Working with Chat in PeopleSoft CRM

This chapter provides an overview of chat features in PeopleSoft Customer Relationship Management (PeopleSoft CRM) and discusses how to:

Set up the chat framework.
Set up chat options.
Work with the customer chat window.
Work with the agent chat window.

Understanding Chat Features in PeopleSoft CRM

This section discusses:

Chat and PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework.
Natural language processing.
Application data in agent chat window.
Chat profiles.
Application data sharing and URL wizard.
Chat and interactions.
Chat logs and reports.

Chat and PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework

Chat functionality enables agents to communicate with customers through two-way text chat. The chat functionality of PeopleSoft MultiChannel Communications integrates the functionality of the PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework (a feature of PeopleTools) into the PeopleSoft CRM system.

From a self-service page , customers can request a live chat. This request opens the customer chat window, a browser-based window that does not require a client install or applet download.

Chat requests are routed by the universal queue to the first available agent with the skills to handle that request. Agents receive the request through the MultiChannel Console, which enables them to manage multiple simultaneous chat sessions. Accepting a chat request opens the agent chat window, which includes relevant customer information and enables agents to push PeopleSoft CRM content to customers. Agents can conference peers and supervisors into the chat, and transfer chat sessions to other agents or queues. Agents can also initiate chats with other agents on their buddy lists.

For information about the technical architecture that supports chat, refer to the PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework documentation in your PeopleTools PeopleBooks.

Natural Language Processing

The chat feature uses natural language processing (NLP) to automatically provide suggested solutions to try resolve customers' issues before connecting to agents. The autosuggestion option is made possible with integration between the CRM system and a third-party NLP system. In a CRM system in where NLP is installed, when customers click the Get Auto-answer button on self-service pages to request chat sessions, the CRM system sends the questions that they have entered to the NLP system through APIs provided by NLP. The NLP system searches for best matched answers for customers' questions in a knowledge base that is predefined for autosuggestion. It returns answers that have a relevance score higher than the threshold value defined in the Chat Setup Profile page and present them to customers. You define the maximum number of autosuggested answers that can display on the customer chat window in the Chat Setup Profile page.

If autosuggestion is unavailable (for example, the feature is disabled, NLP is not installed, or there are no matching solutions), chat requests are routed directly to predefined queues based on the subject that customers select on the self-service page.

PeopleSoft CRM delivers NLP setup for the chat autosuggestion functionality.

Refer to the NLP documentation for information on how to set it up and define knowledge bases.

Application Data in the Agent Chat Window

For each page where customers can request chat sessions, you specify a PeopleSoft page that will be pushed to agents who accepts chat requests initiated from that page. PeopleSoft CRM enables the chat capability for all self-service pages; you can specify a CRM page, which is known as an agent popup page, for each of the self-service pages to appear in the agent chat window, so that agents can review relevant information about the customer or the related transaction while working on a chat session. System delivered agent popup pages include:

The 360-Degree View page.
The mini navigation page for CRM applications. This page is a light version of the 360-Degree View page, which captures high-level customer or worker information and provides search capabilities for each CRM object that is available in a self-service application (for example, case search is available if you have installed the self service application of PeopleSoft Support, or HelpDesk, or HelpDesk for Human Resources. The same is true for order search if you have licensed PeopleSoft Order Capture Self Service.
Case pages for Support, HelpDesk and HelpDesk for Human Resources.
The Order detail page.
The Product detail page.
The Solution detail page.

Chat Profiles

A chat profile specifies options and values that are used to process chat requests, which include autosuggestion (if NLP is available), chat routing, subject and queue mapping and so on. Associate each chat-enabled self-service page with a chat profile that determines how chat requests initiated from that page should be handled. You can set up multiple chat profiles, each of them applies to a subset of pages that process chat requests similarly.

A self-service page is ready to accept chat requests after you have enabled it and associated it with a chat profile and an agent popup page in the Chat Enabled Self-Service Page Setup page.

Application Data Sharing and the URL Wizard

When agents click the Select button in the agent chat window, the system displays a list of the pages that can be pushed to the customer. They can preview each page before selecting one to send to customers. When a page is selected, the appropriate uniform resource locator (URL) appears in the URL field in the chat window immediately. Agents can enter application keys directly into the URL that points to a specific page, or use the View Detail link to access the search component of the selected page and locate a specific record. As agents push the URL from the agent chat window, it opens a new browser on the customer's workstation, displaying the selected page.

The interface that the agent uses to select a URL is known as the URL wizard.

