Introduction

The UltraCart Conversations engine is a unified system for managing webchat and SMS conversations with your customers. It integrates webchat and SMS replies (for StoreFront Communications marketing and UC Package Tracking) into a single, cohesive experience.

Required Permissions

To access Conversations, an UltraCart user must have the "Conversations Manage SMS/Web Chat" permission enabled.

• SMS/Web Chat Administrator - Allow this user administrative control over SMS and Web Chat Conversations

• SMS/Web Chat User - Allow this user the ability to access and participate in SMS and Web Chat Conversations

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Getting Started: Queue Requirements for Web Chat

Before you can begin using Conversations for real-time web chat, it's essential to understand how queue assignment works and complete the initial setup. All web chat conversations are assigned to a queue, which enables proper routing and agent access.

What Are Queues?

A queue is a group within the UltraCart CRM Conversations system that receives and holds customer chat requests. Each queue can be assigned one or more agents who are eligible to respond to incoming web chat messages. Every conversation must be associated with at least one queue to be visible and actionable by agents.

Queue Setup Steps

Follow these steps to prepare your account for using Conversations:

Step 1: Create One or More Queues

1. Navigate to the Queue Management settings within the CRM app.

2. Click “Add Queue” and enter a name (e.g., “Support” or “Sales”).

3. It's recommended to start with a single general-purpose queue and assign all agents to it. You can always create additional queues later to segment teams or departments.

Step 2: Assign Users (Agents) to Queues

1. Go to Users Configuration.

2. Click Edit next to the user you want to assign.

3. Scroll down to "Conversations Chat Departments."

4. Check the box for the queue(s) this user should access.

5. (Optional) Enable “Use AI to handle chats as this agent” to allow an AI agent to respond on behalf of the user.

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Step 3: Add Web Chat to Your StoreFront

To make Conversations available to site visitors:

1. Add the WebChat element to your StoreFront via the StoreFront Builder.

2. Follow the guide: How to Set Up WebChat on Your StoreFront.

Once this is complete, customers can initiate chat sessions, and assigned agents will see them under the "Available" section of the Conversations interface.

Launching Conversations

You can launch Conversations by navigating to the "Conversations" option in the main CRM menu.

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Understanding the Navigation

When you first click on "Conversations," a new tab will open. The icons on the left-hand side of the interface represent different sections:

• Webchat

• SMS

• Archives

• Settings

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Settings

The Settings section is divided into four main areas. Clicking on the links within this section will provide more details about each:

• My Profile

• Engagements

• Canned Messages

• Queue Management

Webchat

The webchat screen organizes conversations into three groupings:

• My Conversations: Displays active conversations you are currently having with customers. Each conversation is represented by a bubble.

• Active: Shows active conversations customers are having with other agents within your organization. You can click on any conversation bubble to view the message thread, and if you choose to participate, the conversation will move to "My Conversations".

• Available: Lists customers waiting in the queue for an agent to talk with them.The top right corner of the webchat interface is your status. This will default to whatever you have configured on your My Profile, but can be changed by you at any time. The options are Available, Busy or Unavailable. Chat will only appear on the StoreFront if there is at least one agent that is not Unavailable.

Your status is displayed in the top right corner of the webchat interface. This defaults to your "My Profile" configuration but can be changed at any time. Your options are "Available," "Busy," or "Unavailable". Webchat will only appear on your StoreFront if at least one agent is not "Unavailable".

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When a customer joins the webchat queue, they will appear in the "Available" section. Clicking on an entry in the "Available" section will prompt you to confirm that you want to start chatting with the customer. Once a conversation is started, it will appear in the "My Conversations" area.

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Clicking on the entry will open a prompt to confirm that you want to start chatting with the customer.

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The middle pane of the screen is where the active conversation takes place. The right pane provides session context, which updates as the user browses your site or changes their cart contents. At the bottom of the middle pane, you can type messages, attach multimedia, send coupons, add items to a customer's cart, or use emojis.

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The above example shows an interaction that an AI Agent has picked up as well.

SMS

The SMS section of Conversations is similar to webchat. The main difference is the absence of the session context right-hand pane. Joining or leaving an SMS conversation helps track which UltraCart user is currently interacting with the SMS customer.

Archives

Active conversations will appear in the "Archives" section after two minutes of inactivity or once they are marked complete. A conversation remains open even if it's visible and searchable in the archives. Conversations are only closed when both the customer and agent leave the chat, at which point they become fully searchable. This means the archives may contain both active and inactive conversations.

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When you click on the "Archives" tab, you will see an infinite scroll list of conversations. You can sort search results by "newest first" or "oldest first". You can also search by text within conversation messages or use filters for more specific criteria such as date range, agent, language, conversation type, and status.

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FAQ

Q) What is the pricing for Conversations?

A) Conversations are free during the beta period.

Q) What happens if I have multiple UltraCart accounts linked?

A) The Conversations system operates at the parent account level. It does not matter which account you are logged into when launching Conversations. You will have a unified experience across all the accounts that are linked.

Q) What differentiates Conversations from other external webchat products?

A) Conversations has the ability to leverage the StoreFront Visual Builder runtime and the fact that UltraCart is rendering the StoreFront page to make webchat available when appropriate without requiring additional HTTP calls and uses a runtime that only adds ~10KB of compressed content. Other populate chat programs make up to 10 additional HTTP calls on every page load and require JS runtimes in the 300-750KB payload range.

Q) Why did UltraCart build Conversations?

A) In order to have SMS marketing in Communications and UC Package Tracking, merchants must have the ability to interact with customers when they reply. The Conversations system was architected from the ground up in a fashion that made adding webchat as well feasible.

Q) Are the Conversations available in BigQuery?

A) Yes, Conversations archive automatically to BigQuery where you can do further analysis.

Q) What if the customer is on our website in a different language?

A) Since StoreFronts supports automatic translation to other languages, it was important for Conversations to also support automatic translation. If the customer is speaking a different language than your default language then Conversations will automatically translate the conversation back and forth.