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Why can my customers still chat after all agents have gone offline?

Greg Katechis
  • Edited
Zendesk Developer Advocacy

Question

My customers can still chat with us after all agents have gone offline. Why is this happening?

Answer

In Zendesk Chat, once a chat has begun, an agent does not have the ability to end the chat on behalf of the customer. The connection is still open until the customer ends the chat. For other reasons that a chat session could end, see the article: When do chats time out?

If a customer starts a chat, and then the conversation completes, and the agent ends the chat in the user interface, the customer could still have the chat dialogue open and begin a chat conversation that will not be answered. This can cause confusion because there are no agents to take the chat.

Performance steps

It is possible to write a custom script that ends a chat as soon as an account goes offline.

Important: This workaround is intended to be used by Zendesk Chat Phase 4 customers and Support customers who have the integrated Web Widget experience.
<!--Callback to end chat when account goes offline --> 

<script type="text/javascript"> zE('webWidget:on', 'chat:status', function (status) { if (status === 'offline') { zE('webWidget', 'chat:end') } else { console.log('This chat session is now', status); } }); </script>

For more information, consult the Chat API documentation. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for instructional purposes only. Zendesk does not support or guarantee the code. Post any issues you have in the comments section or try searching for a solution online.
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4 Comments

  • Sprout Social, Inc.

    Under Performance Steps, it says "It is possible to write a custom script that ends a chat as soon as an account goes offline."

    What/who exactly is "an account"? Would that be when the agent ends the chat? 

    0
  • DJ Buenavista Jr.
    Zendesk Customer Care
    Hi Nikki,
     
    Thank you for reaching out to Zendesk Support.
     
    In regards to your concern, the following "account" that was mentioned in the article is the Zendesk account. Meaning, once there are no agents available or if all agents have gone offline, then the chat will automatically be closed. 
     
    Thank you!
     
     
     
    Kind regards,
    0
  • Bex Heenan

    Hi there,

    Is there a way to have this timeout after a agent has closed the chat from our end, rather than when we're offline?

    We wouldn't want to just cut chats off when we switch to Invisible. For example, if we were chatting to a customer and we then switched to out of hours, we wouldn't want the chat to be disconnected. However, once we end the chat, we don't want the customer to then be able to continue chatting if we're not there.

    Thanks!

    0
  • DJ Buenavista Jr.
    Zendesk Customer Care
    Hi Bex,
     
    Thank you for reaching back to Zendesk Support.
     
    An agent cannot close the chat, not unless he/she manually disconnected from the chat. Also, when an agent switches to Invisible status, the ongoing chat would remain and it will not disconnect. 
     
    Once all of your agents switch to Invisible status and there are no available agents, then your customers will not be able to reach chat or get into the queue for a chat. Once you have operating hours enabled and set, your agents will not be able to go Online outside operating hours and your customers will not be able to get into a chat. 
     

     
    Thank you!
     
     
    Kind regards,
    0

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