If you are authenticating visitors, visitors on your site will now be able to see past chat conversations in Web Widget (Classic).
This is useful if your site visitor needs to refer to a past conversation without having to search their inbox for the chat transcript email.
Once a chat has been initiated, the visitor will be able to scroll up in the chat log to view conversations from previous sessions, separated by a date/timestamp divider.
The widget will load 20 chat log events at a time (events include chat messages, but also messages like agent’s joining and chat ending).
If new messages are received in an ongoing chat session while viewing past chat messages, a button will appear that, when clicked, jumps the visitor to the latest message in the chat log.
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If the costumer access the widget today with one device and tomorrow the costumer uses another device, will the past chat conversation still be available? If so, how can I configure it? I couldn't notice it when I tested in different devices.
HiJoao,
The articleEnabling authenticated visitors in the integrated Web Widgetwill answer your question on how to configure seeing the past chat conversation from your end user's point of view. Hope this helps! :)
Question regarding this functionality where the chat log is preserved - What happens when prechat form is enabled?
If I open a chat with prechat form and inputtest.user@test.comas my email address the chat opens as a chat from end-usertest.user@test.com.
What happens when whoever someone else opens a zendesk chat with the prechat form and inputs the same email addresstest.user@test.comas their email - is the same chat history shown just based on what the end-user types as their email address to the prechat form?
Henkka (Pepron)If the user is authenticated, they do not have the option to enter/edit information in the pre-chat form. It is pre-filled for them based on what is sent in the JWT authentication payload.
So having two people enter the same email address in the pre-chat form (non-authenticated) will not be treated as the same person and will not show past conversation history since they are viewed as different visitors from the cookie in the visitor's browser.
Hi Ramin,
And thanks for your comment.
1. Just to make sure - if we are not using our own tokens etc for authenticating users or doing any custom authentication - just the Zendesk Chat's prechat form.
When we have visitor X inputting emailtest@test.comand user Y inputting emailtest@test.comhow does this work:
A. If the chat with with visitor X is live?
B. If the chat with visitor X ended let's say 24 hours ago?
2. Is this chat history functionality only present when there is a custom authentication in use?
3. If the Zendesk prechat form doesn't show any chat history even when there is the same email inputted is there anyway to restrict this new chat history functionality with custom authentication present so that chat with custom authentication would act exactly the same way as with the Zendesk chat prechat form and no history would be shown to any visitor?
1. They will be viewed as two different visitors with the same name/email address/phone number entered, they wont have access to anything from each other's browser cookie identity.
2. Conversation history is only available to JWT authenticated visitors
3. Not possible out the box. If you want to hide the conversation history, you would need to build a custom widget using the Web SDKhttps://api.zopim.com/web-sdk
Thank you Ramin!
We understand now how the history part works. This is a little off-topic, and should possibly be under another article, but still another continuing question on 1:
If we get the same email address for the chat visitor via the prechat widget and we have Agent workspace where the chat ticket is created and managed within Zendesk Support and therefore the Zendesk Support End-user would have to be on the created chat/chat ticket ticket how does this work with the same email?
We understand that we can handle the end-user within chat as a different end-user but as with Agent workspace within Zendesk Support there can't be two different end-users with the same email what would the agent experience be when handling this kind of a ticket?
No problem. Tickets will be tied to the end user identity in Support which is separate from the Chat end user (regardless if authenticated or not).
So in the case that a non-authenticated visitor enters the same email address twice on different machines/devices or a random person puts in the person A's email address, the ticket created in Support will be tied to whatever email address was entered at the start of the chat conversation. Only the Support end user with that verified email address will have access to the contents of the tickets (across all channels).
Have to continue still on this:
When we have an already existing end-user with a verified email address in Zendesk Support fortest@test.comemail - the email is already verified within Zendesk Support - and visitor Y comes to the site and inputstest@test.comas their email address is the Agent Workspace chat an chat ticket under Zendesk Support created under that verifiedtest@test.com电子邮件地址仅基于在这种情况下visi什么tor Y writes on the prechat form? If not, what's the agent experience for chats/chat tickets within Zendesk Support in Agent workspace when there already is existing end-user with verified email address present and visitor Y inputs that same email address to the prechat form.
From your answer I understand that everything would be delivered of course only to the end-users email address in this casetest@test.comso the end-user only has access if they have access totest@test.comemail inbox.
The history part is good and we now understand this but what we're after now in this continuing question is as chat is an instant messaging system and if the chat/chat ticket with Zendesk Support in Agent workspace is created under whatever is inputted as the email address by visitor Y in the prechat form - what is the agent experience handling the chat? As whatever is written by the agent in the on-going chat is delivered to visitor Y via chat channel and not via email channel where this verified email address would work.
It might be easier if you see it yourself by doing a test, here are the steps I would do to test this:
1. In Support, create a new end user withyouremail+test@domain.comand verify from within Support
2. In an incognito tab, load the page where your widget is embedded or put the widget on a test page.
3. Enter the same email address in the pre-chat form and start a chat conversation
4. As the chat conversation is ongoing in agent workspace, it will show the chat identity information and you may see a warning on the right side bar saying something information on the end user does not match. Ongoing chat conversation messages will not be visible in the ticket until the session ends.
5. When the chat conversation is ended either by the visitor or the agent, the transcript will be updated to the ticket and be associated with the existing end user in Support with the matching email address.
By following these steps, you will see that the transcript of the chat with the entered visitor email address will show up as recent activity for the verified end user in Support.
As these questions are more about agent workspace ticket behaviour and not authenticated visitors/conversation history in the widget, I would suggest you contact our advocacy team via the Web Widget if you have follow up questions. This will ensure that the ticket will also get visibility by the agent workspace team members.
Hello guys,
I have a problem: My users don't see any past chat conversations, I use Web Widget (Classic) and generate JWT for each user when they start to chat. I can see their profiles and chat conversations in the admin center but they don't see any previous messages when they start a new chat. Please, help me to fix it.
Have you already tested it directly and follow the steps inEnabling authenticated visitors in Web Widget (Classic)? If you have Guide/Help Center You can also check the behavior by assuming the end user and check the past conversation on the widget.
Pleasesign into leave a comment.