Once you have access to the “Chat” channel, you will be able to handle incoming chat conversations and have the full context of any automatic message or Autopilot messages that were sent to the contact before the conversation was assigned to you.
In the “Context” card, you might also have access to the information that was requested in the pre-chat form, and any additional context that might be associated with the contact or the conversation.
While handling a chat conversation, you can, at any point, assign new conversations to yourself from other channels (like SMS or Email).
Note: It is possible to switch between conversations without losing any information.
While handling a chat conversation, you can send it back to the “Inbox”, start a voice call, transfer it to another queue or agent, or end it whenever the topic of discussion is solved.
You can use the index below to navigate through this article's content.
Contact Person’s Identification
Receiving a Chat Conversation
When a new chat conversation arrives, you will receive a sound notification, and a ringing screen will appear. This screen will prompt you to accept or reject the conversation.
Note: The ringing screen will appear only when manual acceptance is required. However, if auto acceptance is enabled, the ringing screen will not appear.
- Domain URL [1]: Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the chat touchpoint where the chat conversation was initiated.
- Visitor identification [2]: By default, a visitor is identified as “Visitor #NNN”, unless the visitor provides a name in the form (or if automatic visitor identification is being used, based on information from your system).
- Domain-friendly name [3]: Friendly name of the chat touchpoint where the chat conversation was initiated.
- Cards [4]: Provide context about the visitor and the chat conversation.
- Accept Chat [5]: Once this button is clicked, the conversation will be assigned to you, and you will be able to reply.
- Reject [6]: Once this button is selected, you will reject this conversation, and it will be assigned to another agent.
- “Incoming” and “Chat” sections [7]: When a new chat conversation arrives, it will appear in the “Incoming” section. As the chat is accepted, it will be moved to the “Chat” section.
Handling a Chat Conversation
When handling a chat conversation, you will be able to exchange messages with the contact
and perform a set of actions.
- Search box [1]: Search for specific content in the chat conversation.
- Snapshot tab [2]: Cards that provide context about the conversation and the visitor.
- Notes tab [3]: Add notes and dispositions to the chat conversation.
- Editor box [4]: Write new messages, and send them by clicking the Send button or using the shortcut Shift + Enter.
- Actions:
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- Send to Inbox [5]: Unassign a conversation and send it back to the original queue to be picked up by another agent.
- Click-to-Call [6]: Start a voice call with the visitor. If the contact was created with a phone number, you can directly call it.
- Transfer [7]: Transfer the conversation to another queue or agent.
- End chat [8]: Allows you to close the conversation.
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- Assigned conversations [9]: Manage all of your assigned conversations, regardless of the channel.
- Visitor message [10]: Message sent by the visitor.
- Automatic message [11]: Auto-reply received by the visitor.
- Agent message [12]: Message sent by the agent handling the conversation.
Contact Person’s Actions
When a contact person performs determined actions, you will be notified in the conversation thread.
- “Contact has left the chat” [1]: This means that the visitor closed the website or refreshed the webpage.
- “Contact has entered the chat” [2]: This means that the visitor reentered the website or the webpage after refresh.
- “This conversation was ended by Visitor #NNN” [3]: This means that the visitor ended the chat conversation. The visitor is identified as “Visitor #NNN”, unless a name is provided in the pre-chat form (or if your organization is using the feature to automatically identify the visitor based on information from your system).
These features will allow you to understand if you should keep waiting for an answer, or if there’s a high probability that the visitor has abandoned the conversation.
Bear in mind that a page refresh is also considered a temporary abandonment. In that event, the information of the contact leaving and entering the chat will be displayed.
Although the contact can leave the chat, the conversation will only be considered closed if you click the End Chat button or if, later on, the contact person returns and ends the conversation on their side.
Contact Person’s Identification
In the Conversations app, a visitor will be identified by “Visitor #NNN” if the contact name is not populated in the “Contact details” card or if the visitor is not identified automatically. You can see this in the examples displayed below:
If no contact information is requested in advance, that information should be asked during the chat conversation and copied and pasted into the “Contact details” card. It should then be saved as a new contact or merged with an existing one.
If contact information is requested in advance, the “Contact Details” card will be populated with that information, and you just need to validate which information you want to keep. Then, save it as a new contact or merge it with an existing one.
To save it as a new contact, click Save [1].
Alternatively, you can click the Merge with existing contact [2] button and, then, select the corresponding one.
The contact will now be identified and accessible by clicking the Contact pop button:
Note: If configured by the Admin, there is an automated process to create and identify visitors that initiate a chat conversation using information received from your website. Visitors will be identified by phone number or email address.
Managing Contacts
Creating a Contact
In the Conversations app, agents can manually create a contact by clicking the Save button [1] after filling in the respective name, number and/or email address. After this process, the chat conversation will be associated with the contact.
Associating a Contact
Agents can associate a contact to a conversation, by clicking the Associate contact button [2], in the “Snapshot” tab.
It is also possible to select a contact to associate the chat conversation or use the search bar [3] to search a contact by name, phone or email. Click the Associate contact button [4] to finalize this process.
Merging Contact Information
Once the Save button is clicked, the system detects and displays the duplicated contact with the same number or email address. The contact information can be merged between duplicates into a single contact with the full chat conversation.
- Keep contact information [5]: Toggle on and off to select the contact information that needs to be merged with the contact
- Select contact [6]: Choose a contact from the list presented that you wish to merge with. Click Merge [7] to combine the information into an existing contact and associate with the chat conversation.
After merging the contact(s), the tab will prompt you to review the information in the contact. Click Confirm [8] to save the contact, if everything is correct.
Typing Indicator
Once the typing indicator is enabled for a touchpoint, the agent can see the typing indicator when the contact is typing.
Typing Indicator Animation
Once the typing indicator is enabled for a touchpoint, contacts can see the typing indicator in the below situations.
- When an agent is typing: When an agent starts typing input in the Conversations app, the contact can see an animation indicating that the agent is typing.
- When the Autopilot is loading a message: When a contact engages with the Autopilot, the contact can see an animation indicating that the Autopilot is “thinking” (loading a reply).
Additional Resources
To know more about the several cross-channel features available to agents, such as how to use the “Inbox” or the “Assigned to you” tabs, then please visit this article: Talkdesk Digital Engagement: Cross-Channel Features for Agents.
You can also check our Talkdesk Academy video below.