Be sure to give your customers security access to the pages that you configure to be accessible through the URL wizard. For example, if you want to push a page with solution information to the customer, you may want to use the customer solution search rather than the helpdesk solution search.

Chat and Interactions

When identified customers submit chat requests to the queue server successfully, PeopleSoft CRM creates interactions of the type chat. This ensures that the chat requests are captured even if customers abandon the sessions before agents can respond. If a chat session is linked to a specific transaction, for example, if a customer initiates a chat session from the self-service page about a particular order, the order transaction becomes a subinteraction of the chat interaction that the system creates. The chat interaction history is visible from the order transaction, on the 360-Degree View of the customer under the interaction node, and the Chat Detail page (with a related transaction of order in this case).

The system creates subinteractions for two types of transactions: case and order.

Note. PeopleSoft CRM does not create interactions for guest self-service users.

Chat Logs and Reports

PeopleSoft provides the option of logging information about chat sessions, which includes the actual dialog between customers and agents, related transactions, the agent and queue for the sessions, as well as the list of solutions that the system suggested before the chat session started (if NLP is installed). You can access this log by accessing an interaction node in the 360-degree view or navigating to the Chat Detail component.

As delivered, chat logging is disabled. You turn on this option on the Cluster Tuning page in PeopleTools.

PeopleSoft CRM offers reporting functionality on chat. You can run reports to view chat volume by agent or queue within a date range.

Enterprise PeopleTools 8.45 PeopleBook: PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework

Setting Up the Chat Framework

The chat framework that you need to set up includes these items whose definitions are maintained in PeopleTools:

Realtime event notification (REN) servers.
Universal queue servers.
MultiChannel Framework (MCF) log servers.
Queue clusters.
Queues.
Agents.

Note. PeopleSoft CRM group worklist definitions serve as a front end that you can use to create queues and agents.

This framework is not unique to chat; it is also used by the email response management system (ERMS). You can find more detailed information about setting up this framework in this PeopleBook's discussion of multichannel architecture.

Here is the high-level guideline for setting up chat in the PeopleSoft CRM system:

Set up a REN server.
Set up a REN server cluster.

After configuration is complete, restart the REN server. Ensure that the server is up and running by performing a ping test.
Set up a cluster.
Set up a queue.

Define a queue in one of two ways: one through PeopleTools (the Queue component) and the other through CRM (the Group Worklist page).
Set up an MCF agent.

Define an agent in one of two ways: one through PeopleTools (the Agents component) and the other through CRM (the Group Worklist page). After the agent setup is complete and is associated with a queue, ensure that the agent can log onto the MCF Console and the queue.
Set up a chat profile.
Set up agent popup page setting.
Set up chat-enabled self-service pages.
Set up mapping between agent popup pages and self-service pages.

When a given agent popup page is displayed in the agent chat window, the system displays the list of self-service pages specified here in the URL wizard if customers click the Select button on the agent chat window.
If the chat feature provides autosuggested answers with the help of NLP, ensure that the corresponding knowledge bases is set up properly to recommend solutions.

Enterprise PeopleTools 8.45 PeopleBook: PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework

Setting Up Chat Options

This section discusses how to:

Define chat profiles.
Define agent popup pages.
Define general options for chat-enabled pages.
Define pages for the URL wizard.

Pages Used to Set Up Chat Options

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Chat Profile Setup	RB_CHAT_PROFILE	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Multichannel Definitions, Chat, Chat Profile Setup, Chat Profile Setup	Define general options, routing rules and automation setup (if NLP is available) for chat profiles. You specify a chat profile for each self-service page used for chat.
Agent Popup Page Definition	RB_CHAT_POPUP	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Multichannel Definitions, Chat, Agent Popup, Agent Popup Page Definition	Define the mapping between self-service pages and full-functional page setup. You can associate an agent popup page (a full-functional page) with multiple self-service pages on the Agent Popup Page Definition page, the system uses the one mapping that's specified on the Chat Enabled Page Setup page at runtime.
Chat Enabled Page Setup	RB_CHAT_ADMIN	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Multichannel Definitions, Chat, Chat Page Setup, Chat Enabled Page Setup	Specify the chat profile and agent popup page for each self-service page to support the chat feature.
Self-Service Page Mapping	RB_CHAT_MAP	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Multichannel Definitions, Chat, Page Mapping, Self-Service Page Mapping	Define pages that the agent can select in the URL wizard.

Defining Chat Profiles

Access the Chat Profile Setup page.

