Conversations via website chat
What your team sees in the inbox from a website visitor, and what the visitor sees in the widget.
Last updated on
A conversation appears in the inbox as soon as the visitor sends their first message, with the channel Website chat. How to respond is described in Reading and replying to conversations. This page explains what extra you see with website chat.
In the side panel on the right is an Open on website button with the page where the visitor was last active, plus visitor and session details. Extra fields from the visitor form are shown there too.
Who is the visitor?
- Tillor recognises a visitor by their browser. The same browser on the same device therefore opens the same conversation.
- Name, email and phone from the visitor form are kept in that browser after the first message. If the visitor comes back later, they do not have to fill anything in again.
- If that storage is empty, for example in a different browser or after clearing, the widget fills in the details from the existing conversation.
- Messages are text of up to 4096 characters. Images and files are not supported.
Typing and presence
| What | Who sees it | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Typing… while the visitor is writing | Your team | Below the conversation in the inbox, even before the first message |
| Typing… while a colleague is writing | The visitor | In the widget |
| Online (green dot) or Last seen with a time | Your team | Above the conversation |
The visitor counts as online as long as the tab is visible. The widget sends a sign of life about every 20 seconds. Fetching messages, typing and reading also count as activity.
Ticks
Visitors see ticks next to their own messages:
| Ticks | Meaning |
|---|---|
| One | Sent |
| Two grey | Your team has opened the conversation and loaded the messages |
| Two blue | Your team has marked the conversation as read |
In the inbox you see ticks next to your own replies:
| Ticks | Meaning |
|---|---|
| One | Sent |
| Two grey | The visitor is on the page and has fetched the messages, even with the chat closed |
| Two blue | The visitor has the chat window open |
Replies from the inbox appear in the widget automatically, even if the visitor opens the window later.
Visitor activity in the conversation
After the first message, your team sees grey info text in the conversation. The visitor does not see it. These lines do not raise an unread counter and do not trigger a push notification.
| Event | Text in the inbox |
|---|---|
| Chat closed | User closed the chat |
| Other tab or window minimised | User switched tab or minimized the browser |
| Another page opened | User navigated to the page URL |
Navigation is also detected on sites that switch pages internally without reloading. The widget passes on the current page about every 20 seconds, so the side panel shows the last active page.
Tillie on website chat
Tillie, the AI assistant, also works in the widget. To use it, install Inbox AI assistant separately. Installation, knowledge base and behaviour are described on Inbox AI assistant (Tillie). Messages from Tillie get a little robot in the widget instead of the organisation logo.
The first message
As soon as the visitor types, your team may see Typing…. The first message is only sent when they click Send, together with the contact details they entered.