16Chat
Chat
This chapter describes how to use chat in your Web application. It includes the following topics:
Logging in to Chat
After you have successfully installed Chat, you can launch it from your Call Center application. To log in to chat, complete the steps in the following procedure.
To log in to chat
Log in to your application.
Click the Log in button on the communications toolbar.
You are now ready to do the following:
Receive, accept, and respond to inbound chat requests.
Transfer and release chat interactions.
Change your status from ready to not ready (and conversely).
You perform all of these actions using the communications toolbar.
The communications toolbar is defined and configured in Siebel Tools, like other toolbars in Siebel applications. For more information about configuring the communications toolbar and about the functions available on the communications toolbar, see Siebel CTI Administration Guide.
Accepting an Incoming Chat Manually
Use the following procedure to manually accept an incoming chat. You must manually accept incoming chats when chat auto answer is disabled.
To accept an incoming chat manually
Click the flashing Accept Work Item button on the communications toolbar.
A chat pane opens in an action pane of your Call Center application. The chat dashboard is prepopulated with the information provided by the user on the chat request form. The customer dashboard also opens, showing customer information.
Respond to the incoming chat.
Opening an Automatically Accepted Incoming Chat
Use the following procedure to open an incoming chat that has been automatically accepted. This happens when chat auto answer is enabled. This procedure assumes that there are other active chat sessions or that the agent is already working on an existing chat.
To open an automatically accepted incoming chat
Click the flashing chat tab to open the chat session.
The chat tab stops flashing and a chat pane opens in an action pane of your Call Center application. The chat dashboard is prepopulated with the information provided by the user on the chat request form. The customer dashboard also opens, showing customer information.
Respond to the incoming chat.
Responding to an Incoming Chat
When you accept an incoming chat, you can respond to the chat in several different ways as described in the following procedure.
To respond to an incoming chat
Accept the incoming chat as described in Accepting an Incoming Chat Manually.
In the message input area of the chat pane, respond to the incoming chat using one or a combination of the following:
Send a message to the customer as described in Sending a Message.
Push a Web URL to the customer as described in Pushing a Web URL.
Share information with the customer as described in Sharing Information Using Smart Share.
Depending on the information provided by the customer on the chat request form (contact ID, service request ID), create a new service request if configured to do so, where no service request already exists.
For anonymous chats, a service request is always created and also a corresponding activity. An activity is created either under a Service Request or a Contact record.
Release the chat as described in Releasing a Chat.
Sending a Message
There is typically a global list of predefined message responses at your disposal to send to customers when handling chat interactions. In responding to chat requests, you can type a message response or send a predefined message response, as described in the following procedure.
To send a message
In the message input area of the chat pane, type in the message response, and then click Send.
If required, send a message using FUT (Frequently Used Text) matching as follows:
On the text button bar, click the Toggle FUT button to enable FUT matching.
After FUT matching is enabled, matching is based on input text by default but you can change this to filter on a different match field as shown in step 3.
Note: FUT matching is disabled by default. The keyboard shortcut to enable or disable FUT matching is Ctrl+Shift+F.Type in your message.
While typing in your message, any matches found appear in a drop-down list and any matched words show in bold.
Click a suggested match to select and use that option.
If required, filter FUT matching on a different match field as follows:
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On the text button bar, click the Change FUT Match Field button and then select one of the following:
Name. Select to filter FUT matching on FUT template name.
Type. Select to filter FUT matching on FUT template type (Greeting, body, or Closing).
Subject. Select to filter FUT matching on subject.
Text. Select to filter FUT matching on FUT template text.
Note: FUT matching is based on input text by default. The keyboard shortcut to change the FUT match field is Ctrl+Shift+U. Type in your message.
While typing in your message, any matches found appear directly in a drop-down list and any matched words show in bold.
Click a suggested match to select and use that option.
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Pushing a Web URL
There is typically a global list of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) at your disposal to share with customers using push URL technology. When you share a URL with a customer, it is automatically displayed in the customer’s browser; the customer does not have to manually copy and paste the URL in to a browser window.
In responding to an incoming chat, you can type the URL address of a page that you want to share or push a predefined URL, as described in the following procedure. All URLs that you send to a customer appear in the transcript area of the chat pane.
To push a Web URL
In the URL area of the chat pane, enter the URL address of the page you want to send, then click the Push URL button.
If required, push a predefined Web URL as follows:
On the URL button bar, click the URL Library button.
Pick a URL option from the list that displays, then click OK..
Showing and Hiding the Chat Pane
Use the following procedure to show (open) and hide (close) the chat pane. Closing the chat pane does not destroy any active chat sessions.