Chat General

Require user to enter question	Select to require users to enter their questions before submitting chat requests.
Allow guest user to enter name	Select to allow guest users to enter their names in self-service pages before submitting chat sessions to the queue server.

Chat Automation

This grid appears only if NLP is available.

Enable Chat Automation	Select to enable the CRM system to provide autosuggestion of solutions to customers to try resolve their issues before connecting to live agents.
Application ID and Knowledge Base ID	Select the ID of application that is defined for chat automation. The corresponding NLP knowledge base name is displayed.
Threshold (%)	Enter the relevance score (in percentage) that autosuggested answers need to meet for them to be presented to customers. Suggested answers with relevance score (analyzed by NLP) lower than this value are not returned.
Maximum Returns	Enter the maximum number of answers to be presented on the self-service page if multiple autosuggested answers return.

Chat Routing

Agent Portal Name and Node Name	Enter the portal registry and portal node of CRM full functional pages that agents access. The full-function pages that you show the agent can be from any portal registry. For example, you might enter EMPLOYEE or CUSTOMER; just make sure that your agents have security access to the page. The node is always CRM.
Agent Skill Level	Enter the agent skill level that is assigned to all chat requests. Only agents with at least the specified skill level can see and accept the request.
Chat Priority	Enter the priority that is assigned to all chat requests.
Subject	Enter the default subject that is to be used for chat requests where the customer does not enter a subject. When chat requests appear in an agent's queue, the subject gives the agent information about the request. Select a subject as the default value to show on self-service pages.
Queue Name	Select the queue to which all chat requests for the corresponding subject are routed.

Defining Agent Popup Pages

To define agent popup pages, use the Agent Popup Page Definition RB_CHAT_POPUP) component.

Access the Agent Popup Page Definition page.

Page ID

Displays the name that uniquely identifies the full-functional page. Some pages share the same page and component names (for example, support case, helpdesk case and helpdesk case for human resources pages), the system uses the page ID to distinguish them.

Template ID

Displays the display template ID used by the full-functional page, if applicable.

App. Package (application package)

Displays the system delivered application package name that contains the application classes and methods used to define the mapping between self-service pages and full-functional pages.

App. Class (application class)

Displays the specific application class that contains all methods used to define the mapping between self-service pages and the full functional page.

App. Method (application method)

Displays the PeopleCode application class method name that is used to populate all application keys needed to open the full functional page. The system uses this method to populate all the information needed for creating chat interaction. The same method can be used by multiple self-service pages. You can create additional application classes and methods to perform the tasks.

Chat Enabled Self-service Pages

This grid lists the self-service pages that are associated with the selected agent popup page. The selected agent popup page is displayed in the agent chat window when agents accept chat requests that originate from any of the listed self-service pages.

Defining General Options for Chat-Enabled Pages

To define general options for chat-enabled pages, use the Chat Enabled Page Setup (RB_CHAT_ADMIN) component.

Access the Chat Enabled Page Setup page.

Self Service Page

Displays the CRM self-service page that has implemented the chat feature.

Enable Chat Automation

Select to activate the corresponding page from which users can receive automatic suggestion of solutions prior to requesting chat sessions.

Component and Market

Select the component that is associated with the corresponding self-service page.

Typically you have one row in the grid for each self-service page. Or you can have multiple pages (multiple versions of the page) to the grid, with each one uniquely identified by a display template ID, for example. If display template ID is used, the market value is always set to GBL.

When you add a new row to the grid, the system sets the value of the market GBL by default.

Template ID

Select the display template ID that is used by the self-service page, if applicable.

Chat Profile

Select a chat profile to apply to the self-service page. Click the Chat Profile link to view and edit the associated chat profile setup.

Agent Popup Page ID

Select a CRM full functional page from the drop-down list box. When users initiate chat sessions from a self-service page, the associated CRM page is displayed in the agent chat window. Click the Agent Popup link to view and edit the associated definition.

Defining Pages for the URL Wizard

To define pages for the URL wizard, use the Self-Service Page Mapping (RB_CHAT_MAP) component.

Access the Self-Service Page Mapping page.

Agent Popup Page ID and Page

Display the ID and name of the CRM full functional page (an agent popup page) that appears when the agent clicks the Select button on the agent chat window.

List of Self-Service Pages

Page Name	Enter the object name of the self-service page that maps to the given agent popup page and is available in the Select URL to push to Customer page (URL wizard) to be pushed to customer's machine. Enter a row of data for each self-service page.
Component and Menu	Enter the component name, menu name for the page that you selected.
Market and Template ID	Select the market for the corresponding self-service page, typically it is set to GBL. Select the display template ID for the page, if applicable. Use the GBL market if you reference a display template.
Portal and Node	Enter the portal registry and portal node of the page that you selected.

