Can we have an automatic (scripted) greeting?

Yes!  We call these "concierge auto-responses."  Concierge auto-responses appear to the guest automatically in their view of the chat transcript.  Concierge can be set up on any or all of your queues. Concierge is triggered after the guest sends their first message and on any delay you'd like.  For example, you might want:

• An automatic generic greeting that triggers after just a second or two, in order to let the guest know you received their question and someone will be with them soon.
• An apologetic greeting that triggers after a somewhat lengthy delay, to help with times where your staff are not picking up chats as quickly as usual. or your chat service has been left online accidentally.

Administrators can set up concierge auto-responses via the queues dashboard page (US, CA, EU, SG). Click on the queue you wish to add the auto-response(s) on and go to the 'Chat' tab.  'Concierge auto-responses' is the third field from the top. Set the time trigger on the left, and type your message in the text box on the right.  The message can be plain text or HTML, so you can include links in your message. Click 'Add' to save. Once you add a message, a new text box will automatically appear so you can add an additional message if desired.  If not, you're all set.  

What happens on the staff side? 

On the staff side, nothing happens.  And, the staff can still answer even after an auto-response that apologizes for a delay and offers alternative contact methods. 

What about text messaging (SMS)?  

While you can certainly have auto-replies for your text messaging queue, you may or may not want to provide them.  Text messages already have the offline auto-reply, which is a different kind of auto-response.  

If you also provide an automatic greeting, you will want to make sure the overall effect is coherent.  For example, let's consider a case where you do not staff chat over the weekend, and a guest texts after closing on a Friday, and the chat is not staffed over the weekend. 

In a case like this, the concierge auto-replies do not really make a lot of sense.

 

Does the operator have to use the LH3 webclient?

No. Concierge works no matter what staffing software the operator is using.

Can we have more than one auto-reply on a single queue: one as an initial greeting and another as a fail-safe if no one is really there?

Technically yes, but we advise caution in what the first of the two messages says.  It is usually better to have a human send an initial greeting, and this can be done quickly and easily using canned messages.  This way, your guests are rightfully informed that a person is there and paying attention to their message.  If you have an automated greeting, and no real person can actually respond quickly, that can leave a bad impression even if an apologetic auto-reply comes along later.