Live Chat Widget

The Live Chat Widget opens real-time, two-way conversations with website visitors the moment they land on your site. Every message flows directly into your unified Conversations inbox alongside SMS, email, and social channels, so your team never has to switch between tools. For businesses with active sales or support teams, live chat reduces response times from hours to seconds and creates instant, personalized experiences that turn visitors into customers.

What Live Chat Widget Does

The widget transforms your website into a two-way communication channel with full conversation management in the platform’s unified inbox:

Real-time messaging: Visitors click the chat bubble to start a conversation. Messages appear instantly in your Conversations inbox with a distinct chat icon for easy identification.

Automatic contact creation: New chat visitors are automatically added to your CRM with their name, email, phone number, and conversation history attached from the first message.

Channel switching: Reply to a chat inquiry via SMS or email without leaving the conversation thread. The channel selector lets you pick the best communication method for each follow-up.

Auto-responses and fallback: Configure acknowledgment messages that send instantly when visitors start a chat. Set a Fallback Inactivity Time to automatically prompt visitors for contact details if no agent responds, ensuring you can follow up later via email or SMS.

Multiple widget types: Choose from Live Chat (real-time with team), SMS/Email Chat (async contact collection), All-in-One Chat (multiple channel options), WhatsApp Chat, Facebook Chat, Instagram Chat, and Voice AI Chat (browser-based voice interactions).

Key Configuration Options

Create and install the widget: Navigate to Sites > Chat Widget, click New, select Live Chat as the type, customize appearance in the Style, Chat Window, and Messaging tabs, then click Save and Get Code. Paste the embed code into your website’s tracking code section, or use Settings > Websites/Funnels > Chat Widget dropdown for no-code deployment.

Appearance customization: In the Style tab, match your brand with custom colors for the bubble, header, and message backgrounds. Upload a custom icon or avatar, set the placement (bottom-left or bottom-right), configure size, and write the welcome message that appears before visitors open the chat.

Contact form fields: Configure which fields visitors must complete before starting a conversation in the Chat Window tab. Collect name, email, phone number, or custom fields. Add consent checkboxes for terms of service, privacy policy, or marketing consent to meet regulatory requirements.

Inactivity handling: Set the Fallback Inactivity Time to automatically prompt visitors for contact details if no agent responds within the configured period. Set the inactive time period (e.g., 5 or 10 minutes) to automatically close chats when visitors stop responding.

Automated assignment: Navigate to Automations > Workflows, add a Customer Replied or New Chat Message trigger with Channel set to Live Chat, then add an Assign to User action to route chats to specific team members automatically.

Power Features

Conversation AI integration: Enable the Conversation AI bot to handle initial visitor interactions, answer common questions, qualify leads, and book appointments automatically, all without a human agent present. This is especially valuable for after-hours coverage.

Multiple widgets per account: Create separate widgets for different pages or use cases. A pricing page might use a live chat widget staffed by the sales team, while a support knowledge base page might use an SMS/Email chat widget that routes to the support queue.

Template responses: Access your message template library directly from the Conversations inbox when replying to chat messages. Templates support personalization tokens for consistent, on-brand responses.

Mobile app support: The platform’s mobile app alerts team members to new chats in real time, so you can respond from anywhere. The same conversation thread appears on desktop and mobile seamlessly.

Filter by channel: Use the Live Chat channel filter at the top of the Conversations inbox to isolate only chat conversations, making it easier to prioritize real-time interactions that require immediate attention.

Pro Tips

• Staff your chat during posted business hours. Live chat sets the expectation of an immediate response. If visitors wait more than a minute or two with no reply, the experience turns negative. Use fallback messages to capture leads outside business hours.
• Write a clear, actionable welcome message. Instead of “How can we help?”, try “Hi there. Ask us anything about pricing, scheduling, or our services. We typically respond within 30 seconds.”
• Configure contact collection in fallback. Always ensure your fallback inactivity message prompts for name, email, and phone number. This turns missed chats into follow-up opportunities.
• Keep response times under 60 seconds. Monitor your average response time in the reporting dashboard and set internal benchmarks. If times creep above one minute, add more agents during peak hours.
• Test on mobile devices. Open your site on a phone and tablet to verify the widget loads correctly, is easy to tap, and does not block important page content.

Common Questions

How do I make sure live chat messages appear in my Conversations inbox?

You must first create and install a Chat Widget with the type set to Live Chat under Sites > Chat Widget. If the chat type is set to SMS/Email instead of Live Chat, messages will not route to Conversations in real time.

What happens if no one responds to a live chat message?

If no agent responds within the configured Fallback Inactivity Time, the system automatically prompts the visitor to leave their contact details. This allows your team to follow up via email or SMS later.

Can I assign live chat conversations to specific team members?

Yes. Manually assign chats from the Conversations inbox, or create a workflow that automatically routes chats to specific users based on the chat widget, time of day, or other trigger conditions.

Does the live chat widget work on external (non-platform) websites?

Yes. The embed code works on any website, including WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, and custom-coded sites. For WordPress, use the LeadConnector Plugin for streamlined installation.

Can I pair Conversation AI with the live chat widget?

Yes. Enable the Conversation AI bot to handle initial greetings, answer common questions, and qualify leads before handing off to a human agent. Configure behavior in the Conversation AI settings.