How to create canned messages for operators

Canned messages are predefined strings of text that the operator can insert into a conversation. With canned messages, the operator can reuse commonly used responses without having to type them.

  1. Choose the technology for which you want to create or edit a canned message:
    • Chat: Setup > Account Setup > Chats > Chat Canned Messages
    • Email: Setup > Account Setup > Emails > Email Canned Messages (Premier or Enterprise subscription required)
    • SMS: Setup > Account Setup > SMS > SMS Canned Messages (Premier or Enterprise subscription required)
    • Twitter: Setup > Account Setup > Twitter > Twitter Canned Messages (Premier or Enterprise subscription required)
  2. Create, edit, or copy a canned message:
    1. Go to the top of the Account Setup ? Canned Message Folder window and click New, Copy, or Edit.
  3. Name and identify the message so operators can find it with ease:
    1. Fill in the Name field. This value is only used internally to identify and reference the canned message, and it is never exposed to visitors
    2. Option. Fill in the Subject field. This is only shown to visitors under certain circumstances, such as Auto Answers' labels.
    3. Option. Associate Keywords with the canned message. BoldChat indexes and searches these words and phrases to help identify canned messages that may be relevant to a chat session.
  4. Option. Set an Access Key, which is a keyboard shortcut that inserts the canned message into an active chat.

    Conflicts can occur when a particular key combination is registered to other applications on your local machine. Operators should check key availability by clicking Check.

  5. Set the message's Language.

    This value acts as a filter to ensure that operators see only messages matching the visitor's language. When no value is specified, no filter is applied and the message is displayed to all operators as <Not specified>.

    Result: For example, when an Italian speaking visitor starts a chat, the operator sees Italian canned messages plus those messages with no language value.

    Tip: Subject , Keywords , and the message body should all be written in the same language.
    Note: If you are using the Auto Answers feature, the Language setting also determines which messages appear to visitors in Auto Answers.
  6. Type and format the message.
    • Messages are stored in HTML format and can be edited as HTML source as well.
    • Mark certain phrases or words as not translatable to prevent them from being translated when auto-translation is enabled.
    • You can also insert variables in the ${variable_name} format. For example, use the variable ${login.ChatName} to insert the operator's chat name into the canned message. Available variables:
      • ${chat.ChatUrl} - The URL of the chat from where the visitor started the chat session
      • ${chat.ChatName} - The name of the visitor as provided on the pre-chat form. If the First name field is available on the pre-chat form then this variable displays only the first name of the visitor.
      • ${chat.IsStarted} - Displays whether the chat was started
      • ${chat.Started} - Displays the date and time when the chat started
      • ${chat.IsAnswered} - Displays whether the chat was answered
      • ${chat.Answered} - Displays the date and time when the chat was first answered
      • ${chat.IsEnded} - Displays whether the chat is started
      • ${chat.Ended} - Displays the date and time when the chat ended
      • ${chat.CountryCode} - The two-digit code of the country where the visitor started the conversation
      • ${chat.RegionCode} - The region or ZIP code of the country where the visitor started the conversation
      • ${chat.City} - The city where the visitor started the conversation
      • ${chat.VisitEmailAddress} - Email address of the visitor as provided on the pre-chat form
      • ${chat.VisitPhone} Phone number of the visitor as provided on the pre-chat form
      • ${login.UserName} - The User Name of the agent as set on the Organization > Agents > Agent Information tab
      • ${login.Name} - The Agent Name of the agent as set on the Organization > Agents > Agent Information tab
      • ${login.EmailName} - The Email Name of the agent as set on the Organization > Agents > Email Settings tab
      • ${login.BestChatName} - The Chat Name of the agent. If this is unavailable, then the Agent Name of the agent.

    Result: The list of canned messages for an operator is filtered down to those canned messages that match the visitor's language. For example, when an Italian speaking visitor starts a chat, the operator sees Italian canned messages plus any canned message where the language is unknown <Not Specified>.

  7. Save your changes.

    Result: The canned message is made available to be used in response to incoming communications for the chosen technology (Chat, Email, SMS, or Twitter).

To arrange canned messages in folders, right click the root folder and click New Folder. Once you have folders, you can drag and drop messages between folders.