Anonymous chat
Summarize
Summary of Anonymous chat
The Anonymous chat feature in the Consumer Service Portal allows users to engage in live chat sessions with consumer service agents without needing to log in. Guests initiate a chat by clicking a Chat link, completing a form with their name, email, and issue type. This creates a chat request routed to the appropriate agent queue based on the selected issue type. Agents can then accept the chat, create consumer records or cases as needed, or transfer the chat to another agent.
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Setting up anonymous chat
To enable anonymous chat, ServiceNow customers must:
- Activate the Consumer Service Portal plugin.
- Modify the default anonymous chat record producer or create a new one to capture guest information.
- Create matching rules for each agent queue to route chat requests by issue type.
- Configure anonymous chat properties to manage guest session limits and messages.
- Optionally, customize Connect actions to support agent workflows such as creating cases for guests.
Key components
- Anonymous chat plugins: Two plugins enable this feature: Anonymous Connect Support (for anonymous chat functionality) and Connect Support Routing (for queue routing).
- Record producer: The guest form is a configurable record producer based on the Customer Interaction table, storing chat request data and facilitating routing.
- Routing: Chat requests route to queues using matching rules tied to the guest’s issue type. Default rules cover billing, order, and product support.
- Properties: Settings control the maximum number of guest chat sessions per hour and the message shown when limits are exceeded.
Practical benefits
This feature enables ServiceNow customers to offer immediate, no-login chat support to consumers, improving accessibility and responsiveness. Automated routing ensures inquiries reach the right agents efficiently, while configurable limits protect system resources. Agents have tools to manage chats effectively, including creating records and transferring sessions.
Consumers can chat with a consumer service agent without logging in to the Consumer Service Portal.
From the Consumer Service Portal, guest users can click the Chat link in the portal header to initiate a chat session with a consumer service agent. Clicking this link opens a form that requests some basic information, including the user's name, email address, and type of issue. Completing and submitting the form creates a chat request that is routed to the appropriate agent queue based on the selected issue type. Once the assigned agent accepts the request, a chat session is established. If necessary, the agent can create a consumer record or a case for the guest user, or transfer the chat to another agent.
Setting up anonymous chat
- Activate the Consumer Service Portal plugin (com.glide.service-portal.consumer-portal).
- Modify the default anonymous chat record producer or create a new record producer.
- Create one matching rule for each agent queue.
- Configure anonymous chat properties.
- If necessary, modify the Connect actions to provide the desired functionality for consumer service agents in chat conversations. The anonymous chat feature includes these actions: Create Case for Guest and Create Consumer and Case for Guest. For more information, see Administer Connect actions.
Anonymous chat plugins
- Anonymous Connect Support (com.glide.connect.anonymous_support): enables the anonymous chat feature for Connect.
- Connect Support Routing (com.glide.connect.support.routing): routes Connect Support requests to the appropriate chat queue.
Anonymous chat record producer
The form used to request information from a guest user is a configurable record producer based on the Consumer Interaction table (sn_customerservice_customer_interaction), which is a new table in the Istanbul release. When a guest user submits the form, the information provided is stored as a record in the Customer Interaction table. This record is used for routing the chat request.
The default anonymous chat record producer, What can we help you with?, is located at . This is a public record producer. You can modify this record producer or create your own. If you choose to create your own, see Section 3 in the Making a record producer and catalog item public on a CMS page [KB0551300] article. You must also set the glide.sc.use_user_criteria property to false.
For more information, see Record Producer.
Anonymous chat routing
Information provided by the guest user assists with routing and also provides the conext of the request to the consumer service agent. The chat request is routed to the appropriate agent queue based on the type of issue selected. The routing for anonymous chat requests uses matching rules. Create one matching rule for each queue and tie a chat request to a chat queue based on the selected issue type. Matching rules for anonymous chat are based on the Customer Interaction table.
- Anonymous Connect - Billing Support
- Anonymous Connect - Order Support
- Anonymous Connect - Product Support
These rules are based on the selections in the Issue Type field on the default anonymous chat record producer.
Anonymous chat properties
There are two properties related to the anonymous chat feature. Set these properties to limit the number of chat requests created by guest users.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| connect.support.max_guest_sessions_per_hour | Limit maximum number of guest conversations created in the last hour.
|
| connect.support.guest_sessions_rate_limit_reached_message | Message shown to user when rate limit for guest conversations is breached.
|