Working with live chats
The live chat feature enables end users of the Service Desk and Self Service Center to chat with Service Desk agents about issues or problems. Users can request a chat from the home page of the Self Service Center or within the Solutions application; agents who belong to one or more chat queues respond to the requests. Live chats enhance and streamline the delivery of service solutions to users across the enterprise.
- Overview
A Service Desk manager or administrator configures the live chat feature to best fit the needs of the data center. In the product as shipped, the live chat feature provides a single chat queue that an administrator populates with Service Desk agents who respond to chat requests. If your data center requires a more complex live chat operation with multiple chat queues for different types of problems, you have the flexibility to set up such an environment. Five types of users in the data center use, configure, and manage ongoing live chat operation. - Enabling live chats in a clustered environment
The live chat service enables end users and Service Desk agents to chat in real time about end user problems and issues. In a clustered environment, you must configure each clustered server to accommodate live chat requests. After you do so, the chat service functions properly in a horizontal or vertical cluster. - Configuring the chat timeout interval
In order to conserve resources in the chat server, it is necessary to disconnect and clean up idle chats. You can use a system property to set the number of minutes a chat session can be idle before it is disconnected. - Configuring single-queue live chat: Service Desk manager
This product provides a version of live chat that is simple, easy to use, and immediately usable with minimal configuration. With this single-queue chat configuration, end users specify that they want to chat, without selecting an issue or topic to chat about. To get this basic chat operation up and running, you populate the chat queue person group with Service Desk agents. - Configuring Live Chat for Service Providers
If you are a service provider, you can configure Live Chat for multiple customers. You can have a specific queue and agent for each customer. - Configuring multiple-queue live chat: Service Desk manager
A Service Desk manager configures a more complex, multiple-queue live chat operation by designating person groups as chat queues, creating ticket templates for chat topics, configuring response plans to route chat requests that arise from solutions, and more. Users can be authorized to initiate live chats and granted the right to create new chat queues. - Managing live chat operations: Service Desk manager
On an ongoing basis, the Service Desk manager can perform a number of operations to manage and oversee the operation of live chats across the enterprise. He can change the status of a chat queue, inspect the activity of agents in the queues, and perform other tasks that ensure efficient operation of the live chat service. - Requesting and conducting a chat: Self Service user
As a user of the Self Service Center, you can request a real-time chat with a Service Desk agent. Depending on how your live chat service is configured, you can do so in either or both of two contexts: when you are using the main Self Service Center page, or when a solution that you have selected does not fit your needs. - Accepting and conducting a chat: Service Desk agent
As a Service Desk agent, you might belong to a chat queue person group whose members respond to end user chat requests. In a multiple-queue setup, chats are organized into queues according to agent expertise; you might belong to more than one queue. When a chat request is assigned to one of your queues, you are notified, and you can accept the chat.
Parent topic: Working with Service Desk