A Person in Three Minutes, or an Email
Support by email is reliable and slow. Support by live chat is fast and, done carelessly, a black hole when nobody is there. How we built chat with AWRA support so that it is never either.
- Written by
- Washingtone AuraFounder, AWRA OpsHub
- Issued
- Build
- Initial
A stock count will not post at four in the afternoon, the auditors arrive at nine tomorrow, and the support form promises a reply “within one working day”. That is the moment live chat exists for. It is also the moment a careless live chat fails worst — a spinner, a queue that nobody is watching, and a message that vanishes when the tab closes.
Only offered when someone is there
You can start a live chat with AWRA support from the chat drawer inside the app or from the AwraIQ assistant on our website. It is only offered while a support representative is online: the chat icon in the app pulses, and the assistant’s launcher on the website shows Live. When nobody is online you see the message form instead, and it is answered by email. You are never put in a queue that nobody is reading.
If you are signed in while you browse our website, you are not asked who you are. The chat starts as you, and the representative can see which organization you are writing from.
Connecting, with a clock
Once you send your first message you see Connecting you to AWRA support, with a timer that counts up. When a representative picks it up, the screen says who you are talking to by name. If nobody has picked it up after three minutes, the chat says so plainly: your conversation has been passed to the support inbox and will be answered by email, at the address you wrote from. Nothing you typed is lost.
Three minutes, then a promise you can hold us to — never an open-ended spinner.
Show us, do not describe it
Most support questions are faster as a picture. You can attach up to five files at a time, ten megabytes each — screenshots, PDFs, spreadsheets, Word and PowerPoint documents — or simply paste a screenshot into the message box. Images appear in the conversation as thumbnails; documents as named files.
It follows you around the app
You will need to go and look something up while you chat. When you move to another page, a bar at the bottom of the screen keeps the conversation in view — Chatting with Washingtone, or New message from Washingtone when a reply lands — and one click opens it again.
A copy when it ends
When a chat that a representative answered comes to an end, the whole conversation is emailed to you with the files you shared attached, and our support inbox is copied. The chat is over — where is the record? covers what the copy contains and why it matters.
What to have ready when you start a chat
Which screen were you on?
Have
A screenshot, pasted straight in.
Because
It answers half the questions we would ask.
Which record is it about?
Have
The count, invoice or order number.
Because
We go straight to it instead of searching.
What did you expect to happen?
Have
One sentence.
Because
The gap between expected and actual is the fault.
Verdict
Live chat is only worth having if it is honest about who is there. Offered only when someone is online, a three-minute promise that turns into an email rather than a spinner, files instead of descriptions, and a copy at the end: that is support you can plan an afternoon around.
Live chat for your own customers
The live chat above connects you with AWRA support. Organizations that like it often ask for the same thing pointed the other way.
A live chat on your own website
Your customers chatting with your team, with the same three-minute fallback to your inbox.
Chats that become helpdesk tickets
A conversation turned into a ticket with its transcript and files, assigned to a desk.
Opening hours shown to customers
When your team is usually online, so a customer knows when to expect a person.
Chat inside the mobile app
The same conversation from a phone, for teams who are rarely at a desk.
How it works: tell us who would chat with whom, and we return a written scope and cost.
Ask about customer chatTalk to AWRA support
Open the chat drawer in the app, or the assistant on our website. When someone is online, you will see it.
How support chat worksFrequently asked questions
How do I start a live chat with AWRA support?
Open the chat drawer from the chat icon in the app, or the AwraIQ assistant on our website. Live chat is offered whenever a support representative is online. The chat icon pulses, and the website assistant shows Live.
What happens if nobody answers my live chat?
If no representative picks it up within three minutes, your conversation is passed to the support inbox and answered by email at the address you wrote from. Nothing you typed is lost.
Can I send screenshots and files in the chat?
Yes. Up to five files at a time, ten megabytes each, including images, PDFs, spreadsheets, Word and PowerPoint documents. You can also paste a screenshot straight into the message box.
Do I get a copy of the chat?
Yes. When an answered chat ends, the conversation is emailed to you with your files attached, and the AWRA support inbox is copied.
Can my customers chat with my team the same way?
Not out of the box. The live chat connects you with AWRA support. A live chat for your own customers can be added to your workspace on request.
