Set up and enable ChatLast updated on 03/22/2022

• Be sure that an administrator is available to manage Chat settings. As with other settings, managing Chat setup requires admin permissions.

• A toll-free number set as the MMS number will not receive photos in Chat.

• You can advertise the local number designated for MMS as the number to text a photo of the issue if the lead or customer want to book an appointment.

Because of the nature of the Chat medium, customers will expect a timely response from you, so be sure to resource correctly. The goal should be to achieve close to a 100% response rate on incoming chats.

If you are able, dedicate an in-house, industry-educated, savvy CSR with strong communication skills to handle Chat. Having a designated and properly-trained Chat CSR means sending better responses more quickly, increasing customer confidence and trust and delivering a more positive customer experience.

Create a planned-out process for addressing customer complaints and escalations that may come up over Chat. Be ready for every possible scenario that could play out over Chat from basic scheduling, rescheduling, dispatching, and invoicing to customer complaints and escalations.

If you have a local number for receiving photos, be sure your CSRs know to give it to customers who want to send you image and video files. You can advertise any local number as the number where a lead or customer can text a photo or video of the issue to book an appointment. Customers cannot share a photo to toll-free number; images and videos sent to a toll-free number do not show up in Chat.

1. Go to the navigation bar and click the Settings icon. In the side panel, click Communications > Chat.

2. Read the terms of use, and then click ACCEPT.

3. Check the Chat settings screen to ensure that you have chosen default SMS and MMS phone numbers. If you have already done so for Customer Notifications, the green check marks indicate that you are already set up.

   The default phone numbers are the numbers that customer notifications will be sent from. All phone numbers you have through ServiceTitan that have Allow incoming sms checked are capable of receiving incoming texts.

   If you have not already set up a default SMS and/or MMS number, click Edit phone number, then select a number from the list.

   For more on setting up default SMS and MMS numbers, see Set up outbound (default) numbers for text notifications (SMS and MMS).

The best way to take advantage of Chat is to send booking confirmations, reminders, and dispatch notifications through Customer Notifications.

Set up the templates for text notifications to maximize how chat messages build your relationships with your customers by including personality and branding.

When updating your text notification template, make sure the message makes it clear that it's from the office rather than from a technician. There could be costly miscommunications if customers assume that they are texting with the technician rather than with a CSR via Chat. Additionally, you should set the right expectations about when a customer should expect to hear back from you and what happens when a customer texts you after-hours.

In addition to editing your text notification templates, increase customers’ awareness of Chat by updating the verbiage of all your notification templates. Let customers know that they can reply to a text notification if they have questions or need to make changes to their appointment. If you have a dedicated CSR for Chat, you can add that CSR’s signature at the end of your notifications.

For information on how to set up and customize notifications, see Customize notification message templates and Enable Notifications.

After you have set up Chat for use, give the relevant employees permission to access and use it. Add at least one CSR:

1. Go to the navigation bar and click Settings . In the side panel, click Communications > Chat.

2. Under Setup Chat permissions for employees, click Edit employees.

3. From the Employees screen, click Edit next to each of the employees who you would like to access Chat. The employee permissions screen appears.

   The following permissions are available for Chat:

   • Read-only Access to Customer Chats—This allows the employee to view Chat messages.

   • Full Access to Customer Chats—This allows the employee to send and respond to Chat messages.

   Note: If Full Access to Customer Chats is checked without Read-only Access to Customer Chats also being checked, the employee will not have any access to Chat. The full access permission requires the read permission to be checked.

After you have set up Chat and ensured that you have granted access to Chat to at least one CSR, you can enable Chat by toggling it on from the Chat settings page.

After you have set up Chat, you can test it if you want. If you want to text into Chat as a test, be sure to text using a number that is not saved as an employee or technician number in the system, as only messages from customers or leads appear in Chat. Messages from employees and technicians appear in the Dispatch Board alert panel, not in Chat.

• See Chat benefits and use cases

• See Use Chat