Working with Customer Chat Window

This section discusses how self-service customers:

Send chat requests.
Use the customer chat window.

Sending Chat Requests

Access any CRM self-service page that is enabled for the chat feature.

This chat portion is unavailable if ERMS is not licensed or the chat feature is disabled. When users first access a self-service page, only the Subject, Question and Get Auto-answer fields appear.

Subject	Select the subject of the question from values that are defined in the Contact Us Subject page. The CRM system uses the subject information for routing chat requests to corresponding queues.
Question	Enter the specific customer question. NLP analyzes the content in this field and returns autosuggested solutions to customers (if applicable). You can make it a required field in the chat profile.
Get Auto-answer	Click to invoke NLP to return autosuggested answers based on the information entered by the customer. Note. If NLP is not available or if chat automation is disabled for the self-service page on the Chat Profile Setup page, the Get Auto-answer button becomes Start Chat button. The CRM system routes the chat request directly to the appropriate queue based on the selected subject. A self-service customer clicks this button to access the customer chat window and send a request to start a chat session. The system sends the request to the universal queue server, which routes the request to the queue that you defined on the Chat Enabled Page Setup page. When an agent who belongs to that queue accepts the chat request, the customer and the agent can use chat functionality to communicate with each other in realtime over the Internet.
Start Chat	Click to submit a chat session to the queue server. If the queue server receives the chat session, it returns a chat ID for the session, which gets updated in the Chat Details page automatically. The CRM system creates an interaction for the chat session, if the requester is a registered self-service user.

Auto-suggested answers to your question

This grid lists the solutions returned by NLP that may answer customers' questions. Each role of returned solution includes its actual relevance score, solution description and a button that customers click to indicate that the given solution solves their issue. If customers click yes, the feedback is logged in the Chat Details page and is sent back to the NLP system in realtime for knowledge base teaching and learning purposes. Click the description link to view the solution in detail.

If NLP doesn't return any solutions, the CRM system displays a message to inform customers that the chat request is submitted to the queue server automatically.

See Also

Sending Contact Us Messages

Using the Customer Chat Window

Access the customer chat window by clicking the Start Chat button.

A customer uses the customer chat window to chat with the agent who accepted the chat request. The customer chat window provides only simple chat functionality, not the more extensive capabilities of the agent chat window.

The customer chat window is common to all PeopleTools chat implementations. You can find more detailed information about the customer chat window in your PeopleTools documentation.

See Enterprise PeopleTools 8.45 PeopleBook: PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework

Working with Agent Chat Window

This section discusses how to:

Use the agent chat window.
Use the URL wizard.

Page Used to Work with the Agent Chat Window

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Select URL to push to Customer page	RB_CHAT_WIZARD	Click the Select button in the agent chat window.	Displays the pages that you've defined for the URL wizard so that you can select a page whose URL you want to push to the customer.

Using the Agent Chat Window

Access the agent chat window by accepting an incoming chat request from the MultiChannel Console.

Use the agent chat window to:

Chat with a customer.

Type free-form text and select predefined messages (such as standard greeting and sign-off messages) to send to the customer.
View the agent popup page that is associated with the self-service page from which the customer requested the chat, and navigate to other PeopleSoft CRM pages.
Push PeopleSoft CRM pages to the customer's workstation.
Invite agents in your buddy list to join a customer chat.
Transfer the customer chat to another agent.

The agent chat window is common to all PeopleTools chat implementations. PeopleTools provides several personalization options such as the ability to define standard greetings.

You can find more detailed information about the agent chat window in your PeopleTools documentation. Personalization options are documented in the discussion of setting up agents.

See Enterprise PeopleTools 8.45 PeopleBook: PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework

Using the URL Wizard

To use the URL wizard, use the Select URL to push to Customer (RB_CHAT_WIZARD) component.

Access the Select URL to push to Customer page (the URL wizard).

Select and URL

Select the page whose URL you want to send to the customer's workstation. You can select only one page at a time. The URL of the corresponding page is displayed in the URL field automatically. You can edit the URL if you already know the application keys (such as an order ID) to the URL; that directs the customer to the exact CRM transaction.

Description

Displays the value that you entered on the Self-Service Page Mapping page.

View Details

Click to access the search page of the corresponding self-service page. It is useful if agents want to push pages to customers yet don't know the application keys to compose the exact URL. After searching for the right record, the agent can push the page to the customer immediately.

