Handling webchat

When you are offered a new webchat conversation, it will appear in the Active list, as with all other message types. Most webchats will be presented as Unknown contact initially.  You can click Create contact in the Contact details to create a new contact or the magnifying glass icon to search for and merge with an existing one. Some clients might also match contacts automatically. You will also see the last message typed by the contact, the queue the chat is coming from, and in some cases, how long the enquiry has waited.

To accept the webchat:

1. Click the Accept button.

The Webchat and Webchat# tabs

The conversation will open, and you will see two related tabs, Webchat and Webchat#. 

• The Webchat tab is selected by default and is where the actual chat happens. 
• The Webchat# shows the conversation which holds the chat. This might grow to include other events in the conversation, for example if you go on to send the contact an email.

The Webchat tab

• If the contact interacted with the chatbot beforehand, the history includes the full text of the discussion with the chatbot. If the queue has a default welcome message, this will also show in the webchat.
• This is where you reply to the chat.
• The newest messages appear at the bottom of the page.

The Webchat# tab

• Shows the history of the conversation which contains the webchat. 
• Here you will see the Queue associated with this conversation, and any other events, for example if you add a Note, or send an email to the contact.
• There is an event bubble in this tab which holds the chat.
• The newest events appear at the top of the page.
• The Transfer, Snooze and Close buttons are available in the Webchat# tab, not Webchat.

Responding to chats

To respond to a chat:

1. Type in the chat field at the bottom of the Webchat tab.
2. Press Enter or click the Reply button to send the message.

In addition to typing your message, you can also:

• Click the button to access a library of emojis to use.
• Click the  button, or type /, to access the list of canned messages to include.

Disconnected chats

If the customer temporarily disconnects from the chat without ending it, for example if they were using chat on their phone and it goes to their lock screen, you will be notified.

• The notification appears just above the chat field, and keeps a time for how long the contact has been disconnected.
• You can still type and send further messages. They will be marked as Waiting for delivery until the contact reconnects. When the contact does reconnect, the messages will be sent immediately.
• If the contact remains disconnected to too long (refer to local policy for how long this is!), you end the chat by clicking End chat.

Ending chat

When the chat is complete:

1. Click the End chat link.

This will end the chat with the contact, and close the Webchat tab in your interface, moving you to the Webchat# tab.

Alternatively, the customer can end the chat from their side, in which case you will see a message "Webchat visitor ended the chat". In that case you will need to click the Webchat# tab yourself.

If you need to review the chat again, click the Show conversation button in the Webchat event.

1. If you use categories, select the appropriate options from the Categories tab as normal.
2. Add a note from the Note tab if required.
3. Click the Close button to select an outcome as appropriate.