Actions - Your Personal Assistant Adding Multiple Signatories in Esign Documents Contact Management Esign Documents Module Approvals in Vtiger CRM Cut costs with Vtiger Managing Organizations Managing your Documents Managing your Events Managing your Tasks One View in Contacts One View in Organizations Phone Calls API Usage SMS Messages DMARC Records in Vtiger CRM Vtiger Inbox Sales Dashboard & Leaderboard Reports and Analytics in Vtiger WhatsApp Integration with Live Chats Leads Module in Vtiger Targets Add-on Configuring SMS Gateways in Vtiger MMS Messages via Twilio Using the Calendar Page

Feature Availability

Vtiger Editions: One Growth | One Professional | One Enterprise | One AI

​Introduction

Live chats refer to real-time, text-based communication channels that allow individuals or businesses to engage in interactive conversations with website visitors or customers. These chats typically occur on a website or through a dedicated messaging platform. Live chats enable instant communication, efficiently addressing inquiries, offering support, and engaging with website visitors or customers in real-time.

Live Chats in Vtiger CRM

Vtiger's Live Chats feature enables you to engage in real-time conversations with website visitors directly within the CRM platform. Using Live Chat, you can connect directly with website visitors or customers who send direct messages from social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Live Chats are primarily used by:

• Sales Agents: To connect with potential leads, respond to inquiries instantly, and improve conversion rates
• Support Agents: To assist customers quickly, resolve issues in real time, and enhance customer satisfaction.

Apart from customer conversations, you can also do the following from the Live Chat window: 

• Contact and lead capture: Generate leads or create contacts when someone is interested in the product and visits your website. 
• Display CRM records: Access CRM records related to the customer you are chatting with.
• Chat tracking and assignment: Track the chats handled by your team and assign them by creating cases if required.
• Knowledge Base: Use the Knowledge Base to send help articles and FAQs to customers to help them find CRM solutions
• Reporting and analytics: Generate reports and analyze team performance with chat insights.

The Live Chats module screen, known as the Live Chats Console, offers a centralized interface for managing, tracking, and engaging in live chat conversations with website visitors or customers. To use Live Chats, you will need to install the Vtiger Live Chat Add-on from the Vtiger Extension store.

Use Cases - Live Chat in Today's Industries 

Here are some common use cases illustrating how different industries can utilize the Live Chats feature to enhance their customer interactions and business operations:

• E-commerce: Live chat is frequently employed by e-commerce businesses to assist customers with product inquiries, order support, and pre-purchase questions.
• Customer Support: Across various industries, live chats serve as a primary channel for customer support. 
• Travel and Hospitality: The travel and hospitality industry utilizes live chats to engage with customers during the booking process, address travel-related queries, offer guidance on hotel accommodations, share local recommendations, and manage reservation modifications or cancellations.
• Financial Services: Banks, insurance companies, and other financial service providers use live chats to provide personalized support for customers' account-related inquiries, help with online banking transactions, guide them through the loan application process, and address concerns regarding policies or claims.
• Education: Live chats are utilized in the education sector to assist students and parents with admissions information, course enrollment, tuition inquiries, technical support for online learning platforms, and general academic guidance.
• Real Estate: Real estate agencies employ live chats to interact with potential buyers or tenants, answer property-related questions, schedule property viewings, provide information about listings, and offer assistance throughout the home-buying or renting process.
• Healthcare: Used to provide online consultations, answer non-emergency medical inquiries, assist with appointment scheduling, guide patients through insurance processes, and support telemedicine platforms.
• Software and Technology: Companies in the software and technology sectors use live chats to provide technical support, address software-related queries, assist with product installations or troubleshooting, and guide customers through software updates or feature usage.
• Online Gaming: Live chats are used by online gaming platforms to enable real-time communication between players, provide support for technical issues, offer gaming tips, and facilitate community engagement.
• Sales and Lead Generation: Chat agents can engage website visitors, qualify leads, provide product information, offer personalized promotions, and guide customers through sales.

Benefits of Using Live Chats in Vtiger CRM

The benefits of using the Live Chats feature are:

• Facilitate immediate and direct communication between website visitors, customers, and business representatives.
• A cost-effective alternative to traditional customer support channels, such as phone calls or emails. 
• Offer multitasking capabilities, allowing support agents to handle multiple chats simultaneously. 
• Provide features to log and save chat conversations, allowing businesses to reference previous chats for future interactions or to review customer queries. 
• Directly channel messages from social platforms like Instagram and Twitter into the CRM.

