Enabling the pre-chat form on the Chat widget

You can require customers to enter information, like name, phone number, or a question, by enabling the pre-chat form.

To enable the pre-chat form

1. From the dashboard, select Settings > Widget.
2. Click Forms at the top of the page.
3. Next to Pre-Chat Form, click On.
4. Select the information you want end users to enter before they can start a chat, like in the example below:

   

Some of the displayed options vary depending on your settings in other areas:

• For the Require Phone Number option to appear, you must select Allow Phone Number under the Visitor Profile section of the same page.

• For the Require Department option to appear, you have to have departments enabled. For details, see Creating agents and departments.

In rare situations, information required in the pre-chat form may not be passed into the chat:

• If the chat is started by a proactive trigger, the pre-chat form requirement is bypassed and chats can be created without users having to fill in their name and email address. For more information, see Why do I keep receiving chats with no customer contact information?
• If a chat is interrupted or disconnected, pre-chat data may not be reapplied upon reconnection, including department and visitor tags.