To show and hide the chat pane
Click Chat on the communications toolbar of your application to open (show) and close (hide) the chat pane, as required.
Switching Between Chat Sessions
By default, all open chat sessions are automatically put on hold except for the chat session that is currently active. When an agent moves away from the currently active chat session by clicking another chat tab, the previously active chat is automatically placed on hold and the previously suspended chat is resumed.
Where all chat sessions are on hold and an agent manually accepts a new incoming chat, then that new chat becomes the active chat session and all other chat sessions remain on hold.
To switch between chat sessions
In the chat pane, click the chat tab belonging to the chat session that you want to move to.
Resume work on the active chat session.
Transferring a Chat to a Workgroup
Complete the steps in the following procedure to transfer a chat to a workgroup.
To transfer a chat to a workgroup
Select the chat that you want to transfer:
In the chat interface, click the tab of the chat interaction that you want to transfer.
Click the Blind Transfer Work Item button on the communications toolbar.
Select a workgroup on the Blind Transfer Work Item list that opens, then click OK.
The chat is transferred to the selected workgroup. The chat transcript includes all previous conversations and interactions that the previous agent had with the customer.
The Blind Transfer Work Item list shows only the available chat workgroups. It does not show any available voice (or CTI) workgroups.
Transferring a Chat to Another Agent
Complete the steps in the following procedure to transfer a chat to another agent.
To transfer a chat to another agent
Select the chat that you want to transfer:
In the chat interface, click the tab of the chat interaction that you want to transfer.
Click the Transfer to Agent button on the communications toolbar.
Select an agent that has a status of Available on the Transfer to Agent list that opens, then click OK.
The chat is transferred to the selected agent. The chat transcript includes all previous conversations and interactions that the previous agent had with the customer.
You cannot transfer a chat to an agent that has a status of Busy, On Break, or Logged Out.
Handling Transferred Chat Interactions
Complete the steps in the following procedure to handle a transferred chat.
To handle a transferred chat
Upon receipt of a transferred chat interaction, do one of the following as required:
Click the flashing chat tab to open the chat session (when chat auto answer is enabled).
Click the Accept Work Item button on the communications toolbar to open the chat session (when chat auto answer is disabled).
Review the chat transcript (if there is one) in the transcript area of the chat pane.
Respond to the transferred chat.
Releasing a Chat
Releasing a chat session means that you are ending the chat session. Agents use the communications toolbar to release a chat. Customers click the Terminate (or similar) button in their browser window to release a chat.
When you (or a customer) release a chat session, a follow-up email is sent to the customer with a transcript of the chat session attached provided the system preference Chat: Auto Email Mode is set, and that outbound email communications and the email profile are set up in your application. In the case where a chat is transferred several times, the follow-up email is sent only upon final release of the chat session.
For information about email profile set up in Siebel Call Center, see Siebel Email Administration Guide. For information about outbound email communications set up in Siebel Call Center, see Siebel Chat Guide and Siebel Email Administration Guide.
Closing Chat Sessions
Typically, when you (or a customer) release a chat session, all action buttons within the chat pane are disabled but you can still read a transcript of the chat session in the chat transcript area. To close the chat session, you must do one of the following:
Where only one chat session is open, you must close the chat pane by clicking the Close button in the corner of the chat pane.
Where multiple chat sessions are open and the current chat session is released, you must either close the current chat session or switch to another chat tab to automatically close the current chat session.
Where multiple chat sessions are open and a chat session in the background is released, then the released chat session is automatically closed.
To close a chat session
Click the Close (X) button located in the corner of the chat pane.
When you close or end a chat session, the chat transcript is attached to the activity and also to the email that is sent to the customer after the chat session.
Showing and Hiding the Chat Dashboard
Use the following procedure to hide the chat dashboard in the chat pane.
To hide the chat dashboard
Click the Hide Dashboard button located in header bar of the chat pane.
To show the chat dashboard
After you have minimized the chat dashboard, use the following procedure to show the chat dashboard again.
Click the Show Dashboard button located in the header bar of the chat pane.
Changing Agent Status
When an agent logs into chat, the agent’s status is automatically set to State: ready as indicated by the status button on the communications toolbar. If agents want to change their status from State: ready (available) to State: not ready (unavailable), then they must click the status button on the communications toolbar.
To change agent status
Log in to your application.
Click the Log in button on the communications toolbar to log in to chat.
Notice that your status, as indicated by the status button on the communication toolbar, is set to State: ready by default.
Click the status button on the toolbar to change your status from State: ready to State: not ready (and conversely).