Triggering chat offers on time

The default setting of 0 for the seconds attribute does not mean chats are offered immediately (after 0 seconds). Instead, it means chats will never be offered based on the amount of time customers spend on a page.

However, you might decide that the amount of time spent on a page is a valid trigger for offering a chat. If you want to offer customers a chat session if, for example, they have been on a page for 60 seconds without any activity, you can set the seconds attribute to trigger a chat at that time.

To trigger chat offers based on page time, add the seconds attribute to the code so it resembles the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”60″ />

Triggering chat offers on number of searches

The default setting of 0 for the searches attribute means that chats will never be offered based on the number of searches conducted by customers. You might decide to use number of searches as a trigger for offering a chat. If customers have conducted several searches without finding what they’re looking for, an invitation to chat might be useful.

To trigger chat offers based on number of searches, add the searches attribute to the code so it resembles the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ searches=”3″ />

Triggering chat offers on profile attributes

The default null values for the profile_ attribute means that chats will never be offered based on customer profile information, but you might decide to set those values because you want to offer chats based on customer profile information.

When you configure the ProactiveChat2 widget to offer a chat based on customer profile information, you must define all three profile attributes for the widget: the profile item, the operator, and the value.

Let’s assume you want to offer a chat to all customers from ABC International, which has an organization ID of 81945. In that case, the widget code would resemble the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ profile_item=”org_id” profile_operator=”equals” profile_value=”81945″ />

Triggering chat offers based on customer SLAs

If your organization requires SLAs in order for customers to chat with agents, you’ll want to verify that the customer has an SLA with available chat incidents before a chat session is offered. The profile attributes of the ProactiveChat2 widget can do that for you.

An SLA defines the total number of incidents a customer can submit, as well as specific numbers of chat, staff member, email, and web self-service incidents.

To check for chat SLAs prior to offering a chat, add the profile_item, profile_operator, and profile_value attributes to the code for the ProactiveChat2 widget. You will want to set the slac item to be greater than zero to be sure the customer has remaining chat incidents available on their SLA. You will probably also still want to include the seconds or searches attributes so the chat invitation is not immediately offered when the customer lands on the page with the widget. Your edited code will resemble the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”30″ profile_item=”slac” profile_operator=”greater than” profile_value=”0″ />

Editing the chat invitation

By default, the chat invitation says “A Chat Assistant is available to help. Would you like to start the session?” That message can be edited by editing an attribute of the ProactiveChat2 widget.

To edit the chat invitation, add the label_chat_question attribute to the code so that it resembles the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”30″ label_chat_question=”Staff members are available now. Would you like to chat with someone?” />

Changing the chat login page

When customers click Yes to accept the chat offered by the ProactiveChat2 widget, the Live Help page opens by default. You might want to direct customers to a different page instead.

To change the chat login page, add the chat_login_page attribute to the widget code so it resembles the following. Note that the path to the page must begin with /app/.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”30″ chat_login_page=”/app/chat/alternate_chat_launch_page” />

Defining how the chat login page opens

By default, the chat login page opens in a new window that lets you configure its height and width. You can also set the chat login page to open in the same window.

To change the size of the chat login window, add the chat_login_page_height and chat_login_page_width attributes to the widget code, defining the new values for height and width. Your code will resemble the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”30″ chat_login_page_height=”500″ chat_login_page_width=”600″ />

To open the chat login page in the same window, add the open_in_new_window attribute and set it to false so your code resembles the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”30″ open_in_new_window=”false” />

Determining product or category

By default, the ProactiveChat2 widget tries to determine the product or category by evaluating search information or product/category information from an answer or incident page. It “guesses” to the deepest level that can be found and then, if product/category information is available, that information is sent to the server to determine what queue the chat request should be routed to, whether agents are available for that queue, and what the estimated wait time is. You can disable this feature for either product, category, or both.

To disable product or category determination:

• To prevent trying to determine what product should be used to route the chat session to a specific chat queue, set the guess_prod_val attribute to false. Your code will resemble the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”30″ guess_prod_val=”false” />

• To prevent trying to determine what category should be used to route the chat session to a specific chat queue, set the guess_cat_val attribute to false. Your code will resemble the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”30″ guess_cat_val=”false” />

Defining the minimum number of agents

If the seconds, searches, or profile attributes of the chat widget have been met, an AJAX request is made to the server, which sends back the number of available agents. If you have defined the minimum number of agents required to offer a chat session that value will be compared to the number returned from the chat server. If the number of available agents is greater than or equal to the number you defined in the min_agents_avail attribute, the chat is offered to the customer.

To define the minimum number of agents, add the min_agents_avail attribute to the widget code so it resembles the following.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”30″ min_avail_agents=”2″ />

Defining the maximum wait time

If the seconds, searches, or profile attributes of the chat widget have been met, an AJAX request is made to the server, which sends back the wait time for a chat session. If you have defined the maximum time the customer will have to wait in a queue, that value will be compared to the number returned from the chat server. If the wait time is less than the value you defined for the wait_threshold attribute, the chat is offered to the customer.

To define the maximum wait time, add the wait_threshold attribute to the widget code so it resembles the following. Note that the wait time value is measured in seconds.

<rn:widget path=”chat/ProactiveChat2″ seconds=”30″ wait_threshold=”60″ />

Note: It is recommended that you set min_agents_avail to 0 when you set the maximum wait time.

Triggering a chat offer by an event

If you want to trigger chat offers only when a specific event occurs, you must first create an event called evt_customProactiveInitialization using custom code. Then set the initiate_by_event attribute of the ProactiveChat2 widget to true. This tells the widget’s logic file to listen for the event before triggering a chat offer.

Note: For specific information about defining evt_customProactiveInitialization, refer to the initiate_by_event attribute definition on the Customer Portal Administration site at http://<your_site>/ci/tags/widgets/standard/chat/ProactiveChat2.