Reference & Chat @ FIU Libraries

In this article

Signing in to LibChat

At the top of the LibAnswers dashboard, you'll see two areas that indicate LibChat's status.

1. The first status area will indicate whether or not any operator has signed in and is monitoring chat.
   •  LibChat is Offline: This status will display if no operators are currently signed in to LibChat.
   •  LibChat is Online: This status will display if you or any other operator is currently signed in to LibChat.
2. The second status area will indicate whether or not you personally are signed in.
   • LibChat: You are offline: Sign In
     • This status will display if you are not currently signed in to LibChat. The status dot above your profile image will also be red to also indicate you are offline. 
     • To sign in to LibChat: click the Sign In link.
   • LibChat: You are online: Go Chat
     • This status will display if you are signed in to LibChat. The status dot above your profile will also be in green to indicate you are online.
     • This can be a helpful reminder in case you've minimized the LibChat dashboard or it's gotten buried in a pile of browser tabs. :)
     • Clicking the Go Chat link will take you back to the LibChat dashboard. If you are currently signed in at another location, you'll be given the option to end that session and start a new one.
3. You can also sign in to LibChat from the command bar by going to LibChat > Connect.

Chat with patrons

Under the  Chats tab of the dashboard, you'll be able to monitor your assigned departments and manage your claimed chats.

• Claim a new chat
  When a patron starts a new chat from one of your widgets, you must first claim it before you can send a reply.
  • View the patron's info and history
    If the patron provided their contact info (email address or SMS number) before starting the chat, you will be able to view a list of their most recent chats and tickets.
• Send messages
  Learn how to send messages, including how to apply basic formatting, insert emoji, and upload & send files. This article also covers how to insert canned messages & links to FAQs, request contact info, and send appointment scheduler links.
  • Create a ticket from the current chat
    If a patron's question requires a follow-up at a later time, you can easily create a ticket so you can reply to them later.
  • Ban a user during a chat
    Learn how to ban the current user's IP address from using LibChat.
  • Add the current chat to a Reference Analytics dataset
    Learn how to create a new Reference Analytics transaction from the current chat.
  • Switch between your claimed chats
    Learn how to easily switch between your claimed chats in the dashboard.
  • Transfer a chat to another user, department, or co-op
    Learn how to transfer a chat to another online user or department.
• End a chat session
  Once a chat is finished, either you or the patron can end the session.
  • Why was I disconnected from LibChat?
    Learn the most common reasons for being disconnected from LibChat and how to troubleshoot them.

Claim tickets, SMS, and Twitter direct messages

Under the  Tickets tab of the dashboard, you'll be able to monitor your assigned queues and claim new tickets and SMS messages. With SMS, you can even reply directly within the LibChat dashboard—just like you were chatting with the patron using a LibChat widget!

• Claim and reply to SMS messages and tickets from the LibChat dashboard
  Learn how to claim and reply to SMS messages and tickets from your monitored queues—without leaving the LibChat dashboard.
• Claim and reply to Twitter direct messages, and mentions from the LibChat dashboard
  Learn how to claim and reply to Twitter direct messages and mentions from your monitored queues—also without leaving the LibChat dashboard.

Chat with other online staff members

In addition to chatting with patrons, you can also use LibChat to chat with other online staff members! Internal chats can be one-on-one with another user, or you can chat as a group with an entire department or all online users. All a user needs is a LibAnswers user account in order to access LibChat.

• Chat and screenshare with other online staff via an internal chat session
  Learn how to chat one-on-one, as a group with a department, or with all online staff at once.

The best way to learn how to chat is to read the transcripts.

To view the transcripts:

LibAnswers > LibChat > Transcripts

Use the top filters to view chats from a certain time period or chatter

Click the eye icon to view the transcript 

Once in transcript view, use "previous" & "next" to scroll through.

Sign out of LibChat or set your away status

Whether you're done for the day, or just stepping away for a minute, LibChat makes it easy to set your status accordingly.

• Sign out of LibChat or set yourself as away
  Learn how to change your status to online, offline, or away in the LibChat dashboard.
  • Sign another user out of LibChat (Admin users only)
    Did a colleague leave for the day, but forget to sign out of LibChat? No problem! Admin users can easily see which users are currently online and terminate their sessions.
  • Automatically sign all inactive users out of LibChat at a certain time (Admin users only)
    In addition to manually signing out users, Admin users can also create a daily sign-off schedule. This will force all users offline at a certain time if they are not actively chatting.

After chatting: transcripts, missed chats, and stats

• View a chat transcript
  Learn how to view the transcript of a completed chat session.
  • Edit a transcript and remove patron information
    Learn how to edit individual chat transcripts and remove patron information
  • Anonymize patron names in chat transcripts (Admin users only)
    When you create a chat widget, you can prompt users to provide a name. This name will not only be used during the chat to help you identify the user, but it will also be saved in the chat transcript, as well. If you'd rather not save the name in the transcript, you can choose to represent the patron anonymously.
  • Scrub all personally identifiable information from LibAnswers (Admin users only)
    Learn more about activating privacy scrubbing to automatically remove patron information from LibAnswers on a regular basis.
• View missed chat attempts
  Learn how to view missed chats (i.e. chats that were not claimed by a staff member while LibChat was online).
• Analyze and export LibChat statistics
  Learn how to generate and export your chat statistics.
• View chat ratings and patron comments
  Learn how to view the ratings and comments submitted by patrons after each chat session