Push

Click to send the URL to the customer's workstation without closing the URL wizard.

Push and Close

Click to send the URL to the customer's chat workstation and close the URL wizard.

Viewing Chat Logs and Reports

This section discusses how to:

View chat logs.
View chat details.
View chat reports.

Pages Used to View Chat Logs and Reports

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Chat Log	RB_CHAT_LOG	Correspondence, Chat Detail, Chat Log	View chat transcripts and related transactions.
Chat Details	RB_CHAT_DETAIL	Correspondence, Chat Detail, Chat Details	View system information about the chat session and chat automation results (if NLP is available).

Viewing Chat Logs

Access the Chat Log page.

Related Transactions

This grid displays CRM application objects that are associated with the selected chat session (if applicable). They are subinteractions of the chat interaction.

Chat Log

This area records the dialog between the agent and chat requester. The time that corresponds to each line in the conversation changes based on the time zone selected on the toolbar. The right column displays the content of the dialog. Customer's name appears in red and agent's name appears in black.

Viewing Chat Details

To view chat details, use the Chat Detail (RB_CHAT_DETAIL) component.

Access the Chat Details page.

Detail Summary

CRM Chat ID	Displays the unique identification number of the chat request.
View System Chat Detail	Click to access the Chat Log component in PeopleTools in a new browser window.
Initial Queue and Final Queue	Displays the first queue that the chat session was submitted and the last one that it belonged to. These values are different if the chat request was reassigned.
Source Page	Displays the self-service page where the chat was initiated.
Question and Subject	Displays the question (if available) and subject entered by the customer in the chat request.
Agent Name	Displays the agent who was last assigned to the chat request.

Chat Automation

This grid lists solutions that returned from NLP as suggested answers to customer's questions. It appears only if NLP is installed and that autosuggestion was available in the chat session.

Solution ID	Displays the ID of the suggested solution.
Resolved Chat Question	Indicate whether or not the solution answers the customer's question successfully.
Problem Summary	Displays the solution summary.

Viewing Chat Reports

See PeopleSoft MultiChannel Communications Reports.

Page ID	Displays the name that uniquely identifies the full-functional page. Some pages share the same page and component names (for example, support case, helpdesk case and helpdesk case for human resources pages), the system uses the page ID to distinguish them.
Template ID	Displays the display template ID used by the full-functional page, if applicable.
App. Package (application package)	Displays the system delivered application package name that contains the application classes and methods used to define the mapping between self-service pages and full-functional pages.
App. Class (application class)	Displays the specific application class that contains all methods used to define the mapping between self-service pages and the full functional page.
App. Method (application method)	Displays the PeopleCode application class method name that is used to populate all application keys needed to open the full functional page. The system uses this method to populate all the information needed for creating chat interaction. The same method can be used by multiple self-service pages. You can create additional application classes and methods to perform the tasks.

Self Service Page	Displays the CRM self-service page that has implemented the chat feature.
Enable Chat Automation	Select to activate the corresponding page from which users can receive automatic suggestion of solutions prior to requesting chat sessions.
Component and Market	Select the component that is associated with the corresponding self-service page. Typically you have one row in the grid for each self-service page. Or you can have multiple pages (multiple versions of the page) to the grid, with each one uniquely identified by a display template ID, for example. If display template ID is used, the market value is always set to GBL. When you add a new row to the grid, the system sets the value of the market GBL by default.
Template ID	Select the display template ID that is used by the self-service page, if applicable.
Chat Profile	Select a chat profile to apply to the self-service page. Click the Chat Profile link to view and edit the associated chat profile setup.
Agent Popup Page ID	Select a CRM full functional page from the drop-down list box. When users initiate chat sessions from a self-service page, the associated CRM page is displayed in the agent chat window. Click the Agent Popup link to view and edit the associated definition.

Select and URL	Select the page whose URL you want to send to the customer's workstation. You can select only one page at a time. The URL of the corresponding page is displayed in the URL field automatically. You can edit the URL if you already know the application keys (such as an order ID) to the URL; that directs the customer to the exact CRM transaction.
Description	Displays the value that you entered on the Self-Service Page Mapping page.
View Details	Click to access the search page of the corresponding self-service page. It is useful if agents want to push pages to customers yet don't know the application keys to compose the exact URL. After searching for the right record, the agent can push the page to the customer immediately.
Push	Click to send the URL to the customer's workstation without closing the URL wizard.
Push and Close	Click to send the URL to the customer's chat workstation and close the URL wizard.