The chat feature allows for chats between agents and customers using the OTRS front end. Once enabled, customers or public users can start chats with agents and vice versa. Finished chats can be archived and attached to tickets or can be downloaded as PDF by agents, customers and public users.
Each chat is assigned to a chat channel. Chat channels are like chat rooms. Each chat channel is assigned to a certain group which controls the permissions for this channel. If no chat channel is selected when a chat is created, this chat will be created in the Default channel.
Chat Availability
To be able to use chats, chat availability needs to be set in the Personalization menu. In order to accept incoming chat requests from customer users, one or more chat channels must be selected in the My Chat Channels field of the Notification Settings.
The People widget in the Dashboard shows the names of users who are currently logged in. Users who are not logged in do not appear in this widget. A third screen shows users that are out of office.
A colored circle icon next to a user’s name indicates the status of chat availability.
- Green circle
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The user is available for internal or external chats.
- Yellow circle
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The user is away and the idle time defined in the system configuration has reached.
- Red circle
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The user is set as unavailable for chats. This can be the case when an agent has disabled the chat availability in the Personalization menu or if the chat has been deactivated in the system configuration.
An additional icon is displayed next to the name for starting a direct chat.
Note
This widget works differently than the People widget in a ticket detail view, which shows involved agents regardless of their chat status.
Chat Request List
The chat request list displays chat requests from customer users, public users and other agents. The list is accessible by hovering over the chat symbol in the organizer sidebar.
To accept the chat request, click on the Accept icon in the Action column.
Start New Chat
A chat participant can be an agent, a customer user or a public user.
Agent to Agent
To start a chat with another agent:
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Use the People widget in the dashboard. Agents who are able to chat will have a chat icon next to their name.
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Click on the chat icon next to an agent’s name.
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Type an initial message in the Request Chat dialog, and click on the Create button to send the message.
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After the chat request has been sent to the other agent, a chat indicator will appear in the organizer sidebar. A browser notification is displayed to inform the other agent of the chat request.
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Wait for the answer. The other agent has to accept the chat request with the Accept button.
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When the other agent accepts the chat request, you can chat now.
Agent to Customer User
To start a chat with a customer user:
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Use the People widget in the dashboard. Customer users who are logged in to the OTRS external interface and are able to use the chat will have a chat icon next to their name.
See also
Customer users can also be selected in the customer user detail view or from the Customer User Information widget of the ticket detail view.
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Click on the chat icon next to a customer user’s name.
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Type an initial message in the Request Chat dialog, and click on the Create button to send the message.
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After the chat request has been sent to the customer user, a chat indicator will appear in the organizer sidebar. A browser notification is displayed to inform the customer user about the chat request.
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Wait for the answer. The customer user has to accept the chat request which is displayed in the bottom right corner of the external interface.
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When the customer user accepts the chat request, you can chat now.
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When the customer user closes the chat, it is possible to send the chat contents via email or create a ticket from the conversation.
Customer User to Agent
Customer users are not able to start a chat directly with a certain agent, but can only create generic chat requests.
To receive a chat request from a customer user:
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A customer user must login to the OTRS external interface and click on the New conversation button within the chat window in the bottom right corner of the external interface.
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A notification is displayed in the organizer sidebar to inform the agent. Hover the mouse over the chat icon to open the chat requests list.
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Accept the chat request.
Public User to Agent
Visitors of the external interface are also not able to start a chat directly with a certain agent, but can only create generic chat requests. As they are not logged in, they need to add a name to start the chat.
The remaining steps are the same as described in the Customer User to Agent section.
Chat Bubble
Clicking on the conversations icon in the bottom right corner opens the list of conversations. This chat widget is the main component used when chatting with other people. It provides a history of all messages in the chat as well as a list of possible available actions, depending on your permission level.
The messages can be sent using the text field of a chat in the Conversation(s) widget by either clicking the send icon next to the text field or hitting the Enter key. Shift + Enter can be used to insert a new line into the message.
The chat widget has some icons in the header bar.
The menu has several menu items.
- Append to ticket
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Allows you to append this chat as an article to a selected ticket. After the article has been created, the chat will get closed automatically.
- Create phone ticket
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Allows you to create a phone ticket to which the current chat will be appended to as an article. After the ticket has been successfully created, the chat will get closed automatically. The phone ticket is explained in the Tickets chapter.
- Invite
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Allows you to invite another agent to this chat. You can select who you want to invite from a list of available agents. Once the agent has been invited, a new invitation request will be sent to this agent. After the request has accepted, the new agent will join the conversation.
