Live Chat with Shared Inbox streamlines customer communication across multiple channels, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM, Telegram, and Web Chat. This feature enables you to manage, track, and respond to messages in real time, all from one centralized platform. Whether you’re interacting with customers or resolving support requests, this system ensures your team collaborates efficiently and no message is missed.
In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to access and navigate the Live Chat interface, customize user interactions, and manage team communications seamlessly to enhance your customer service and engagement.
Accessing the Live Chat
To access the Live Chat interface, navigate to the menu and click on the Live Chat option for the platform you wish to use. For example, here we are using WhatsApp.
The Live Chat page can be divided into three sections:
- The Subscriber List
- The Chat Window
- The Chat Actions
Let’s explore each section in detail.
Subscriber List Section
This section displays all your subscribers. Whenever a customer messages you, they automatically become a subscriber.
Searching and filtering subscribers
At the top, you’ll find a search bar where you can type a subscriber’s name to quickly locate their conversation. This is helpful when managing multiple chats and needing to switch between them.
Click the filter icon to use advanced search features:
- Select Label: Filter by labels (e.g., “VIP,” “New Subscriber”).
- Select Sequence: Filter by sequences (e.g., “Welcome Message”).
- Order By: Sort by “Subscriber Recent Reply” or “Recent Communication.”
You also have several filter views:
- Mine: View chats assigned to you. This is useful for team collaboration, where agents handle specific customer interactions.
- All Chats: See all customer conversations.
- Unread Chats: Displays all unread messages, helping you catch up quickly.
- Archived Chats: Stores past conversations for future reference.
- Blocked Chats: Prevents unwanted messages from customers.
- Resolved Chats: Shows customers whose issues have been resolved.
Finally, use the Reload Option to refresh the live chat interface.
Enable / disable notifications
Click the Notification Icon to enable or disable sound alerts for new messages. Enabling notifications ensures you never miss a message.
Switch between accounts
If multiple accounts are connected, use the drop-down list to select the desired one.
Chat Window
The Chat Window is where you will interact with customers. This window has several important features to assist with communication. Let’s explore each one.
Mark As
You can label any customers’ chat as unread or archived, and even block them by using the Mark As feature. Simply select a subscriber from the subscriber list, and click on the Mark As button. A drop down menu will appear with the actions you can take.
Follow Up Reminders
The Follow Up feature is a useful tool for customer support teams. It acts as a reminder, allowing you to schedule a time to reply to a customer’s chat when you’re unable to respond immediately. This way, you ensure that no customer message goes unanswered and can better organize your workload.
To create a follow up reminder, click on the clock icon. Then, choose the time when you want to get reminded and click Apply to save.
Translate message
This option allows you to instantly translate text messages from one language to another. This is particularly useful for businesses that serve a global customer base or for individuals communicating with people who speak different languages.
Just click on the translate button under a message, and it will be automatically translated to your default language.
Learn more about message translation here.
Signature Messages
Signature Messages help you inform customers when you or one of your agents is taking over the conversation. This message can include the agent’s name, title, and any other customized information to ensure a professional interaction. For example: “Hi, I’m John, your support agent. I’ll be assisting you from now on.”
To enable this feature, click on the customer’s name in the subscriber section. Before starting a conversation, you can see if an agent is already talking to the customer—an indicator will show if someone is currently engaged.
If you want to join the conversation, tick the “Send Signature Message to subscriber” option and then click “Join Chat.” This will send the Signature Message to the customer. You can set up the message in the configuration settings.
When you have finished assisting the customer, click the Actions button. Select Leave Chat to indicate your departure from the conversation.
Rewrite with AI
You can automatically generate grammatically correct responses using this feature. Simply write your message, then click the “Rewrite with AI” button, and your message will be corrected for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Send Flows or Message Templates
You can send pre-written message sequences or bot flows you’ve created for your chatbots and broadcast campaigns in live chat.
Click the “Message Template” button to view all your bot flows and message templates. Select the one you want to send, enter values for the variables (in case the template includes them), and send it.
Canned Responses
Canned Responses are pre-written messages you can quickly insert into live chat conversations. These templates help streamline interactions, especially for frequently asked questions or common scenarios.
Click the Canned Response button.
