Who is this guide made for?
This guide is designed for Live Chat agents and all those who use Live Chat to interact with their visitors on a day-to-day basis. This guide provides you with all details required to use Comm100 Live Chat and become a successful Live Chat agent.
In case you want to download this article, click Getting Started Guide for Live Chat Agents.
Set your Avatar, display name and personal settings in Control Panel
Before you begin accepting chats, you need to customize a few personal settings for your account from the Control Panel.
You can set the Avatar, First name, Last name, Display name, and so forth on the Edit Agent page. To customize these details, navigate to Global Settings > People > Agents.
Access the Agent Console
Comm100 Agent Console is the interface where agents handle chats from visitors. You have the choice to use the Agent Console either from your PC's browser or by downloading and installing our desktop app. You can also access Agent Console on your mobile phone by installing the Comm100 Live Chat app.
We recommend you use the desktop app as it contains more options such as Auto-Away, Auto logout, and so forth. To learn more about Comm100 Agent Apps, see this article.
- To access the Agent Console from your browser, log in to your Comm100 Control Panel, go to Live Chat, and click Get Online & Chat.
To download the desktop Agent Console, use these links:
Set up your status
You would need to log in to the Agent Console and set your status to Online when you are available to start accepting chats. Put your status on Away when you are on breaks and log out of the Agent Console when your shift ends.
You can use the Custom Away Status feature available in the Global Settings of the Control Panel to create a new status.
Customize your shortcuts and greetings
Before you begin accepting chats, it is wise to set a few shortcuts and greetings to help get going quickly whenever there is a new chat request. These shortcuts and greetings can make greeting and handing your visitors by using keyboard shortcuts seamless.
To learn more about customizing Shortcuts & Greetings, see this article.
Set up notifications
Make use of the Agent Console’s Notification setting to set different alert sounds and popups to differentiate between a new visitor, a new response from an ongoing chat, a transferred chat, a chat that just ended and handle them accordingly. The Notification setting ensures that no chat requests or responses from your visitors are missed.
To learn more about customizing the Notifications, see this article.
Where are these chats coming from?
The visitor can start a chat from the Live Chat widget on your company’s website, or in your company’s mobile app if the Live Chat widget has been implemented there. Comm100’s Live Chat also lets you manually invite a visitor to chat.
How can you start accepting chats?
To start accepting chats, your system admin needs to get the Live Chat code and paste the code onto your company’s website.
Once the admin pastes the code, the Live Chat button appears on the website. When a visitor initiates a chat, it lands up on your Agent Console. You can now chat with the visitor in the Agent Console window.
To learn more about accepting chats, see this article.
Transfer chats
Comm100’s Live Chat allows you to get help from other agents whenever you need it. The transfer can be to another agent when the chat volume is high, to a supervisor in case you need help or a transfer to another department based on the visitor’s need, and so forth.
Chat Transfers can enhance your team collaboration and ensure high service efficiency.
To learn more about transferring a chat in Agent Console, see this article.
The Agent Console chat window has various sections with unique features that allow you to communicate effectively with your visitor.
Conversation pane
The Conversation pane is the area that shows an ongoing chat with all messages that you send to or receive from the visitor. You have the option to Ban a visitor or Leave Chat on the top-right of this pane.
It also has a Replying area that you can use while replying to the visitors. The Replying area has all options like transfer chat, adjust the font of your reply text, send a PCI form to your visitor, start a co-browsing session, and so forth. Some of the features in the Replying area may be greyed out depending on whether you have enabled them from your Control Panel. You have the option to switch between Reply and Note in case you need to take notes in the middle of a chat.
Action pane
The Action pane on the right side of the Agent Console chat window has the tabs like Info, Contact, Help Content, History, Navigation, and so forth. Make use of the Action pane features to check visitor details, create a new contact for future references, check visitor history, navigation details that show from where he has landed on your website, and so forth.
You can also create a custom tab in the Action pane of your Agent Console. To learn more about creating a custom tab in Agent Console, see this article.
Message list area
The Message list area contains a list of all the chats. You can choose to Show department, Show agent unresponsive time, Group chat by status from the settings option available at bottom of the Message list area. You can also choose to pin a user to this area.
Here are a few quick tips to help you become a Rock Star Agent!
Create canned responses
Canned messages can come in handy in cases where you recall a similar question asked by a previous visitor. You can create and save these messages over a period to help your visitors right away in case a similar question is asked. A canned message can save your time and a quick accurate response can help build your visitor’s trust in your knowledge in helping them resolve their query.
Check these articles to learn more about creating and using canned responses while serving your visitors. To learn more about using canned messages effectively, see this article.
Make it personal
If you are using Coom100’s Pre-chat feature, you will have some information handy like name, email, and so forth. Use details like names to address the visitor while greeting them. It can make the visitor feel connected from the very first message that you send.
Put yourself in their shoes
Try to look at every query from the visitor’s perspective. This will help you understand and empathize with your visitors and help build their trust in your services.
Be transparent
Speedy service makes a good impression but being precise is even better. When you need the visitor to wait a moment, let them know what you are doing.
Listen actively
Let the visitors know you are there, and you are listening. Keep interacting while the visitor explains a complicated case. Continous interaction can make the visitor’s experience great.