Handing a customer to a colleague
The agent writes "passing you the customer about the invoice" and then transfers the call: the colleague knows what it is about before answering.
Messaging and agents
Agents message each other without leaving the panel
The team chat lives in the agent panel: the whole team, a group for each queue, direct messages between colleagues and a conversation with the company, which replies from the portal as Admin.
Support queueEllie: the returns system is slow, tell customers the case number will arrive by email.
James ReidPassing you the customer about the March invoice, they already have a case number.
AdminFrom Monday we open at 8:30. New shifts attached.
Whole teamEmma: I pasted a screenshot of the error, has anyone seen it before?
What it is for
Team chat lets your call center agents message each other while they work, with no other app open. It is a block of the agent panel: messages arrive in real time and each conversation shows how many messages are unread.
Conversations organise themselves. Under General there is the Whole team and Admin, the private conversation with the company. Under Groups there is one group for each queue the agent belongs to. Under Colleagues there is a direct conversation with each colleague who uses the chat.
Agents can attach files or paste an image, which shows right in the conversation. On the company side, in Management > Conversations > Internal chat, you read every agent conversation and write as Admin in the team, in queue groups and to each agent.
Use cases
Coordinating a queue
Agents in the Support queue warn each other in the queue group when there is a widespread fault, so everyone tells customers the same thing.
Asking the supervisor for help
During a difficult call the agent writes to Admin. The supervisor gets a notification in the portal and replies from the Conversations page.
Announcements to the whole team
The supervisor writes as Admin in the Whole team: new hours, an offer to propose, the updated price list attached.
Sharing a screenshot
The agent pastes a picture of the error the customer sees and the colleague opens it right in the chat.
How it works
Give agents the chat
In each agent's permissions turn on "Allow using the team chat". Only agents with the permission see the Chat block and appear among colleagues.
Decide on queue groups
Each queue is a group for its agents. If a queue should not have its group, turn on "Leave out of the internal chat groups" in its settings.
Agents write from the panel
They pick the conversation, type, attach files or paste images. From the Operators block they can open a conversation with a colleague at once.
You reply as Admin
In Management > Conversations > Internal chat you find every conversation, filter them by type and write as Admin. New messages for you arrive as notifications.
What you can set
Conversations in the panel
- Whole team
- The conversation with every agent who uses the chat.
- Admin
- The private conversation between the agent and the company, which replies from the portal.
- Groups
- One group for each queue the agent belongs to, with the queue's other agents.
- Colleagues
- A direct conversation with each colleague who has the chat; it also opens with "Write to" from the Operators block.
Messages
- Text
- Enter to send, Shift+Enter for a new line.
- Attach file
- One file of up to 10 MB per message, downloadable from the conversation.
- Images
- Chosen or pasted, and shown right in the conversation.
- Unread
- Each conversation shows how many new messages it has; messages arrive in real time.
Settings
- Allow using the team chat
- Agent permission: without it the agent does not see the chat and does not appear among colleagues.
- Leave out of the internal chat groups
- Queue setting: when on, the queue has no group of its own in the chat.
- Chat block
- In the panel layout it can be moved, resized and coloured like the other blocks.
Company side
- Management > Conversations > Internal chat
- Every agent conversation, with search by name or extension.
- Conversation type
- Filter between conversations with you (Admin), Team, queue groups and conversations between two agents.
- Write as Admin
- Write in the team, in queue groups and in your conversation with each agent; those between two agents are read only.
Notifications
- Internal chat message
- When an agent writes to Admin you get a portal notification and, if you turn it on, an email.
- Sound and browser notifications
- A sound of your choice and browser notifications, even with the portal in another tab.
- Menu counter
- Next to Conversations you see how many agent messages are still unread.
- Webhook
- The "an agent writes to Admin" event can notify your systems.
Frequently asked questions
Do agents need to install an app to chat?
No. Team chat is a block of the agent panel, in the browser, next to the phone and calls.
Can I read chats between agents?
Yes. In Management > Conversations > Internal chat you see every conversation, including those between two agents, which you can read but not write in.
How are groups created?
Automatically: each queue is a group with its agents. If you do not want a queue's group, turn on "Leave out of the internal chat groups" on the queue.
Can agents send files and images?
Yes, files of up to 10 MB. Images can also be pasted and show right in the conversation.
How do I know an agent has written to me?
You get a portal notification, with a sound and a browser notification if you turn them on, and the unread count next to Conversations. You can also ask for an email.
Related features
Try it on your own phone lines
Sign up free and try this feature with your numbers, or message us on WhatsApp and we’ll show it to you.