This documentation supports the 20.02 version of Live Chat.
To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Chat server options

In the Chat Server Settings area of the Virtual Chat Administration Console, you configure server information, chat options, and quick text options.

Updates to these options take effect only after you refresh the servlet. To refresh the servlet, From the Virtual Chat Administration Console, select Self Service Portal > Configuration, and then click Refresh Servlets.

General settings

In the General Settings section of the Chat Server Settings pane, you define the following options:

  • HTTP Resource Server: The URL to the server that contains the HTTP Resources folder

  • Question Log: The full path to the questions.log file, such as c:\var\questions.log. The questions.log file is a text file that contains a log of all chat messages. If this value is left blank, the log file is not created or updated. If you do not log all chat messages to a text log file, you can still see chat information in the reports.
  • Chat Application Status: The type of agent mode in use—Virtual Agent OnlyAgent Only, or Virtual Agent and Live Agent. When Live Chat is deployed, the mode is Agent Only.  This field is populated automatically and is disabled for editing. The value of this setting determines whether to show or hide the Virtual Agent Name and Show Avatar fields. 

  • Virtual Agent Name: The name of your virtual agent. The default name is Jenn. 
  • Show Avatar: Specifies whether to display an image for the the virtual agent or a support agent. The default value is Yes. You can upload agent pictures from their record on the People form in BMC Remedy IT Service Management.  The maximum size for the image file is 15kb.

    Note

    When you deploy Live Chat, the Chat Application Status is Agent Only and the Virtual Agent Name and Show Avatar fields are hidden.

  • Self Service Chat Responses to Keep: The number of self-service chat responses to keep. Responses beyond the maximum number are discarded. The default value is 50.
  • Max Open Self Service Questions: The maximum number of open sessions with live agents that a self-service user can have open at one time. When a user tries to  open a new chat session with a live agent, but has reached the maximum value, the user receives a message indicating that the maximum number of open sessions has been reached. When you change this value in the Virtual Chat Administration Console, it applies to self-service users who open the self-service portal after the change is saved. If a user is in a session when the value is changed, the new value does not apply to that user until the user logs out and logs back on. The default value is 6.
  • Max Open Live Chat Sessions: The maximum number of chat sessions that a self-service user can have with live agents. When a user tries to open a new chat session with a live agent, but has reached the maximum value, the user receives a message indicating that the maximum number of live chat sessions has been reached. When you change this value in the Virtual Chat Administration Console, it applies to self-service users who open the self-service portal after the change is saved. If a user is in a session when the value is changed, the new value does not apply to that user until the user logs out and logs back on. The default value is 6.
  • Max Wait Time Reported: The maximum wait time (in minutes) to display to the self-service user when the user requests a live agent. 

    Live Chat calculates the maximum wait time based on past performance. Wait time is also based the longest wait time of all the open requests for live agents. For example, if there are 5 Self Service Portal requests to talk to live agents and longest wait time is 5 minutes, the system displays 5 minutes. If the longest session changes again to 3 minutes, the system updates the wait time to 3 minutes.

    Use Max Wait Time Reported to display a maximum value to the user. For example, if a question has been left unanswered in the queue for a long period of time, the computed wait time might be excessively long. System administrators can override this value by setting their own maximum wait time. The self-service users sees the wait time in the following system prompt when they request a live agent:
    Your approximate wait time is 10 minutes

Chat server settings

In the Chat Server Status section of the Chat Server Settings pane, you define the following settings:

  • Current Status: The mode of the chat server: Test or Production
  • Show Debug Info: Specifies whether debug mode is active in the agent console. When the Debug option is enabled, administrators can debug logs by enabling the browser's develop option by using the F12 key or using the Inspect mode. The Debug option helps in error tracking and issue resolution.

Best Practice

Debug mode is necessary only when you are testing changes or in a test environment. In a production environment, set the Show Debug Info option to Off.

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