Set up a Live Chat Channel

Before you can embed live chat on your website, you first build a live chat channel in Cloud Voice. The channel defines who receives incoming conversations, how the widget looks and behaves, and what automatic messages visitors see. This page walks you through creating one.

Before you begin

If you want website visitors to be able to place calls to your agents directly from the widget, set up a WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication, the technology that carries voice calls inside a web browser) trunk and a matching inbound route ahead of time. You select both when you enable calling on the channel, so having them ready keeps the rest of the setup uninterrupted.

Procedure

1. Sign in to the PBX (Private Branch Exchange, your phone system) web portal and go to Messaging > Message Channel.

2. Click Add and choose Live Chat.

3. On the General tab, define the core behavior of the channel.

   1. Under Basic, fill in the identifying details.

      

      • Name: A label that helps you recognize this channel in the portal.
      • Website Domain: The domain where the widget will run.

      Note

      The widget loads only on the domain you enter here. This restriction protects the channel from being used on other sites.

   2. Under Interaction Mode, decide how visitors reach your agents and where their messages land.

      

      • Interaction Mode: Choose what the widget lets visitors do.

        Option	What it allows
        Chat Only	Visitors reach your agents through chat messages.
        Phone and Chat	Visitors reach your agents through chat messages or a phone call.

        Caution

        Calling from the widget works only when the visitor is on the site over HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure, the encrypted version of HTTP). If your website does not serve pages over HTTPS, phone calls will silently fail, so confirm this before choosing Phone and Chat.

      • Destination: Decide where incoming live chat messages are delivered.

        Option	What it does
        Extension	Pick an extension from the Extension list. Only that extension user receives the incoming messages.
        Message Queue	Pick a queue from the Message Queue list. Every agent in the queue sees new sessions, but once an agent picks up a session, only that agent receives and answers the rest of its messages.
        Third-Party Message Analytics Platform (Transmitted via API)	Incoming messages are forwarded automatically to an external analytics platform over the API (Application Programming Interface, the connection that lets two systems exchange data) for further processing.

        Note

        Automatic forwarding to a third-party analytics platform requires your PBX to be integrated with that platform through the API. With this option selected, the system pushes incoming messages to the platform, and you can track them through the new-message notification event. A full set of message API interfaces is also available for richer interaction with the connected platform.

      • Enable WebRTC Inbound Call: If you are letting visitors call from the widget, turn this on and select the WebRTC trunk and its inbound route.

   3. Under Advanced, adjust the remaining channel behavior.

      

      • Maximum Concurrent Calls: The ceiling on simultaneous calls through this channel. Once it is reached, no new calls can be placed from the widget.

        Note

        • Every call through live chat counts against this limit, whether an agent or a visitor started it.
        • The default is 5, and you can raise it as high as 10.

      • Supported Message Types for Visitors: What visitors are allowed to send.

        Option	What visitors can send
        Text Only	Text and emojis.
        Text and Image	Text, emojis, and images.

        Note

        A single image uploaded through the widget can be no larger than 10 MB.

      • Close Session Automatically: To end sessions that sit idle, select this checkbox and enter how long a session may stay inactive in the Session Timeout field.

4. On the Display & Appearance tab, shape how the widget looks and what it shows visitors.

   Tip

   As you make changes, the panel on the right previews the widget so you can see the result immediately.

   1. Under Appearance, style the widget.

      

   2. Under Display, choose what information appears when a visitor starts a chat or a call.

      

      Note

      For Agent Information Display, choosing Name or Name and Profile Photo shows the real name and photo of the agent handling the conversation. With any other choice, the widget shows a default agent name and photo instead.

5. In the Message section, set the widget’s language and its automatic messages.

   1. Under Language, pick an entry from the list. This sets the language the widget displays.

   2. To collect visitor details before a chat begins, complete the fields under Pre-Chat.

      

   3. Optional: Under Message, edit the automatic replies that go out to visitors in specific situations.

      

      Note

      The online and offline greetings depend on your PBX office hours, so make sure business hours are configured correctly first.

      • Online Greeting Message: Sent when a visitor opens the chat and either the destination is a message queue during business hours, or the destination is an extension signed in to the Cloud Voice App with presence set to Available during business hours.
      • Offline Greeting Message: Sent when a visitor opens the chat and either the PBX is outside business hours or on a holiday, or the destination extension is logged out of the Cloud Voice App or logged in with presence set to Away, Business Trip, Do Not Disturb, Lunch Break, or Off Work.
      • Auto-response to the First Message: Sent when a visitor sends their first message in the chat.
      • Chat Session Closed Message: Sent when a session ends, whether an agent or visitor closes it manually or it closes on timeout.

6. Click Save.

Result

Cloud Voice generates a code snippet for the live chat channel and shows it in a pop-up window.

What to do next

1. Click Copy to grab the code snippet.

   Note

   You can also email the snippet and the website domain to someone else, such as your website administrator, to have them install it. The system sends the message from the default Request to Add Live Chat to Website template (found at System > Email > Email Templates) with installation instructions.

   

2. Enable live chat on your website using the code snippet.