SMS Chat

Customers can initiate an SMS chat (known as "texting") conversation with agents by sending a message from their mobile phone to a published phone number or short code. When a customer sends the message, agents see the notification in the telephony panel. The notification displays the Name as “SMS Chat Request,” and the Call ID starting in “SMS” with the phone number of the device sending the SMS.

When the agent answers:

• A case is popped with the phone number populated from the customer’s mobile device.

• Address search is performed, as configured.

• The chat view or box displays showing all the past and present messages collected for that phone number. This also includes the age of each message from when the interaction was initiated.

• Each “Send” sends a new SMS to the customer. For compatibility, SMS messages are traditionally limited to 140 characters, and the logic splits long text into multi-part messages.

  • No SMS is sent to the customer except when the agent does a “Send” in the chat interface.

• The conversation continues until the agent closes their case window. After the case window is closed, if the customer sends another text, the agent has the option to continue in the most recent case or create a new case.

If the case remains open on the agent's screen during an SMS interaction the new message is added to the conversation. When there is not a prior conversation on a case already open on an agent’s screen, a new case is created for the new message and delivered to an agent.

No images, emojis, or videos are currently supported, but links can be used from the agent side.

When the agent needs to contact the customer via SMS Chat, click the Phone button next to any phone number field on the case. Depending on how your system is set up, a message may display asking you to select the option for sending SMS Chat.