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Zendesk Chat triggers conditions and actions reference

Aimee Spanier
  • Edited
Zendesk Documentation Team

Zendesk Chat triggers allow you to to add information about your customers, improve workflow routing, and handle spam requests.

For more information about triggers, seeZendesk Chat triggers resources.

This article contains the following tables:

Trigger firing events

When you create a trigger, you must select afiring event. These events determine whether that trigger will run, check its conditions, and perform its defined actions. Firing events are selected when creating a trigger, using theRun triggerdrop-down

  • SelectWhen a visitor has loaded the chat widgetif you want the trigger to run when the chat widget appears on the page, but the visitor has not interacted with it.
  • SelectWhen a visitor requests a chatif you want the trigger to run when the visitor has requested a chat.
  • SelectWhen a chat message is sentif you want the trigger to run when the visitor has entered and sent text in the chat widget.

Trigger operators

Use the following operators to build trigger condition statements.

Table 1.Trigger operators
Operator Description
Equals Exact match
= 5 returns true only when 5
Less than Less than the number entered, but not including
< 10 returns true from 0-9
Greater than More than the number entered
> 120 returns true from 121 to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
Less than or equal to An exact match or less than the number entered
<= 3 returns true on a 3, 2, 1, or 0
Greater than or equal to An exact match or more than the number entered
>= 600 returns true from 600 to 1,000,000,000,000,000
Is not equal Anything but the value entered
!= 0 returns true for any number but 0
Contains 字符串includes the following text
"help" matches true with "help, i need somebody"
Does not contain 字符串does not include the following text
"help" matches true with "not just anybody"
Reg Ex Matches for regular expression values using thePython RegEx framework. This field looks for afullmatch, not a partial. For assistance, you can usePythexas a quick-reference and validation tool.
(?P(?:19|20)\d\d)(?P[- /.])(?P0[1-9]|1[012])\2(?P0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) Test String: 2014-07-28 String match: 2014-07-28

Trigger conditions

Condition statements consist of conditions, field operators, and condition values (these vary depending on the condition selected). Condition statements are essentially ‘if’ statements that return 'true' values that meet the specified criteria. When 'Check All of the Following Conditions' is selected, the first condition statement that evaluates to false terminates the trigger. When 'Check Any of the Following Conditions' is selected', only one condition needs to be true for the actions to fire.

Note:You cannot use a combination ofCheck all of the following conditionsandCheck any of the following conditionswhen creating a Chat trigger. You can only select one option or the other. This is also not possible in Developer view.
Table 2.Trigger conditions
Condition Description
Time/Date
Hour of day Hour of the Day (Universal Time Clock):

0= Midnight

23= 11 p.m.

Note that the Hour of day condition uses the hour only, anddoes notinclude minutes.
Day of week Day of the Week:

0= Monday

6= Sunday
Still on site A condition check of whether the user is still on the domain after X seconds since the scenario chosen has elapsed.
Still on page A condition check of whether the user is still on the same page after X seconds since the scenario chosen has elapsed.
Location of visitor
Visitor IP IP address of visitor
Visitor host name Host name (domain) associated with the visitor's IP address
Visitor city

City name associated with the visitor's IP address
Visitor region

Region the visitor is from according toGeoIP.

For the US and Canada, we use the ISO-3166-2 regions. These are the different states (e.g. Vermont).

For everywhere else, we use the FIPS 10-4 standard. The GeoIP website has a CSV file which lists all the different regions:

http://www.maxmind.com/download/geoip/misc/region_codes.csv
Visitor country code Two-letter country code of the visitor's IP address. Codes are case-sensitive and should be upper-case.
Visitor country name Country name associated with the visitor's IP address
Previous visit information
Visitor previous visits Number of previous independent visits:0= First time visit
Visitor previous chats Number of previous independent chats initiated with an agent:0= First time chatter
Page information
Visitor page URL Current URL of visitor (Widget must be installed on this page)
Visitor page title Current title of page visitor is on (Widget must be installed on this page)
Visitor page count Number of pages visitor has viewed. First page =1
Previous page URL of the previous page user was on
Visitor information
Visitor name Name of visitor
Visitor email Email of visitor
Visitor referrer Referrer URL of visitor, if applicable, determined from content headers
Visitor search engine Referring search engine, if applicable. Note that these values are case-sensitive and should be lowercase:

google

yahoo

bing

yandex
Visitor search terms Referring search terms, if applicable
Visitor tag Tag (Applied viaSet Tagaction)
Visitor triggered Triggered visitor (activated by Set Triggered action). Select either of the following from the drop-down menu:

True

假
Visitor department Visitor's department, set by the actionSet visitor departmentor Javascript API.
Software/Computer of visitor
Visitor user agent Visitor's user agent string
Visitor browser 眉毛er used by visitor
Visitor platform Platform used by visitor
Online statuses
Account status Status of your Zendesk Chat account which works as a hierarchy system.