In this article, you will learn about:

• Installing Live Chats
• Activating Live Chat Widget
• Navigating Live Chats
• Using an AI Agent for Live Chats 
• Social Media Integration in Live Chats
• Tracking Live Chats
• Viewing Live Chat Records
• Chat Insights

Key Terminology

To use Live Chats, you will need to install the Vtiger Live Chat add-on from the Vtiger Extension store. The Live Chats module screen, called Live Chats Console, provides a centralized interface for managing, tracking, and engaging in live chat conversations with website visitors or customers. Before you can start using the Live Chats feature, you must install the Vtiger Live Chat Add-on from the Vtiger Extension Store. Follow these steps to install Vtiger Live Chats from the Extension Store:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click the User Menu.
3. Click Settings. The Settings page opens.
4. Look for Extensions.
5. Click Add-Ons.
6. Search for Vtiger Live Chats.
7. Click Install.

After successful installation, you will see a success message in the top right corner of the screen. 

Activating the Live Chat Widget

Before you start using Live Chat in Vtiger CRM, you must activate and configure the Live Chat Widget. Follow these steps to configure the Live Chat Widget:

Step 1: Create a Tracker

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click the User Menu in the top right corner.
3. Go to Settings.
4. Under Websense, select Trackers.

 

5. Click +Create Tracker on the top right of the screen.

 

6. Enter a name for the tracker.
7. Click Save.

The tracker has been created and added to the list, along with its code.

Step 2: Customize Your Widget

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click the User Menu icon on the top right corner of the screen.
3. Click Settings.
4. Under the Websense block, click Widgets.

 

5. From the Select Tracker drop-down, choose the tracker linked to your website.
6. From the Select Widget drop-down, select the widget you want to customize.

 

7. Go to the General tab.
8. Enable the Status to activate the widget.
9. You can customize the following fields with your preferred text:
   1. Status
   2. Online Welcome Message
   3. Offline Welcome Message
   4. Offline Message Success Text
   5. Conversation Start Button
   6. Offline Message Submission Button
   7. Agent Conversation End Message
   8. Visitor Conversation End Text
   9. New Conversation Section Label
   10. New Conversation Placeholder Text
   11. Reply Placeholder Text
   12. Registration Form Header
   13. Message Form Header
   14. Rating
   15. Rating Message
   16. Feedback Message
   17. Feedback Success Notification
   18. Feedback Error Notification

 

10. Click Save.

Step 3: Adding Agents

Follow the steps below to add an Agent:
 

1. Go to the Agents tab.
2. Click +Add Agents.
3. Type the names of the CRM users you want to add as Live Chat Agents. These users will handle customer queries and interactions through the chat widget.

Note: You can enable or disable an agent by clicking the toggle button next to the agent name.

Customizing the Live Chats Feature

You can customize the look and feel of the Chat widget on your website using custom styles on your website. For example, the following snippet changes the default chat launcher color to black with a red border.
 

Accessing Live Chats

Follow these steps to access the Live Chats:

1. Log in to the CRM account:
2. Click the main Menu.
3. Go to Conversations.
4. Click Live Chats. A Live Chat console appears.

 

You can see and respond to incoming chats on the Live Chats window. Also, you can use actions such as filters, templates, and AI to respond better to the customer. You can access Live Chats records in a List View by clicking View Transcripts.

Navigating Live Chats

The Live Chats module in Vtiger CRM provides a centralized interface for managing, tracking, and engaging in live chat conversations with website visitors or customers. It offers essential features and functionalities to streamline communication, provide real-time support, and maintain a comprehensive record of chat interactions within the CRM system.

Let's divide the Live Chat screen into three sections as follows: 

Section One
 

The actions available in the left section are:

• Conversation Filters: You can filter conversations such as All, My, New, and Open Conversations.
• Channel Filters: You can filter incoming chat channels like All, Facebook, Instagram, and more.
• Chats tab: Displays a list of new incoming chats. Once you select a chat, the chat status changes to Open. Ongoing Chats will display the status as In Progress in the Chat conversation window.
• Agents tab: Displays a list of online agents.

Section Two

You can see the live chat conversation in the center section. The actions available in the center section are:
 

• Open icon: Opens the chat transcript in a new tab.
• Tags: Allows you to add a tag to the chat.
• More: Give you a list of options like transferring a chat, scheduling a conference, adding a case, and more.
  • Templates: You can select from the list of response templates available.
  • Schedule Conference: You can set up a meeting from here.
  • Add Case: You can create a case from the chat.
  • Select Case: Link the chat to an existing case.
  • Add Opportunity: Create a new opportunity from the chat.
  • Select Opportunity: Link the chat to an existing opportunity.
  • Mark as Open: Make the chat available for any agent.
  • Transfer: Choose an agent to hand over the chat.
  • End: Close the chat.
• Reply tab: You can enter the required response in the field provided.
  • Rephrase: Click to rephrase the entered response with the help of AI.
  • Attachment: Click to add an attachment.
  • Send: Click to send the entered response.
• Private tab: You can send a private response in the live chat to keep the data confidential.

