Skip to main content


         This documentation site is for previous versions. Visit our new documentation site for current releases.      
 

Chat and messaging configuration

Updated on January 29, 2021

A chat server processes chat messages between the chat widget that is deployed on your webpages and your Pega Customer Service application. When you buy a license that includes the Pega Chat offering for Pega Customer Service 8.2 or later, a Pega Cloud Collaboration Services chat server account is provisioned for you. The authorized contact for your organization's Pega account receives an email that includes a private API key and the chat server hostname of your provisioned chat server account. The Pega Cloud Collaboration Services chat server's hostname depends on the geographical region (for example, for the USA, it is https://us.chat.pega.com).

Pega Customer Service Implementation Guide Pega Customer Service Implementation Guide Pega Customer Service Implementation Guide
Check with your organization's Pega account contact that a Pega Cloud Collaboration Service chat server account is provisioned for you.

Configuring chat and messaging settings

Configure the settings that connect your application to the chat server, and define the global settings for chat and messaging, such as the maximum number of conversations per CSR and how to calculate the wait time. You must provision your chat server from Pega Cloud Collaboration Services. The chat server processes the incoming requests from the chat and messaging queues.

  1. In the navigation pane of App Studio, click SettingsChat and messaging.
  2. In the list of chat and messaging settings, click Chat and messaging configuration.
  3. In the Chat serversection, configure the following fields:
    1. In the Chat server hostname field, enter the host name of the chat server that has been provisioned to you. The host name depends on the geographical region of the chat server:
      • For the APAC region, the host name is au.chat.pega.com
      • For the EU, the host name is eu.chat.pega.com
      • For North America, the host name is us.chat.pega.com
    2. In the Configuration protocol list, select https.
    3. In the Port field, enter 443.
    4. In the Server configuration key field, enter the private API key of your provisioned chat server account.
      You receive the server configuration key in an email to your operational contact.
    5. To ensure that Pega Customer Service connects with the chat server, click Verify Key.
      Note: If you have entered a chat server URL and verified the server configuration key, the Interaction Portal header displays the Chat routing icon.
  4. In the Wait time calculation section, configure how to calculate the wait time for a queue.
    1. To prevent the system from routing a live chat request to a queue with a long wait time, enter a value in the Wait time evaluation window in minutes field.
      For example: If you enter a value of 30, the system calculates the average CSR chat handle time for a queue based on live chat interactions that were resolved in that queue during the past 30 minutes.
      The average CSR chat handle time for a queue is one of several values used to determine whether to route a live chat request to a queue.
    2. To define when the calculation for the wait time evaluation window should start, enter a value in the Minimum number of conversations for wait time calculation field.
      For example: If you enter a value of 10, the system calculates a wait time only if there are ten or more conversations already in the queue.
    3. To display the wait time before the customer can chat with a live agent in the customer's chat window, select the Notify wait time to customer check box.
  5. In the Composing and saving section, configure the following settings:
    1. To display the rich text editing tools in the chat window, select the Enable rich text editingcheck box.
      The CSR can use all of the features of the rich text editor control. The customer can use only images and emojis.
    2. To show the CSR what the customer is typing in the chat window before the customer sends the message, select the See what the customer is typing before they click send check box.
      The CSR can use this time to plan an appropriate response or search for predefined content to send as a response.
    3. To prevent the proactive chat feature from inviting a customer to a chat session when the wait time is longer than a specified number of seconds, enter the number of seconds in the Allow proactive chat when wait time is less than (seconds) field.
      For example: If you enter 120, the system calculates the overall wait time of the queue and compares it with the value that you have entered in this field. The system presents the proactive chat window to the customer if the overall wait time for the queue is less than 120 seconds. Otherwise, the system does not present the proactive chat to the customer.
    4. To define how often the chat transcript should be updated and saved as a conversation history, enter a value in the Chat transcript save interval field.
      For example: If you enter 3, the chat transcript is updated after every third message from the customer.
  6. In the Audio notifications section, configure the following settings:
    1. To send an audio notification for an incoming work to the CSR, select the Enable audio notification check box.
    2. To determine the number of times to play the audio file, enter a value in the Number of times to play the audio file field.
    3. To upload an audio file for the audio notification, click Upload file, and then select the audio file from your media.
      Supported audio file formats are MP3 and MPEG4.
  7. Click Save.

Configuring proactive chat

Configure proactive chat to invite customers to a chat session from your website, rather than waiting for the customer to request assistance. Based on your business requirements, you can define the logic that decides when to initiate a proactive chat. Pega Customer Service provides a set of JavaScript APIs to support the proactive chat feature from your website.

Before you begin: Use the JavaScript APIs to add proactive chat to your website. For more information about the JavaScript APIs, see APIs to support proactive chat
  1. In the navigation pane of App Studio, click SettingsChat and messaging.
  2. In the list of chat and messaging settings, click Chat and messaging configuration.
  3. To prevent the proactive chat feature from inviting a customer to a chat session when the wait time is longer than a specified number of seconds, enter the number of seconds in the Allow proactive chat when wait time is less than (seconds) field.
    For example: If you enter 120, the system calculates the overall wait time of the queue and compares it with the value that you have entered in this field. The system presents the proactive chat window to the customer if the overall wait time for the queue is less than 120 seconds. Otherwise, the system does not present the proactive chat to the customer.
  4. Click Save.

Tags

Pega Customer Service 8.5

Have a question? Get answers now.

Visit the Support Center to ask questions, engage in discussions, share ideas, and help others.

Visit the Support Center

Did you find this content helpful?

Yes
No

Want to help us improve this content?
Suggest an edit

We'd prefer it if you saw us at our best.

Pega.com is not optimized for Internet Explorer. For the optimal experience, please use:

Close Deprecation Notice
Contact us