Requesting a chat from the Self Service Center main page

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If your chat service is configured to enable it, you can request a chat directly from the Self Service Center main page. When you do so, you can select from a list of available chat topics.

About this task

You must be logged in and have access to the Self Service Center to use the live chat service. The chat service access is provided in a pod on the main Self Service Center page. The pod is titled Contact Us in the shipped product, but your administrator might have titled it differently or removed it altogether. In addition, your administrator might have removed the Chat Now button in the pod that is used to request a chat. If the pod is not displayed, or if the Chat Now button is not shown in the pod, you cannot request a chat from the Self Service Center main page.

Procedure

Perform these steps to request a chat from the Self Service Center main page. These instructions assume that the pod is displayed and that Chat Now is an option in the pod:

  1. In the Self Service Center (Go To > Self Service > Self Service Center), click Chat Now in the Contact Us pod.

    The Chat with an Agent dialog is displayed. Depending on how your live chat operation is configured, the dialog might contain a list of available chat topics. It also contains a field in which you can optionally specify a previously opened service request that you want to chat about.

  2. Select one of the following options:
    • If a list of topics is displayed, select a topic about which you want to chat, and click Chat Now.
    • Optionally, select an existing service request that you opened or are affected by. The service request tickets that are available are not in CLOSE or DRAFT state. After you select the service request, click Chat Now.

    The End User Chat window is displayed. It contains a message that you are waiting for an agent to join the chat. If no agent is available, a message is displayed to that effect and you can close the chat window.

  3. When an agent joins the chat, you can state your issue and converse with the agent about it. Messages typed both by you and by the agent are displayed in the window.
  4. After the chat is completed, you can close the chat. If further work is needed to resolve your issue, the agent might notify you by email when this work is completed, as appropriate.