To create a response, click the Add New button. Your agents can then select and send it using the same Canned Response button. Learn more about Canned responses here.
Attachments
Attachments are files shared between the customer and agent during a conversation. These can include documents, images, screenshots, or other relevant information to help resolve the customer’s query. Both customers and agents can send attachments, making it easier to provide context and share information within the live chat.
You can easily drag and drop files like images and documents into the chat window for quick sharing. This intuitive process makes it simple for customers to share information.
To send multiple files, hold CTRL (Windows) or Command (Mac) while selecting them, then drag and drop into the chat window. Files will upload instantly, and you can add captions or send them with a single click.
You can also record audio directly by clicking the audio button. For pre-recorded audio, send it as an attachment in the supported format (e.g., WhatsApp voice notes must be in OGG format, Mono Channel, Codec Opus, and low bitrate).
Location
You can easily share your location on Live Chat through Google Maps integration by clicking the location button. Simply enter a name for the location, provide the address, and click send.
Chat Actions section
The Chat Actions section is designed to streamline customer support and improve team workflows.
Managing subscriptions
With the Actions button, you can efficiently manage customer subscriptions, pause bot replies, and reset user input flows for a seamless experience.
- Subscribe / Unsubscribe: Subscribe or unsubscribe a customer based on your needs. If you see an “unsubscribe” option, the customer is already subscribed. If it shows “subscribe,” the customer is not yet subscribed, and you can click to add them.
- Resume / Pause Bot Reply: Pause the bot’s automatic responses to take over the conversation, and resume them once you’re done.
- Reset User Input Flow: Easily reset any user input flows set for the customer with a single click.
- Clear Chat History: Clears the chat history for the live chat, but the customer’s chat history remains intact on their platform (e.g., WhatsApp).
- Leave Chat: When you’ve finished assisting a customer, click “Leave Chat” to exit the conversation.
Assigning conversations
One of the key features of live chat is the ability to assign specific agents to customer conversations, improving support efficiency and team collaboration.
To assign an agent, first ensure they are added as a team member and assigned a role. Then, click on the Assigned Agent menu, select the appropriate agent, and save the changes. The agent will be notified of the assignment.
For a detailed guide on how to add team members and assign roles, check out our tutorial here.
Add Labels
Labels in live chat function as tags or categories to help organize customer conversations.
Support agents can use labels to categorize customers based on topics (e.g., “billing,” “technical support,” “returns”), location, or the agent handling the conversation. This helps streamline conversation management, improve data analysis, and ensure efficient customer support.
To add a label, click on the Labels menu, select a label from the dropdown, or type the label name to search for it. You can add multiple labels if needed, then save the changes.
Assign Custom Fields
The Assigned Custom Fields feature helps you collect key customer data for more personalized and efficient support. For larger teams, custom fields allow agents to quickly understand chat history and provide timely, informed assistance.
To assign a custom field, click on the Assigned Custom Field menu and select one from the list. You can create new custom fields in the subscriber manager. After choosing a custom field, enter the relevant value and save it. If you’d like customers to fill out the fields themselves, you can include them in a user input flow.
At the bottom of the Chat Actions section, you’ll see responses to both custom and system fields.
For WhatsApp chats, you’ll notice an indicator called Inside 24-hour window. This countdown timer shows how much time remains before the chat window automatically closes. WhatsApp’s 24-hour rule limits customer-initiated messages; after 24 hours, only templates can be sent to restart the conversation. To write freely, the customer must respond first, and the 24-hour window will reset.
Add Notes
Add notes to store important information about a customer, making it easier for your team to quickly understand the context of the conversation and respond effectively. Each note will display the agent’s name and the time it was added, helping to track who made the update.
To add a note, simply click on the Add Note button. You can add multiple notes if needed. Remember to click Save to apply the changes.
Conclusion
Live Chat with Shared Inbox is a powerful tool that centralizes customer interactions across multiple platforms, streamlining your team’s workflow and improving customer support. By mastering the features such as subscriber filtering, chat actions, and automation tools like canned responses and message templates, you can optimize customer service and boost engagement on all your messaging channels.
With the help of this tutorial, you can now confidently use Live Chat to enhance team collaboration and customer interactions, ensuring no messages get missed. And if you need extra help, you can always hire a personalized lesson here.