving overlapping activities because each agent’s routing rules may vary per queue.  That means any incoming activity that lines up with the agent’s rules in a queue will be routed to them. 
• If reducing the number of queues is not possible limit to Max Concurrent Activities for each agent in every queue.