Live Chat

Have real-time conversations with your customers directly through the Client Portal. Resolve questions faster without waiting for email replies.

What is Live Chat?

Live Chat lets your customers start a real-time conversation with your support team directly from your Client Portal. Instead of submitting a ticket and waiting for a reply, they get an instant chat experience while an available agent responds on the other end.

Every live chat conversation is tied to your organization and visible to agents who are marked as available. If no agents are available, the chat option does not appear on the portal, so customers are never left waiting in an empty chat room.

When to use Live Chat vs. Tickets Live chat works best for quick questions that can be resolved in a few messages. For complex issues that require investigation, follow-ups, or involve multiple team members, tickets are still the better fit. You can use both side by side.

How it works (overview)

There are three things that need to happen before your customers see a live chat option on the portal:

1 Admin enables Live Chat in organization settings and makes sure the Client Portal is also enabled.
2 An agent sets themselves as available for live chat from within the app.
3 The agent opens the Live Chat page to receive and respond to incoming conversations.

Only when all three conditions are met does the live chat option appear on your Client Portal for customers.

No agents available? If no agent is currently set as available, the chat button is hidden from the portal. Customers will still be able to submit tickets as usual. This prevents a poor experience where someone starts a chat and nobody responds.

Step 1: Admin enables Live Chat

You need to be an Admin to turn on live chat. Go to Settings in the FyneDesk app.

1 Navigate to Settings in the sidebar.
2 Find the Live Chat setting and toggle it on.
3 Make sure the Client Portal is also enabled (live chat is delivered through the portal). If the portal is not yet set up, see the Client Portal guide.

Client Portal is required Live chat is a feature of the Client Portal. If the portal is disabled, customers have no way to access the chat, even if live chat is toggled on in settings. Both must be enabled.

Step 2: Agent sets availability

Once the admin has enabled live chat, individual agents (and admins) need to mark themselves as available. This tells the system that someone is ready to receive incoming chats.

1 In the FyneDesk app, find the availability toggle (visible to agents and admins when live chat is enabled for the organization).
2 Set yourself as Available. You can switch back to unavailable at any time.

Your availability status only affects live chat. It does not change how tickets, email, or other features work. When you are done handling chats for the day, toggle yourself back to unavailable.

Step 3: Agent opens the Live Chat page

When you are set as available, navigate to the Live Chat page in the FyneDesk sidebar. This is where incoming chat conversations appear.

From this page you can:

See incoming chat requests from customers on your portal
Accept and respond to conversations in real time
Handle multiple conversations at once

Keep the page open You need to have the Live Chat page open (or the FyneDesk app active) to receive incoming messages. If you navigate away, incoming chats may be missed until you return.

What your customers see

When all three conditions are met (live chat enabled, portal enabled, at least one agent available), customers visiting your Client Portal will see a chat option. They can click it to start a conversation.

The customer experience:

They visit your portal (e.g., yourcompany.fynedesk.io)
A chat option is visible, indicating live support is available
They start a conversation and type their question
An available agent sees the message on the Live Chat page and responds
The conversation continues in real time until resolved

If no agents are available, the chat option is simply not shown. The portal continues to work normally for ticket submissions and knowledge base browsing.

Frequently asked questions

Does live chat create tickets?

Live chat conversations are separate from tickets. They are real-time exchanges that do not generate a ticket. If a chat conversation reveals an issue that needs tracking, the agent can create a ticket manually from the conversation context.

Can I use live chat without the Client Portal?

No. Live chat is delivered through the Client Portal. The portal must be enabled and accessible for customers to use chat. See the Client Portal guide to set it up.

What happens if I go unavailable while in a conversation?

Any active conversations you are already in will continue. Setting yourself as unavailable prevents new chat requests from being routed to you, but it does not disconnect existing conversations.

Can multiple agents be available at the same time?

Yes. Any number of agents can be set as available simultaneously. Incoming chats can be handled by whichever agent picks them up from the Live Chat page.

Do customers need an account to use live chat?

No. Just like the rest of the Client Portal, live chat does not require customers to have a FyneDesk account. They can start a conversation directly.

Is live chat available on the embeddable website widget?

Currently, live chat is available through the Client Portal only. Widget support may be added in the future.

What if all agents become unavailable?

The chat option disappears from the portal immediately. Customers who were in the middle of a conversation will see that the agent has become unavailable. New visitors will not see the chat option at all.