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Common phrases

Updated on January 29, 2021

The common phrases feature, which customer service representatives (CSRs) can use to insert pre-configured messages in email and messaging channels, now makes it easier for CSRs to:

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  • Perform character-based common phrase searches
  • Search within the text of common phrases
  • Report on the usage of common phrases

Customer service representative experience

Previously, CSRs would search for common phrase categories and titles via the Phrases button in chat and email. Because they could only search by name or category, it wasn't easy to find relevant phrases with which they were not already familiar. Now, the search functionality extends to searching within the text of phrases, allowing CSRs to enter keywords into the search bar and find relevant phrases without knowing the category or phrase names.

CSRs can also now insert common phrases into the text box without ever clicking out of the box. In App Studio, a setting to enable character-based quick navigation of phrases through a dropdown based on the initial characters is now available. After configuration of a launch character in App Studio, when a CSR enters the character followed by a number or a letter in the text box of the live chat pop-up window, the system initiates a search for common phrase categories, titles, and the text within the phrases. The system performs this search against the user input and then displays matching results. In this way, CSRs can quickly use common phrases without ever taking their hands off the keyboard.

Common phrases reporting

Customer Service Managers can now gather data and report on the usage of common phrases. A check box in App Studio enables the collection of data on common phrase usage. Pega Customer Service now ships with two reports with drilldowns on common phrase usage. CSR Managers can use these reports to identify the need for coaching of CSRs if they never use certain phrases, and evaluate which phrases or categories are valid or could use improvement based on their frequency of use.

For more information, see Chat and messaging reports.

Common phrase search configuration

Enhance the customer service representative experience of finding and using common phrases during a CSR-customer interaction by enabling the common phrase settings in App Studio.

The common phrase search configuration section explains how to perform the following tasks:

  • Enabling common phrase settings
  • Searching the text of common phrases
  • Performing character-based common phrase search

Enabling common phrase settings

Enable the common phrase settings to launch a character-based quick search, search within the text of the phrases, and collect phrase usage data for reporting.

To configure common phrase settings, refer to the figure below and perform the following steps:

  1. In the navigation pane of App Studio, click Settings>Chat and messaging.
  2. In the Settings: Chat and messaging section, click the Common phrases tab(1).
  3. In the Common phrases section, do the following:
    1. To enable a character-based common phrase search, select the Enable character-based quick navigation check box(2). The Launch character(s) list(3) then displays a list of special characters.
    2. From the Launch character(s) list, select a launch character to trigger a list of categories and common phrases in the Interaction Portal.
      For example: Enable ‘//’ for character-based quick navigation in App Studio. In the Interaction Portal, when a CSR types in ‘//’ followed by a letter or a number in the text area, the system displays a list of matching categories, phrases, and the text of phrases in user input.
      Note:
      • The system displays all categories and phrases before the CSR types anything, because a search for nothing returns all results.
      • A CSR can also enter keywords in the search bar and find relevant phrases without much knowledge of pre-existing phrases.
    3. To collect common phrase usage data for reporting purposes, select the Enable data collection on phrases for reporting check box (4).
      When the CSR Manager selects the Enable data collection on phrases for reporting checkbox, the system enables the data collection. The system collects the data until the CSR Manager unchecks the checkbox.
      Note:
      • The system continues to collect data until a CSR Manager unchecks the check box.
      • The system does not delete already collected data when the CSR Manager unchecks the check box.
      • The Enable data collection on phrases for reporting checkbox is disabled, by default.
    The following figure shows enabling of character-based quick navigation (2), selecting the launch character (3), and enabling data collection on phrases for reporting in the Common phrases section (4):

    Enabling common phrase settings
    Enabling common phrase settings

  4. To save the changes, click Save.

Searching the text of common phrases

The new search functionality enables CSRs to enter keywords into the common phrases search bar, in email, or in chat in the live chat pop-up, and find relevant phrases without already having any knowledge about categories or phrase names.

To search the text of common phrases, refer to the figure below and perform the following steps
  1. Log in to the Interaction Portal with CSR Manager or CSR credentials.
  2. To start a live chat session, accept an incoming chat request from a customer. Messages from the customer appear in the Live chat window.
  3. In the Live chat pop-up window, click Phrases(1), scroll to the bottom of the list, and then click Search phrases(2).
  4. In the Search phrases box(3), enter the first letter of the keyword to produce a list of categories and phrases (4).
    Performing text-based common phrase search
    Performing text-based common phrase search
  5. To select a phrase, press the down arrow to scroll through the list, and then press Enter on the phrase that you want to use.
    Note: Hover over a phrase, which the system returns as a match to the user input, to see the entire text of the phrase in a tooltip (5)
  6. The text of the chosen phrase appears in the text entry area in the Live chat pop-up window for the CSR to send to the customer.

Performing character-based common phrase search

CSRs perform character-based common phrase searches by entering launch characters in the text entry area of the live chat pop-up window. The system then initiates a search for common phrase categories, titles, and searches within the phrase's text.

To search the text of common phrases, perform the following steps:
  1. Log in to the Interaction Portal with CSR Manager or CSR credentials.
  2. To start a live chat session, accept an incoming chat request from a customer. Message from the customer appears in the Live chat pop-up window.
  3. In the text entry area, enter the launch character that you configure in App Studio followed by a letter or a number.
    Result: The system displays a list of categories along with phrases and the text of the phrase, as shown below:
    Performing launch character-based search
    Performing launch character-based search
  4. To select a phrase, press the down arrow, and then press Enter.
    Note: Hover over a phrase to see the entire text of the phrase in a tooltip.
  5. The text of the chosen phrase appears in the text entry area in the Live chat pop-up window for the CSR to send to the customer.

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