WhosOn customer? We've put together a quick-start guide to choosing your live chat window.
Preliminary information
Chat code:
To run WhosOn on your website, add the chat code to your website. This entails copying and pasting a few lines of JavaScript code to each of the web pages that you’d like chat on. This same piece of JavaScript will allow you to track your visitors as they browse your site, too.
Chat button:
Your chat button will appear on each of the web pages featuring WhosOn code. The chat button is the first thing users see when launching a session. For a strong first impression, we can tailor the colour, placement, shape, size, and text of the button to meet your needs.
Chat window:
Your chat window is the interface through which the conversation unfolds. It can have a choice of styles (more on this shortly), as well as avatars, logos, specific message bubbles, a certain background, or anything else you need.
Configuration:
Your WhosOn chat button / chat window can adapt to your availability. WhosOn can surface a selection of offline messages, both dynamically and based on set opening hours. Via the WhosOn settings portal, you can configure your offline messages to:
- - Remove the live chat option outside of office hours, or when no agents are available
- - Adjust chat button messaging to display an “Offline” or “Leave a message” screen
- - Redirect the customer to a relevant URL, such as an FAQ or product page
- - Show a custom ‘busy’ message that displays pre-set company information
- - Display alternate contact options such as telephone or email
Chat API:
WhosOn comes complete with a live chat API. Using this API, you can custom-build the chat window your customers use to engage online. You can then integrate this custom chat window into your website, or other apps / portals.
Chat window styles
When adding chat to your website, you can choose between different styles of live chat window:
- - Inline chat
- - Pop-out chat
- - Stacked chat
- - Custom chat window via API
Each option powers great chat sessions, but they do so in slightly different ways. Let’s explore.
Inline chat
Inline chat windows are embedded within your website. That means that they stay in one place on the screen, and follow the user as they move from page to page.
With inline chat, you’re getting a window that remains in constant view while visitors browse your website.
Your customers can continue the conversation whilst exploring your site, without having to click in and out of separate windows.
Pop-out chat
Pop-out chat does what it says on the tin: the window pops out from your website. With this option, a separate browser window opens whenever a visitor initiates a chat.
The user needn’t stay on your site to continue a pop-out chat session. Once a chat is launched, the window stays open until the user manually closes it.
A pop-out live chat window runs independently from web activity, and can be resized and moved around the visitor’s screen.
Stacked chat
Stacked chat is a variant form of inline chat. Though the window stays in its fixed inline spot, typed messages ‘stack’ on top of each other in a dynamic flow.
With stacked chat, a collapsible message stack unfolds as the chat progresses. This creates an animated chat experience for your customers – still conveniently contained within a stylish, scrollable box display.
Custom live chat window via API
Our chat window styles are highly flexible, but you might need something entirely customised. So, we also empower customers to take creative control with a live chat API.
Our API allows you to fully modify the customer-facing live chat window, making chat uniquely yours. You can embed it into any platform, have it take any design, and create any reporting and processing flow.
👋 If you need help with the development side of this option, our professional services team can help.
Chat window launch options
As standard, the WhosOn chat window will launch whenever your website visitor clicks on the live chat button.
But you might want to launch a chat session from key points across your website – not just from the standard “Live chat” button already fixed. Or, you might want to surface the chat window dynamically, based on specific events completed by the visitor.
So, WhosOn allows for a range of extra chat window launch options. Let’s take a look.
Dynamic window launching (inline)
WhosOn allows dynamic window launching. This means you can launch your inline chat window more responsively, from the click of any website icon, banner, or button of your choice.
Your web designer /developer can hook an interface element into WhosOn. (Such as an image or call-to-action.) When clicked, this interface element will then trigger a new live chat window to open.
This window launches inline, loading either a pre-chat survey or a session based on your rules. The result is a more flexible chat launching process, with more routes to chat.
Some example implementations are:
- - Hypertext URL
You set a hypertext URL on your web page. Once clicked, it triggers the externalShowChat() function. This will then display the chat button ready for the visitor to start a chat.
- - Assign function
You assign the externalShowChat() function to action on your web page. This action could be fired through manual interaction from your visitor before the button is displayed. Once triggered, WhosOn will then surface the chat button.
- - Time-based
You assign the externalShowChat() function to a timer action on your web page. This will fire after X number of seconds of the visitor being on the page. Once the timer completes, it then triggers the function to display the chat button.
👋 If you need help with the development side of this option, our professional services team can help.
Dynamic window launching (pop-out)
Similar to the above, your live chat window can also launch dynamically as a pop-out. Here, your developer can use a piece of HTML code to place a chat window hyperlink anywhere within a web page. (Again, this might be within an icon, image, or text element, for instance.)
When clicked on, a new pop-out browser window opens to allow the visitor to initiate a chat session.
👋 If you need help with the development side of this option, our professional services team can help.
Can we help?
To discuss your live chat window options, get in touch with the team today. Click to chat, or reach us via:
📧 sales@parkersoftware.com
📞 UK: 0330 0882 943
📞 US: (800) 680 7712