Our team is continuously working to continuously improve our new Messaging product and offer 'like for like' feature parity with the current Chat product where possible.
Outlined here are some known differences and limitations with the current release of Messaging:
Upgrading your CRM package
Messaging requires version 3.5.4.0 or later of the Live Assist CRM package. Please see this article on how to upgrade:
New messaging agent widget
- USD desktop client now supports the Messaging widget
- In certain versions of Dynamics, enabling multiple CIF configurations for the same Dynamics web app (even if they are ordered with different priorities) can create an error where neither chat nor messaging widget loads.
- The current workaround is to have only one enabled CIF configuration per app.
- The messaging widget does not support a pop-out/full mode.
- Simultaneously logging in to another organisation or as different user, with same browser, could cause merged conversation data and state. It's recommended to logout first before logging in as a different user.
- Historic conversations in the widget, with a particular consumer, are shown for conversations had with all agents. All chat activity records are also available in Dynamics in the person entity timeline.
- The list of closed conversations across all consumers shown in the LAD365 widget can be larger than the list shown in the Engagement portal. This is due to the different APIs used in LAD365 and the Engagement Portal.
- The "Wait Time In Millis" field on the chat activity in Dynamics is only populated after the conversation has been closed.
- Visitor page history is currently not visible in the Dynamics chat activity in this release
- File sharing (Agent and Consumer) has a file size limit of 5MB
- Supported attachment formats: JPEG, JPG, PNG, GIF, PDF, DOCx, XLSx, PPTx, and PDF.
- Currently supported channels: Web Messaging, Apple Messages for Business, and WhatsApp Business.
- Files retention is set to 13 months.
- Escalating to a "voice only" call is not supported in this release - calls start as voice and video, however, the agent and consumer can still turn off the video after the call has started. We are working to improve our voice and video service - see Live Assist Roundup — 2023-01-17.
New messaging channels
- Unlike Chat, Messaging engagements only auto close after 90 days by default unless manually closed by an agent or consumer.
- Auto-close can be configured for any custom period between 25 minutes and 90 days as outlined in this article:
- Static pre-chat and post-chat surveys are unavailable in the campaign builder for messaging engagements. Instead, intelligent AI-driven surveys are created with Conversation Builder:
- Currently the Visitor Post Chat Survey in Dynamics does not populate with the email address a visitor specified when being asked by the PCS bot where to receive a chat transcript.
- For accounts with message redaction and storage in Dynamics enabled, conversations are stored in their post-redacted form in Dynamics. We are working with our partner to enable real-time inline storage of conversations before redaction.
New manager/supervisor tools
- As is the case for Chat, any new engagements accepted using the agent workspace in the Engagement Portal will not have chat activities created in Dynamics.
- See the note at the end of this article: The New Manager Tools
USD Chat Widget
USD agents may be required to scroll down in order to access the chat widget. This is due to Microsoft's introduction of additional tabs that cause the lower portion of the agent widget to extend beyond the visible area. Consequently, agents may need to scroll down initially at the beginning of their shift to view the complete panel.
Mobile SDK support for messaging
- Support for authenticated messaging engagements is being tested and will be available soon.
- Support for native mobile messaging APIs (instead of mobile web wrapper) is planned for a future release.
Developer APIs supported with messaging
Since Messaging is asynchronous, conversations usually remain open until the agent or consumer specifically ends them or are auto-closed by system timeout. Because of this, some Chat APIs are unavailable for use with Messaging.
Supported with Messaging
- Agent Activity API - supports "logged out" and "offline" status reporting and participation
- Transcript API - available for messaging conversations
Work in progress
- Messaging Queue Statistics - there are different statistics available compared with Chat; we are working on selecting the most appropriate statistics for messaging
Not Supported with Messaging
- Chat server API - there is currently no equivalent for messaging
-
Bot Agent Connector API - this is not supported for messaging. However, various third-party bots (including MS Direct Line bots) are supported via the LivePerson Conversational Cloud:
Reporting of Interactions for Billing
- Our Messaging platform and associated features are billed per interaction as described in this article: "What is 'cost per interaction billing'?"
- Customers will receive a weekly usage report from CBA via email. Please reach out to your account director to ensure the correct contact is receiving this. We are working to have an integrated report available in the admin portal in a future release.
New Trial Organizations for Messaging
- New trial organizations require the same backend enablement for messaging, and conversational AI features as existing accounts. Please reach out to Support to enable these features for your testing.