Live Chat Definitions
What is Live Chat?
Live Chat is an online communication tool that enables real-time conversations between businesses and their website visitors. It allows companies to respond to customer inquiries, troubleshoot issues, and engage with potential leads instantly. With Social Intents Live Chat, your team can respond to live chat requests directly from platforms like Microsoft Teams, Slack, or via our intuitive web dashboard. Whether you're answering customer service questions or responding to sales inquiries, live chat ensures you never miss an opportunity to connect with your audience.
Why is Live Chat Important?
Live chat has become an essential feature for businesses looking to provide fast, personalized, and efficient customer support. It allows your team to interact with website visitors in real time, addressing questions and concerns before they turn into abandoned sales or frustrated customers. With Social Intents, you can make these connections from tools your team already uses, like Slack and Microsoft Teams, streamlining your workflows and ensuring no inquiry is missed.
Live Chat Terminology
Understanding the key terms used in live chat systems is critical to managing customer interactions efficiently. Below is a list of live chat terms commonly used in status reports and chat management.
Live Chat Answered
A chat session that has been successfully answered by a live agent. Both the visitor and agent are actively engaged in conversation.
Offline Message
This status reflects that a visitor attempted to chat outside of business hours and left a message through the offline form. These messages are stored in chat history and emailed to the configured addresses for follow-up.
Missed - Visitor Timeout
Indicates that the visitor initiated a chat but left after waiting for an agent without receiving a response within the set timeout period. A missed chat message is displayed to the visitor at the end of the session.
Missed - Abandoned
This status applies when a visitor starts a chat session but navigates away from the page or closes their browser before the timeout period expires. This often happens when visitors are distracted or lose interest.
Missed - Visitor Closed
When a visitor manually closes the chat window by clicking the 'X' before an agent can respond, the chat is considered missed. This could be due to impatience or a change of mind by the visitor.
In Progress
A live chat session that is currently active, with ongoing interaction between the visitor and the agent.
Queued
Reflects that a visitor has started a chat request but is placed in a queue, waiting for the next available agent. While in the queue, the visitor will see an estimated wait time or a message indicating they are in line.
Agent Closed
Indicates that the chat was successfully closed by the agent after the conversation was completed, and the visitor was either provided with a resolution or a follow-up plan.
Chatbot Answered
This status appears when a chatbot responds to a visitor’s inquiry before transferring the session to a live agent. Chatbots can handle routine queries, FAQs, or guide visitors to the appropriate resources, helping reduce agent workload.
Escalated to Agent
When a chatbot is unable to fully answer a visitor's query, the session is escalated to a live agent for more complex assistance. This seamless handoff ensures customers get the help they need.
Transferred
This status indicates that an ongoing chat has been transferred from one agent to another, often to provide more specialized support or to manage a shift change.
Typing
Both agents and visitors can see a "Typing" indicator when the other party is actively typing a message during a live chat session. This real-time feedback helps ensure smooth conversation flow.
Chat Rating
At the end of a live chat session, visitors may be asked to rate the conversation. The Chat Rating status reflects feedback from the customer, giving your team valuable insights into performance and customer satisfaction.
Chat Transcript
After a live chat session ends, both agents and customers may receive a copy of the conversation via email. This transcript is a complete record of the interaction, helping with follow-ups, training, and quality assurance.
Agent Availability
This term refers to whether an agent is available to answer chat requests. In some systems, you can set specific business hours for chat availability or indicate an agent's active status (e.g., online, away, or busy).
Chat History
Chat history refers to a log of all previous live chat conversations, stored within the system for future reference. Having access to chat history allows agents to revisit past conversations and maintain continuity with repeat customers.
Proactive Chat
Proactive chat involves initiating a live chat with visitors before they request help. For example, you can set up automated prompts that invite customers to chat based on their behavior, such as lingering on a specific page for a certain period of time.
Canned Responses
Canned responses are pre-written messages that agents can quickly send during a chat session to answer frequently asked questions or provide standard information. This feature saves time and ensures consistent communication.
Widget Customization
This refers to the ability to customize the appearance of your live chat widget, allowing you to match the design and tone of your website. Customization may include adjusting colors, fonts, greetings, and adding your company logo to create a branded experience.
Chat Routing
Chat routing is the process of directing incoming chat requests to the appropriate agent or department based on predefined rules. This can be based on the visitor’s inquiry, location, or the agent’s skill set, ensuring the best match for handling the customer’s needs.
Benefits of Social Intents Live Chat
With Social Intents, you can empower your team to talk with customers instantly from tools they’re already using - like Microsoft Teams and Slack. Our solution provides a simple integration that makes it easy to respond to sales inquiries, customer support requests, and general questions in real-time.
- Reduce Customer Wait Times: Live chat minimizes delays by allowing instant responses, improving customer satisfaction.
- Personalize Interactions: With features like profile photos, agents can add a personal touch to every conversation, making customers feel more connected.
- Boost Sales: Engage with potential leads right when they are browsing your website, helping to close sales and answer questions in real-time.
- Improve Team Efficiency: Use features like canned responses, chat history, and chat routing to streamline your team’s workflow and handle more inquiries effectively.