Online

Away

Offline

  • If one agent is online (and the rest are away or offline) then the account status is online and theOnlineTrigger will fire.
  • If one agent is away (and the rest are offline) then the account status is away and theAwaytrigger will fire
  • If all agents are offline then the account status is offline and theOfflinetrigger will fire.
Department status

Status of the selected Zendesk department.

Online

Away

Offline
Visitor status Status of Visitor:

Online

Idle(no mouse or keyboard movement in the chat window for 10 minutes)
Chat-related information
Visitor requesting chat 'true' if visitor is requesting a chat by hittingSendin their Chat message.

“假”如果客人没有要求chat (for instance, if the visitor clicks on the chat bubble and does not take any action, this trigger will fire).
Visitor served “真正的”如果客人目前正在服役的agent (for instance, an agent has opted to serve the customer and has sent their first message in the chat).

'false' if an agent has not sent a response to the visitor.
Sender Name of sender of the chat message
Sender type Type of sender. Note that these values are case-sensitive and should be lowercase:

visitor

agent
Message The message being sent
Department Department (name) that visitor chooses from the pre-chat form
Visitor queue
Queue size (account) Total number of incoming chat requests for the account. Note that the condition targets the total account queue, and does not measure the department queue.

Trigger actions

Action statements define what occurs if all the condition statements are true and the trigger fires. You can think of action statements as ‘then’ statements: if all of your conditions are true, then perform these actions to update the user and optionally send notifications.

Table 3.Trigger actions
Action Description
Send Message to visitor Sends the given message to the visitor
Note:If the account is offline, this action will not work.
Set triggered Set Triggered can be one of two values and applies a flag which can be used in conjunction with the 'Visitor Triggered?' condition. Select one of the following from the drop-down menu:

True

假

Note:If the account is offline, this action will not work.
Wait Delay (in seconds) before the next action fires
Note:If you have multiple triggers that must be executed in a certain order, you need to add at least one second of wait time between each trigger. This is required due to the fact that triggers do not run in a particular order and are evaluated and executed simultaneously.
Add tag Adds a tag to the related ticket
Remove tag Removes a tag from the related ticket
Set name of visitor Sets the visitor's name
Set visitor department Adds a department to the visitor profile. When this action is selected, a drop-down menu appears, allowing you to select an available department. Only works when Run trigger is set toWhen a visitor has loaded the chat widget.
Replace note Replaces the note of the visitor's profile
Append note Adds to the note of the visitor's profile
Block visitor Bans the visitor from accessing your chat service. SeeBanning visitors from accessing Chatfor more information on blocking visitors.
Request email (continuous conversations) Messaging-related action. Sends automated message to visitor requesting an email for continuous conversation re-engagement. SeeEnabling continuous conversations to re-engage messaging customersfor more information.
Request messaging rating Messaging-related action. Sends automated satisfaction survey at the end of a conversation. SeeAbout CSAT ratings in messaging.
Note:For the trigger actions,Send Message to Visitor,Replace Note,Set Name of Visitor, andAppend Note, to use the @ symbol, you must include an extra @ symbol. For example, user@domain.com should be entered as user@@domain.com.

Trigger placeholders

占位符引用访客你的细节can use in trigger action statements. When the trigger is fired, the placeholder pulls in the current visitor and session information.

