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How Web Chat Works

Web chat puts a chat window on your website so customers can talk to your agents directly from any page. Before you build one, it helps to understand the pieces involved and how a chat travels through them β€” each piece is set up on a different screen in Daktela, but they only work together.

When you are ready to build, follow Set Up Web Chat β€” it takes you through all the steps in the right order.

The Journey of a Chat

flowchart LR
    website["Your website<br>(embedded chat code)"] --> connector["Connector"]
    connector --> tc{"Time condition:<br>are you open?"}
    tc -- "Yes" --> queue["Queue"]
    tc -- "No" --> terminate["Terminate<br>(offline message)"]
    queue --> agents["Agents"]
    queue -- "No agent answers" --> terminate
    tc -. "optional" .-> auto["Automessages"]
    auto -.-> queue
    connector -. "optional" .-> bot["Decision tree<br>or chatbot"]
    bot -.-> queue
  1. A customer opens the chat window on your website. The window is drawn by a code snippet that belongs to a connector.
  2. The connector sends the chat to its Next destination β€” usually a time condition that checks your business hours.
  3. During business hours, the chat lands in a queue, which rings your agents according to its distribution strategy. An agent accepts the chat and talks to the customer.
  4. Outside business hours β€” or when no agent answers in time β€” the chat is routed to a terminate target, which shows the customer an offline message and can log the chat as missed so you can follow up.
  5. Optionally, you can insert automessages (sent while the customer waits) or a decision tree/chatbot (a bot that talks to the customer first) anywhere in the chain.

The Building Blocks

Building block What it does Where to set it up
Connector The chat window itself: look and feel, welcome messages, input fields, and the code you embed in your website. Each connector is one separate web chat. Its Next destination starts the routing chain. Settings β†’ Routings β†’ Web chats
Time condition Routes the chat to different targets depending on date and time, using a time group that defines your business hours and holidays. Settings β†’ Routings β†’ Web chats β†’ Time conditions
Queue Holds waiting chats and distributes them to agents. Timing, priorities and the distribution strategy are set here. Settings β†’ Routings β†’ Queues
Agents The users assigned to the queue. Only agents assigned to the queue and logged in to it receive chats from it. Settings β†’ Routings β†’ Queues, Agents column
Terminate Defines how a chat ends: the disconnection cause, an automatic response to the customer, and whether the chat counts as answered or missed. Settings β†’ Routings β†’ Web chats β†’ Terminate
Automessages Automatic messages sent to the customer while they wait β€” or an offer to switch to click-to-call. Settings β†’ Routings β†’ Web chats β†’ Automessages
Decision tree Daktela's built-in chatbot: guides the customer through predefined questions and answers, can call external APIs and create tickets. Settings β†’ Routings β†’ Web chats β†’ Decision trees
Chatbot A connection to a third-party chatbot that talks to the customer before (or instead of) an agent. Settings β†’ Routings β†’ Web chats β†’ Chatbots

Info

Changes to connectors, time conditions, automessages, decision trees, chatbots and terminate targets only take effect after you click Apply configuration changes in the top right corner of the routing overview. Don't forget it β€” it is the most commonly missed step.

Before You Start

To set up a web chat from scratch, you will need:

  • Administrator access to the Settings section of Daktela.
  • Access to your website's code (or its Google Tag Manager) to paste in the chat snippet.
  • Your business hours β€” when the chat should be online.
  • A list of agents who will answer chats.

Ready? Continue to Set Up Web Chat.