How to Set Up Agents to Respond When Available and Chatbot When Unavailable
This article explains how to configure your chat button so that human agents handle conversations when they are available, and the chatbot automatically takes over when no agents are online.
Overview
LiveAgent allows you to set up a routing system where visitors are connected to human agents when available, and automatically switched to a chatbot when all agents are offline or when the queue reaches a certain threshold.
Configuration Steps
Step 1: Access Chat Button Settings
- Navigate to Configuration > Chat > Chat buttons
- Select the chat button you want to configure
- Click Edit
Step 2: Configure the Online Scenario
In the Online scenario section, you can set a queue threshold to control when the system switches from agents to chatbot:
- Define the maximum number of visitors allowed to wait in the queue for your department
- When the queue reaches this threshold, the system automatically switches to the offline scenario
- Set the threshold to a value between 1 and 100
Example: If you set the threshold to 5, when 5 or more visitors are waiting for an agent, the system will trigger the offline scenario.
Step 3: Configure the Offline Scenario
In the Offline scenario section, choose what happens when agents are unavailable or the queue threshold is reached:
- Show online button with chatbot - The chat button remains visible, but only the chatbot is available to handle conversations
- Show offline button - The button is replaced with an offline contact form
- Show no button - The button is hidden completely
To enable chatbot responses when agents are unavailable, select Show online button with chatbot.
How It Works
- When agents are online and the queue is below the threshold, visitors connect directly to human agents
- When all agents are offline, the offline scenario is triggered immediately, and the chatbot handles conversations
- When the queue reaches your defined threshold, the offline scenario is triggered, and the chatbot takes over
- Once the queue drops below the threshold, the system returns to the online scenario with human agents
Important Notes
- The button's online/offline state is determined when the page loads
- If the threshold is reached after the page has loaded, the offline scenario is triggered only when the visitor clicks the button
- The queue threshold is set individually for each chat button, not globally for your entire account