Chat Settings, Office Hours, & Chat Mode

Re:amaze gives you control over how your team handles live chat, when you are available to customers, and which chat mode best fits your workflow. This article covers how to configure your chat settings, set up office hours, and choose between Real-Time Chat and Classic Chat.

Chat settings

Navigate to Settings > Chat and Office Hours to configure live chat mode and office hours for each brand. Select Manage Chat Settings to begin editing.

From the chat settings page you can:

• Enable a typing preview so agents can see what customers are typing before they send.
• Add a chat disclaimer for customers.
• Disable attachments to prevent customers from sending files and images, which can help reduce spam and malware risks.

Associated email channel

Your associated email channel determines the default inbox where live chat conversations are stored. This is a required setting because all live chat conversations in Re:amaze must be attached to an email address. If a customer goes offline or leaves before you can respond, your reply can be sent to them via email.

When you first create an email channel, a default address such as support@yourcompany.reamaze.com will be assigned. You can connect your own email address through email forwarding and Custom SMTP. To learn more, see the Email Forwarding article.

You can select one or more associated email channels for live chat. If only one email address is selected, customers will not have the option to choose which channel to send their message to. If more than one is selected, customers can choose which email channel to use.

Office hours

Office hours let customers know when your team is available and set expectations for response times when you are away.

Navigate to Settings > Chat and Office Hours and select Manage Chat Settings. If you manage multiple brands, make sure you select the correct brand first. Scroll down to the Office Hours section and select Add Office Hours.

Select the days and times for your office hours. Hours can be added as individual blocks throughout the day and can vary from day to day. Blackout dates can also be added for specific days throughout the year, such as national holidays, and can be further broken down by hours if needed.

For example, office hours might look like:

• Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
• Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Blackout dates might include:

• July 4th
• December 24th and 25th

When you are done, scroll to the bottom of the page and select Save Messaging Settings.

Office hours also affect staff report response time calculations. When office hours are enabled, response times in staff reports only reflect times when staff are actively working. For more details, see the How Response Times Are Calculated article.

Email autoresponders can be configured to send based on your office hours schedule. When creating an autoresponder, select the Follow Office Hours option to have it send only when you are outside of your office hours.

Chat Mode

Re:amaze offers two chat modes: Real-Time Chat and Classic Chat. The mode you choose will directly impact how your customers experience support and what expectations are set around your team's availability.

Real-Time Chat works like modern messaging apps such as iMessage or Facebook Messenger. There is no expectation that both parties are online at the same time. Customers can send a message and wait for a reply, and your team can respond when available. This works well for teams that handle support asynchronously or through mobile apps.
Classic Chat is a traditional live chat experience where both the agent and the customer must be online simultaneously. There is a clear beginning and end to each session, and customers expect an agent to respond within seconds to a minute. This works best for teams that maintain a dedicated live support presence during set hours. Classic Chat is only available on the Plus plan.

For a full breakdown of how each mode works, see Chat Modes: Real-Time Chat vs. Classic Chat.

Enable Classic Chat

To enable Classic Chat, select the Enable Classic Chat Mode option. Once enabled, you can configure the following settings:

• The amount of time before customers receive a staff busy notification.
• The amount of time before unanswered chat requests are marked as missed.
• Whether missed chats automatically convert into a regular conversation.
• Whether inactive chats are automatically ended.
• Whether a satisfaction survey is shown at the end of each chat session.
• Whether chats are automatically assigned to agents who are available for Classic Chat.

Once Classic Chat is enabled, each agent can turn their availability on or off from the bottom right corner of their dashboard. Agents can also set their personal Classic Chat hours and enable audible notifications from the same location.