Chat: Configure chat preferencesUpdated 32 minutes ago

The Preferences tab in the chat integration settings controls when shoppers are able to initiate a chat, how you communicate wait times, and how you collect shopper contact information. Use these settings to align the chat experience with your support workflow.

Requirements

Available on all Helpdesk plans
Only the account owner and admins can configure chat preferences

Note: You can only access these settings once you've already set up a chat integration.

Configure your chat preferences

As you adjust the preferences for your chat integration, the live preview on the right side of the page will update to reflect each change, so you can see how they look before saving. Your customers won't see your changes until you save.

From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
In the menu, locate Channels, then select Chat.
Select your chat integration from the list.
Click the Preferences tab.
Adjust the Chat availability, Where chat appears, Share wait time with shoppers, Collect shopper emails, and Shopper experience settings.

Chat availability

Note: If AI Agent is enabled for your chat integration, this section is titled When to hand over by email, and the options control when AI Agent transfers a conversation to your team via email.

The chat availability setting controls when shoppers can send live chat messages and what happens when your team isn't available. When chat is online and a shopper sends a message, a chat ticket opens in your helpdesk for agents to pick up and respond to in real time. When chat is offline, shoppers can leave your team a message through the offline capture form, which creates an email ticket in your helpdesk.

From the Preferences tab, scroll to Chat availability.
Select the option that best fits your team's availability.
Click Save in the top-right corner.

There are three options to choose from:

Setting	Controlled by	Description
Live when agents are available	Agent availability	Shoppers can only send chat messages when an agent is available in Gorgias. When no agents are available, chat will appear offline until the next agent becomes available.
Always live during business hours	Business hours	Shoppers can always send chat messages during business hours. Outside business hours, offline mode will activate automatically.
Offline (capture messages only)	Manual	Shoppers can only send messages using the offline capture form. The live mode won't be available until you change the setting.

Where chat appears

Use the toggles in the Where chat appears settings to temporarily remove the chat from your website, limit it to show only during business hours, or hide it from mobile visitors.

From the Preferences tab, scroll to Where chat appears.
Click the toggles to enable or disable chat visibility.
Click Save in the top-right corner.

There are three options to choose from:

Setting	Description
Show chat	When this is turned off, the chat won't be visible on your website.
Show chat outside of business hours	When this is turned off, the chat won't be visible on your website outside of business hours.
Show on mobile	When this is turned off, the chat won't be visible on the mobile version of your website.

The Share wait time with shoppers setting lets you display an approximate reply time in the chat.

From the Preferences tab, scroll to Share wait time with shoppers.
Click the toggle to enable the wait time message.
Select either Dynamic wait time, In a few minutes, or In a few hours.
Click Save in the top-right corner.

There are three options to choose from:

Option	Message shown to shoppers
Dynamic wait time	The message adapts based on your team's actual response times. Shoppers see: "Connecting you to our team. We will get back to you in about X minutes."
In a few minutes	Shoppers always see "Connecting you to our team. We will be with you in a few minutes." — regardless of actual agent availability.
In a few hours	Shoppers always see "Connecting you to our team. We will be with you in a few hours." — regardless of actual agent availability.

If the estimated wait is over 15 minutes, shoppers will see the option to either wait for an agent or fill out the offline capture form to receive a reply over email.

Note: If you have multiple chat integrations, the dynamic wait time is calculated separately for each one.

Collect shopper emails

Note: If AI Agent is enabled for your chat integration, this section is titled Collect shopper emails at handover. When set to Optional, the email is requested but skippable, and a ticket opens in your helpdesk in all cases. When set to Required, the shopper must provide their email before the conversation can continue, and the ticket stays closed until the email is provided.

The Collect shopper emails setting prompts shoppers for their email address when they initiate a chat. Collecting emails lets your team follow up with the customer after the conversation ends or continue by email if the chat is accidentally disconnected.

From the Preferences tab, scroll to Collect shopper emails.
Click the toggle to enable email collection.
Select either Optional or Required.
Click Save in the top-right corner.

Shopper experience

The Shopper experience settings control whether you send transcripts and customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys after the chat conversation ends. To send surveys and transcripts, be sure to connect an email to Gorgias first, so Gorgias can send emails from your address.

From the Preferences tab, scroll to Shopper experience.
Click the Connect email dropdown and select a connected email address. This email address is used to send conversation transcripts and CSAT surveys.
Check Send conversation transcripts to shoppers to automatically email the shopper a full transcript 30 minutes after your last reply.
Check Send CSAT to send a customer satisfaction survey after each chat conversation closes.
Click Save in the top-right corner.

Note: If you have more than one chat integration set up in your helpdesk, adjusting the CSAT survey setting for one integration will change it it for all of them. It isn't possible to enable or disable CSAT surveys for some integrations but not others.

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