Table 4.Trigger placeholders
Placeholder Type Description
@hour_of_day Integer Current hour of the day (UTC timezone). 0 - 23
@day_of_week Integer Current day of the week (0 = Monday, 6 = Sunday)
@visitor_ip 字符串 City the visitor is from (based on IP address)
@visitor_hostname 字符串 Host name of the visitor's IP address
@visitor_city 字符串 Visitor's city
@visitor_region 字符串 Region the visitor is from (based on IP address)
@visitor_country_code 字符串 Two-letter country code of where the visitor is from (based on IP address). Codes are case-sensitive and should be upper-case.
@visitor_country_name 字符串 Country the visitor is from (based on IP address)
@visitor_page_url 字符串 URL of the page the visitor is currently on
@visitor_page_title 字符串 Title of the page the visitor is currently on
@visitor_referrer 字符串 Visitor's referral URL
@visitor_search_engine 字符串 Search engine the visitor used to find your website (can be blank)
@visitor_search_terms 字符串 Search terms the visitor used to find your website (can be blank)
@visitor_user_agent 字符串 Visitor's browser User-Agent string
@visitor_browser 字符串 Visitor's browser
@visitor_platform 字符串 Adds to the note of the visitor's profile
@account_status 字符串 Status of your account (online,away, oroffline)
@visitor_previous_visits 字符串 Number of previous independent visits
@visitor_previous_chats 字符串 Number of previous independent chats intitiated with agent
@visitor_name 字符串 Name of visitor
@visitor_status 字符串 Visitor status (online,idle, oroffline)
@visitor_time_on_page 字符串 Visitor's time spent on current page
@visitor_time_on_site 字符串 Visitor's time spent on site during current log in
@visitor_page_count 字符串 Number of pages viewed by visitor
@visitor_requesting_chat 字符串 Trueif visitor requested chat
@visitor_served 字符串 Trueif visitor is currently being served by an agent
@visitor_tags 字符串 Tags applied to visitor
@visitor_triggered 字符串 Triggered visitor (trueorfalse)
@referrer 字符串
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    31 Comments

    • Saida Mammadova

      Hi I'm trying to set a trigger where if the customer does not reply to the agent, an automatic message will be sent after 3 minutes saying something like "Unfortunately we are ending the chat session with you...see you next time".

      Why is it not working?

      2
    • Jess Bertubin

      Currently the visitor name placeholder pulls in full name. Is it possible to have a placeholder that breaks out the visitor's name into first name and last name?

      1
    • Dane
      Zendesk Engineering

      HiGianpaolo Valle,

      The option should be on the top part of the condition drop down.

      HiShalaka Walambe,

      As it turns out, the actual widget have no access/visibility on such events. Therefore such conditions/actions is not possible.

      0
    • Gianpaolo Valle

      Hi,

      in the conditions I don't find the country code, what must be done to enable it?

      0
    • Chad Susa

      Hi

      Is there a way to reset/remove the previous triggered comment in the chat widget?

      Our scenario is that we have multiple pages for Ready to Ship items. We want a trigger to pop-up the chat widget with a message saying 'These items are ready to ship, Chat with us now'.

      Problem is, we have multiple Ready to Ship pages and each page has a trigger (only fires once per visitor) saying the same thing.

      So the customer experience is that the widget pops-up with the previous trigger message in view - looks kind of silly.

      Was wondering if there is a way to 'reset' the chat widget window to blank (no history)?

      See example screenshot:

      0
    • Dane
      Zendesk Engineering
      Hi Raphaël,

      If you mean conditions specifically for agents, chat triggers don't have that specific condition.
      0
    • Nikki

      I don't really understand why/when to use the "Visitor Triggered" condition/action. Can I hear some use cases?

      ie is it generally used to help us know when the visitor reached out first? Or when we've done a proactive message? Does it reset with each visit or persist with the visitor_id?

      And just to confirm: "each visitor will receive this message only once" does persist with visitor_id and if true, they'll only EVER see it once (unless cache reset or whatever)?

      0
    • Nathan Purcell

      @...does the visitor page url include the domain?

      0
    • SendSafely Agent (BH)

      Is there a way to show/print the session ID of the current chat session using a placeholder?

      0
    • Dane
      Zendesk Engineering
      Hi Giovanni,

      Unfortunately, it's not supported on the conditions available for Chat triggers.

      It can only be possible for ticket updates for Agent Workspace when a ticket via Chat channel has been updated.
      0
    • Nikki

      So just to re-state:

      When "fire only once per visitor" is enabled then Joe Schmoe will only see that message once ever (on that browser / unless cleared cache / etc)

      Whereas if you want Sally Smith to only see it once for THIS chat, but you want them to see it again the next day when they log in again, then you use condition "visitor triggered is false" and action "set triggered is true."

      Additionally, if you want Sally to only see one of three given triggers in a session, then if they get triggered for one, the user is counted as "triggered" and any other triggers with "visitor triggered is false" will not be shown in this chat session.

      Is that right?

      0
    • Raphaël Péguet
      • Edited

      HiDane

      No I meant placeholder such as {{agent.name}} in regular Zendesk they exist on chat triggers looking like: @visitor_name (with a "@" structure)doc here

      But actually chat macros are obsolete as we can use Support Macros (not chat macros) for chat.

