Live Chats
Live chats are being introduced to provide our customers “users” another method to quickly access technical support. It provides a more rigorous and regimented vetting process, quickly guiding users to the information they need before requiring the assistance of a Live Chat operator.
- An automated Bot will guide Users through a series of questions which will direct them to existing resources, providing a solution, and closing many chats before they are directed to an operator.
- Live Chat conversations should be treated no differently than traditional phone calls. They can progress into Salesforce Cases, require an outbound phone call or a remote session and the ESC/RFA process remains the same.
- Live chat conversations can be closed once the issue has been resolved or it has transitioned into a Salesforce Case.
Expectations
Live Chat conversations should be handled in a friendly businesslike manner with the following in mind.
Be Professional
Avoid condescending, flippant, or sarcastic wording. The goal is to help the user not antagonize them. Keep in mind you know our product and work with it everyday many users do not.
Set Expectations
While the hope is an issue can be resolved during the current chat the progression of chats should be treated no differently than traditional phone calls. They can progress into outbound phone calls, remote sessions and may require an ESC/RFA. This should be clearly conveyed to the user as it becomes clear a simple solution is not available.
Frequent Communications
Avoid Lulls in the conversation, since the user has no visual or verbal queues as to what may be going on you should frequently communicate while you are gathering information or researching the issue. This has the added benefit of ensuring that the user is still present and responding. Tip: Try using Snooze
Resources
Access and Settings
Knowledge Base Article #10636 Live Chat – Access and Settings contains information on accessing Intercom and the recommended account settings.
Video Training
Intercom Academy Provides many short courses covering specific aspects of Intercom Live Chat. While all are not applicable to our specific usage, those referenced should be reviewed. Access the Intercom Academy Course curriculum HERE
Live Chat Flow Chart
Live-Chat-Flow.pdfLive Chat Workflow
Initiating a Chat
Prerequisites
If the following conditions are met, then a chat icon will be available to users in the lower right corner of the support portal page. Clicking on the icon will initiate a conversation.
- User must have signed up and registered in the support portal (https://support.exacq.com/#/login)
- Users must be signed into the Exacq Support Portal
- The user must be designated as a Master Tech
Once the chat is initiated, by clicking on the Chat Icon, the user will see the Messenger and have the options to view previous conversations “See all your conversations” or starting a new conversation “Send us a message“.
Receiving Live Chats
Once sent, the message will first be processed by a Bot which will attempt to assist users with common questions. If successful, the information will be provided to the user and the chat will be closed. Otherwise, the message will be forwarded to the Exacq queue, requiring action from a team member. A series of notifications will be sent to all live chat operators.
Desktop Notification
A desktop notification similar to the following will appear on each team members desktop.
Email Notification
An email will be received by all team members.
Intercom Inbox
On the Intercom Inbox page, the number of unassigned chats for the Exacq will increment by 1
Inbox Web Interface
Recommended Intercom Academy Training Videos
While you are encouraged to view all of the available Intercom Academy Course curriculum videos, available HERE, the following are of particular interest for our usage of Intercom.
Create your profile
This can be used in conjunction with Knowledge Base Article #1234 “Live Chat – Access and Settings” to configure your Intercom Live Chat profile.
Get to know the Inbox
Provides an overview as well as navigational tips and descriptions of the Inbox.
The following additional information is specific to our usage of Intercom. There are multiple inboxes available in your workspace
You – Conversations assigned to you
Mentions – If a teammate mentions you in one of their conversations it will appear here
Unassigned – Unassigned conversations which can be ignored
All – Other JCI brands are also using Intercom and chats destined for their Team inbox will appear here. This inbox should be ignored.
Exacq – This is the Exacq inbox, when a chat arrives it will first appear in the Exacq team Inbox. (Inbox > Conversations > Exacq)
Notes:
- Chats appearing in All should be disregarded. These chats are reserved for other JCI brands.
- Clicking or hovering over Exacq will show a list of team members and their current status.
- Clicking on the Live chat to review the message and compose a response
- If you are the first Live Chat operator to respond, the conversation will be assigned to you and will be moved from the Exacq team inbox to yours (Inbox > Conversations > You > Open)
Understanding and using the user profile
Describes how to use the inbox to quickly gather information about the user.
Adding, editing, and removing apps
Other than a few built-in apps we are not currently integrated with other Apps
Replying to a conversation
The Intercom Article feature is currently not used. Users should be referred to portal Knowledge Base Articles
Streamline your workflow with snooze
Snoozing a conversation can be used to avoid lulls in the conversation
Closing Conversations
Live chat conversations can be closed once the issue has been fully resolved or it has transitioned into a Salesforce Case.
Give your team extra context with notes
Conversation and User Notes can be used to leave notes specific to either the current conversation or User that only your colleagues can see.
Conversation Notes
Current tools such as Microsoft Teams should be used in leu of Conversation notes.
User Notes
Specific to the user and permanent, will appear on all conversations the user is involved.
- Available in the User notes section of the Details column
- Can be created
- Can be edited
- Can NOT be deleted
Organize issues with tags
Conversation and User Tags can be used in finding and analyzing the types of support requests being received.
Conversation Tags
Conversation tags can be used to help identify needed Knowledge Base Articles and Bot improvements
- Conversations can be tagged
- Clicking on a tag name shows all conversations with the same tag
User Tags
User tags can be used for categorizing user types, VIP, etc.. and can be seen by the entire team
Assigning Conversations to Another Teammate
Reserved for management. In general, you should follow the existing escalation process as outlined in the attached INTERCOM LIVE CHAT FLOW and if necessary, transition the Live Chat to a Salesforce Case.
Answer common questions quickly
Intercom has the ability to use saved prewritten replies to commonly asked questions referred to as Macros to quickly respond to common questions.
- Both personal and shared macros are available. Shared macros should be used whenever possible.
- Macros can be customized to include attributes which will automatically add values unique to each customer
- To use an existing macro, click on the add a macro icon in the composer and select one from the list or press # and choose one from the list
- Note: The attributes can be filtered by typing a few characters of the title of the attributes name such as “#kb”
Additional Functionality
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts give you the option to perform common actions in the inbox without using your mouse. Type “Shift+?” to get a full list of shortcuts.
Stickers/Emojis
You can also quickly insert stickers and smileys into conversations to make your conversations even more engaging. Simply type “:” and the name of the emoji. For example, if you want to add a waving sticker, type “: wave” and the sticker will appear for you to select.Note: If you don’t know the name of the sticker or emoji you want, you can always click on the smiley face icon to open the sticker menu.
Search your conversations
Click the search icon on the top left to search and filter your conversations by keyword, tag, user, assignee, and date ranges or a combination of them to locate relevant conversations instantly. For example, you can filter for a specific User to find all conversations with that user by the Exacq team