Lead Center's chat tool allows you to track and respond to each chat message sent via your website. Each time a customer sends a chat message, we’ll instantly alert you by desktop notification or email. Your chats will be available in Lead Center, along with your calls, texts, and form submissions for a unified view of all your communications and customers.
Getting started
Before adding our chat widget to your website, you’ll need to ensure CallRail's JavaScript snippet has been added to each page of your website where you want your chat widget to appear. This script is company-dependent in your account.
Please note that customers will be able to send you chat messages immediately after you enable the chat widget from the “Chat Widget” page unless you toggle it to OFF.
Creating your chat widget
CallRail allows one chat widget per company within your account. Use these instructions for each company where you'd like to chat with customers.
- Click the Settings icon on the left navigation bar.
- Choose the company where you'd like to enable chat.
- Choose Chat Widget from the Forms & Chats header on the left.
- To create a new chat widget for your company (or to edit the current chat widget enabled for your company), click Chat Builder on the right-hand side of the page.
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If you haven't yet installed your JavaScript snippet, the first step you'll see in the Chat Builder will include the script you need to install to your website for this company. Be sure to install this script on each page of your website where you want chat to show to your customers. Without this script, you won't see chats in Lead Center.
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If you already have installed your JavaScript snippet, the first step you'll see in the Chat Builder is the customization step. Set your chat widget up to your personal preferences by adding a header, greeting, and setting up some required fields for customers to fill out before they can chat with your team. Styling for your chat widget, including corner styling and coloring are available on the second tab, Edit Style. A live preview of your chat widget will appear on the right.
- Click Finish once you've completed customizing your chat widget. We'll immediately enable chat on your website. If you don't want chat to be live on your website yet, slide the toggle at the top of the Chat Widget page to OFF.
- Optional: View your website in a private/incognito browser window to test your chat experience. Be sure your chat widget is toggled ON before your test.
Activating chat on your website
Your chat widget will be available for visitors to send you messages as long as it's turned ON on the Chat Widget page. If you’ve set up chat notifications, you'll be alerted to available chat conversations, missed chat messages, and new chat messages. If you haven't set up notifications yet, you can follow the steps in this article to do so.
Set your chat display name
If you'd like to change the name your customers see when they're chatting with you, you can update your chat display name:
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Click the Account icon in the top left to open the My Account panel, then click My Profile.
- Enter your name as you'd like it to appear to customers in the Chat Display Name field.
- Click Save User at the bottom of the page.
Set your hours of availability
You can set business hours for your chat widget to ensure your customer's conversations aren't missed. When the widget is toggled to OFF, it will notify customers that no agents are available and allow them to leave a message. You can adjust your hours of availability at any time, and changes go into effect immediately. Here's how:
Set your hours of availability for chat.
FAQs
Can I install the chat widget on several sites?
Yes, installing your chat widget on multiple sites will work as long as the chat widget exists on each site. The chat's session information will help you determine which domain the chat originated from.
Where will the chat widget appear on my site?
Once you've installed the chat widget, the chat button and widget will always appear on the bottom right of the page.