Configuring chat

The Chat feature is included in FootPrints Version 12 at no additional cost. Access to this feature is controlled via user roles and system configuration settings. You can set Chat refresh intervals and limit which Agents your customers can access. By default, Chat is disabled. This feature replaces the Instant Talk™ feature available for earlier releases of FootPrints.

Customers can initiate chats with Agents and Agents can initiate chats with other Agents. However, Agents cannot initiate chats with Customers. Each chat is 1-to-1; only two people can participate in a chat at a time. Agents can set their availability status to Available, Busy, Invisible to Customers, Invisible (to everyone), Away, and so on.

When a chat session is active, the system will send updates to the current chat and requests for new chats at the same time. The session is refreshed every second when the Chat window is active and every 5 seconds when the Chat window is idle.

To configure chat

1. Click the Administration tab.
2. In the System Management section, click System Settings > Chat.
   The Chat System Settings page appears.
3. Select Enable Chat.
4. (Optional) If you want customers to chat only with Agents associated with their Workspaces, select Show customers only agents from workspaces they can access.
5. (Optional) Change the settings for the refresh intervals.
   By default, they are set at the recommended values. The possible values for New chat request refresh interval are 5-15 seconds. The possible values for New messages refresh interval are 1-10 seconds.
6. Click Save.
7. Close the Chat page.

To modify chat access for your users

You can modify the chat settings for your Agent and Customer user roles.

1. On the Administration Main page, in the User Management section, click Roles.
2. Select the role that you want to modify and click Edit.
3. In the left pane, click System Permissions and set the permissions:
   1. For Agent roles, select the appropriate setting for the Can chat with Agents and the Can Chat with Customers permissions.
   2. For Customer roles, select the appropriate setting for the Can chat with Agents permission.
4. Click Save.
   Your changes are implemented.

Related topics

Configuring user roles

Using Chat