Section Three

The actions available in the right section are:
 

• Templates: You can select from the list of response templates available.
• View Transcripts: You can view the list of older live chats.
• Agent Status: Displays a list of statuses. Select one from the list that best describes your status. 
• Related tab: Displays One View by default. One View displays all the details related to the customer in one place.
• Other Related tabs: Hover over the related tab to view documents and locations related to the customer

Note: You can send or receive up to 10 PDF attachments from WhatsApp, Facebook, or Live Chat as a Visitor in a chat conversation window.

Using Live Chats

After you have installed Live Chats, your customers can reach out to you from the Chat window on your website.
Follow these steps to use the Live Chats:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click the main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Click Live Chats. The Live Chats window appears.

 

5. Select I’m Available to start receiving chats.
6. Click the required chat from the list. 

 

7. Enter the appropriate response in the Reply tab.
   1. Click Rephrase to rephrase the response.
   2. Click Attachment to attach files.
   3. Use the Private tab to send confidential responses. 
8. Click Send.

Note: If no agent is online or available to respond to a live chat, it is considered an offline chat, and a case is created containing the chat transcript.

Tracking Live Chats

To track Live Chats, you will need to configure the Websense tracker on the CRM Settings page. Trackers in Vtiger are system-generated codes that enable you to install the Live Chat widget on your website. 
Follow these steps to configure the Websense tracker and track Live Chats:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click the User Menu.
3. Click Settings.
4. Look for Websense.
5. Click Trackers.

 

6. Click Activate Trackers. You will see a success message at the top of the
7. Hover over the tracker and click Copy this.
8. Paste the copied code into your website or web application. You can now start tracking your Live Chats.

To learn more about configuring a tracker, click here.

Note

• Only one tracker is available under the Websense tracker by default. If you need more than one tracker, you must install Booster packs for Websense Tracker from the Vtiger Extension Store. 
• ​​The Answer Bot section in the Websense Widget Settings page appears only if Calculus AI is installed. 

Using an AI Agent for Live Chats

An AI Agent is a smart assistant that automates tasks by understanding customer messages, answering common questions, and helping sales or support teams. You can use AI Agents in Live Chat to handle customer questions automatically. With Chatflows, you can send questions straight to the AI, so customers get fast and consistent answers.

For instance, if a customer wants to check the status of their case, the AI Agent can instantly provide an update using information from your CRM.

• When a customer initiates a new issue through Live Chat, the AI Agent automatically creates a case in the CRM using the details shared during the conversation.
• If a customer asks a question, the AI Agent delivers relevant answers by pulling from your knowledge base or a set of predefined responses, ensuring accurate support at any time.
• Whenever a record is created via Live Chat by an AI Agent, it is automatically associated with the corresponding visitor record, maintaining complete context for future interactions.

​​​​​​To learn more about the AI Agent in Vtiger CRM, click here.

Integrating Social Media Platforms with Live Chats

You can integrate Live Chats with social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Twitter Direct Messaging (DM) Integration

You can integrate your Twitter account with the Live Chat feature for direct messaging. To use and respond to Twitter direct messages from the Live Chats window, you must:

• Have a Twitter business account.
• Integrate your Twitter account in the Vtiger Social module. 
• Enable the Twitter account in the Websense Widget in the CRM.

Follow these steps to set up Twitter Direct Messages:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click Settings.
3. Search for Widgets.
4. Go to the Twitter tab.
5. Enable the Twitter Messenger toggle. The Twitter accounts configured in the Social module will be displayed.
6. Enable the Status toggle of the Twitter account.
7. Click Save.

Agents can now use Twitter DM from the Channels drop-down in the Live Chats Conversation window, allowing customers to message them directly from their Twitter accounts. Once the Twitter account is successfully integrated, the Twitter DM icon will appear in the Live Chat console.

To learn more about Twitter DM integration with Vtiger CRM, click here.

Instagram DM Integration

Vtiger CRM lets you integrate your Instagram account with the Live Chats Add-on for direct messaging. To use and respond to Instagram direct messaging in the Live Chat window, you must:

• Have a Facebook business page.
• Have an Instagram Professional account.
• Integrate your Instagram account in the Vtiger Social module. 
• Enable the Instagram user in the Websense Widget in the CRM.

Follow these steps to integrate Instagram in Vtiger CRM:

1. Log in to the CRM. 
2. Click User Profile.
3. Select Settings. The Settings page opens.
4. Go to Websense.
5. Click Widgets. The Widgets page opens. 
6. Enter or select the following information:
   1. Select Tracker 1 from the Select Tracker drop-down.
   2. Select the Instagram tab. 
   3. Click SignIn. A Facebook login page opens.
   4. Enter your Facebook login credentials to sign in. 
   5. Click SignIn.
   6. Enable the toggle Enable Instagram Messenger. Instagram accounts with Page Status will be displayed.
   7. Enable the toggle for the account you wish to use.
7. Click Save.

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