      Support macros offer much more flexibility (dynamic contente, tons of place holders)

      The issue is that when we want to send an automatic message how come we select the current agent???

      0
    • Jürgen König

      I miss an email notification as a trigger action to any person mail address (e.g. alert if chat requester waits too long) or similar.

      0
    • Matt

      Hey@...
      The visitor page url includes the full URL of the visitor.
      For examplehttps://subdomain.亚博zendesk.com/hc/en-us

      Hey@...
      That is a good question! Since the visitor only enters a name (not a first and last name) when starting a chat, we currently only have a placeholder to reference the full name that the visitor entered.

      Let us know if you have any further questions!

      0
    • Chad Susa

      Hello all :)

      Just wondering what the definition of Visitor previous visits "Number of previous independent visits:" is?

      zend如何k Chat determine / know how many previous independant visits someone has had? I'm guessing it's a cookie somewhere....and therefore if history is cleared, that means they are classed as a New Visitor..

      0
    • Shalaka Walambe

      Hello,

      I was wondering if it's possible to set a trigger action based on a page event if the URL remains the same.

      E.g. Show proactive trigger if customer encounters errors at checkout due to incorrect phone number format entered.

      0
    • Giovanni Landolina

      Hi,
      is there any way to trigger a webhook call on new chat messages?

      0
    • Charles Gresula
      Zendesk Customer Care

      HiChad Susa

      I am afraid it is not possible yet to clear/reset the chat widget but maybe you can use tags in the conditions and actions of your triggers so that they won't fire on chats where another trigger of the same nature already fired?

      0
    • Jay Krishnan

      Hi

      How does "Hour of day" trigger condition work with respect to the Timezone we have setup in our Chat Settings? We have the Timezone as UTC-6; however if we try to use the Hour of day condition, it says Hour of Day is UTC timezone.

      Please advice how the two settings work. Thanks in advance.

      0
    • Nikki

      Dainne LucenaI think it would help if someone just reviews all of my chat triggers with me! Should I reach out to my account manager or should I speak with you or another chat expert?

      0
    • Anais

      Hi,

      There is a new condition that isn't explained in this page: "visitor is chatting".

      I'm asking because I found that the condition "sender is not agent" does not work. Is it a known issue?

      For context, I'm trying to send a specific notification when the customer writes when everyone is offline. Agents sometimes answer chat without being online, and the specific notification gets sent (even though I have the condition "sender is not agent").

      0
    • Dainne Lucena
      Zendesk Customer Care

      HiNikki!

      The chat triggers apply to the whole account so it won't matter which user goes to the website. The trigger "visitor triggered is false" or even the "visitor triggered is true" only works if you have a trigger that has an action set as "visitor triggered is false" or "visitor triggered is true". So it would still depend on your implementation.

      Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!

      0
    • Brett Bowser
      Zendesk Community Manager

      Hey BH,

      I double checked and it doesn't look like there's an available placeholder for session ID at this time.

      Let us know if you have any other questions!

      0
    • Dainne Lucena
      Zendesk Customer Care

      HiNikki!

      I went ahead & created a ticket for you instead. Please keep an eye out for one of our advocate's updates on the ticket so we can help check your chat triggers.

      0
    • Jürgen König

      Hello Dane, thank you for an answer. Unfortunately this does not solve the problem. I am searching for a solution to inform (anyhow: mail, ticket, alarm, ...) on basis of an event by a trigger action. Background: No automatic creation of a support ticket by a chat available. Regards, Jürgen

      0
    • eCampus.com (child provisioning account)

      If using Day of week as a condition for messaging chat is unavailable over a weekend, can the condition simply be Greater than 4 or must it also include Less than 0?

      0
    • Dane
      Zendesk Engineering
      HiJürgen,

      Are you pertaining to chat triggers sending email notifications to the chat requesters? If that's the case, this feature is not supported on chat triggers.

      If I misunderstood your concern, feel free to respond and I'll look into it for you.

      Cheers,
      Dane
      0
    • Dane
      Zendesk Engineering
      Thank you for the clarification.

      I have also checked it directly and it's not part of the trigger placeholders.
      0
    • Raphaël Péguet
      • Edited

      Hi Zendesk community,

      There's no placeholder for the agent name?

      Best regards

      0
    • Dainne Lucena
      Zendesk Customer Care

      HiChad Susa

      It's based on the number of unique sessions created for thatvisitor_id.

      HiChris Smith

      The "day of week" condition is also available for weekends. 5 is Saturday while 6 is Sunday




      0

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