Chat Module Released
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Have you installed this module? I realise it is probably quite limited in terms of features, but the information on the website is very brief and I was wondering about the following:
- Ability to send file attachments through the chat
- If the chat is offline whether a contact form is shown instead or if the chat icon just doesn't show up on the website
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We were looking over this integration, but started thinking about Rocket.chat instead. I found they just added FreeScout to Zapier.
https://zapier.com/apps/rocketchat/integrations/freescout
As far as the chat, you can send file attachments. They have a live demo here, as well as you can login to mailbox/1 here to see how the chat is received
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@jlx89 Just went over the demo. Looks great and fits the bill. The simplicity of it and having all chats come to the mailbox is exactly how I want it. That's one less app that I have to keep running/monitoring. Now, if we can get a proper Freescout mobile app. It's wonky on iOS, not sure about Android.
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@humptydumpty If we go with that solution, I'll follow up and post how it works out on the Android App.
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@humptydumpty So we finally got everything setup. As far as the chat, I'm not thrilled (not exactly what we were looking for personally), so basically if someone chats with you it just places that into a ticket and you have to reply to a ticket, as far as I could tell. Attachments through the chat worked out. I doubt you'll run into issues, but the attachments in chat are limited to what you have set in the php.ini file for file sizes.
We also got the addon for push notifications and the Android App gets the job done.
Hope this helps!
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@jlx89 I ran into limitations that I consider a deal-breaker. For instance, the agent's name is the same across all mailboxes. I need to have the same agent with a different alias for each mailbox, like "Guru Joe, Sales Joe, etc.". Also, it's required to have both a first and last name. I could have named the user "staff" and it would have been "OK" across all mailboxes.
In the user profile, there's an option for a "job title" that also doesn't show up anywhere. It would have been great if it's displayed using a tag by the agent's name in the chatbox. The 10 second delay time is a bit excessive too. It feels less of a live chat and more like a contact form. AFAIK, you can't turn off the live chat either so business hours or hiding the chat box when we're offline is also a much needed feature. I think these are the bare minimum for any live chat app.
Several people have voiced these issues on the Freescout github page and the dev's response is just.... lacking. I had intentions of building my support system around Freescout by extending it with the Woocommerce module, Live chat, etc. but I feel I'm going to hunt for other solutions on Cloudron instead. @jdaviescoates recommended Netcup and with prices that low, I'm thinking of spinning up a server running Rocket Chat on it only. My last resort would be to go back to tawk.to which isn't missing any of these features.
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@humptydumpty Glad to hear back from you on this. As far as the agent name, pretty sure you can change that in Mailbox > Edit Mailbox > From Name (User's Name):
As far as some of the fields, it does seem incomplete. We just went ahead and bought a few of the addon modules and think it "may" work. After a couple minutes, I deactivated the Live Chat and KB plugins, pretty much worthless. Next up was the WooCommerce plugin, once we launch the site (separate product). I was thinking about the Rocket.chat option also. I think it was mentioned before, I just hate to manage another thing. We're currently using SalesIQ from Zoho, which has a free plan -- we have the Zoho One plan, but it's been working out. I do see where you are coming from on some of the issues. Some of the software seems "half baked".
I've been seeing quite a bit on GitHub about the same complaints. I know that the CEO of Help Scout actually posted an issue that portions of their code was actually copy and pasted and said that he had hoped to work with them on it. So I know that the recent redesign took a lot of their time. So I'm hoping that they improve some of those items this year.
It would be interesting to hear back from you on this and see what you find. I'll keep experimenting also and maybe post here later.
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@jlx89 Sounds good, I'll keep in touch.
The "Custom Name" does work for the mailbox itself but does not extend to the live chat module. You're limited to what the (first & last) names you enter in the user's profile and that is displayed in the chat box regardless of which mailbox (live chat widget) you're replying to. I wanted to have multiple live chat widgets (connected to different sites/mailboxes) so the branding can't be the same.
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@humptydumpty @JLX89 Thank you both for your feedback on this, based on which I think I will have to go with another solution for chat (also maybe Rocket Chat). The idea of having chat conversations as tickets is sensible as they can be linked to a customer profile, but it does sound as though the module is extremely basic. I do not understand the logic behind the 10 second delay, and not even having the ability to deactivate the chat and hide it on websites makes it unusable (for us at least).
On the whole I do like Freescout, it is updated regularly and has several features to rival some of the most expensive proprietary solutions out there. I do find, however, that there are some really quite basic typical helpdesk features missing that the developers don't seem to have any interest in implementing and instead just suggest developing a custom module for (e.g. additional statuses). The software is free and open source, so that's perfectly fine of course, and the development model is clearly putting key features into paid modules that are, admittedly, inexpensive if you just need a few of them. In terms of functionality I do find some of the modules to be lacking in (what I would consider to be) quite obvious features though, or to be very limited when it comes to settings and customisation possibilities without having to make significant code changes.
To be fair, I should add that I have used several helpdesk solutions in different price ranges over the years and I have yet to find one that I am completely happy with.
