Chat supports numerous channel types; making communicating with your students easy. There is no limit to the number of channels you can create.
Channels can be created/edited/deleted by navigating to Settings > Channels.
Live Chat
Live Chat channels allow students to instant message you from anywhere your live chat channel is embedded.
Creating a Live Chat channel
There's no limit to the number of live chat channels you can create on your Chat account. Existing Live Chat channels can be edited by going to Settings > Channels. New channels can be added by clicking + Add New, finding the Live Chat card and clicking Add New Channel.
Let's run through the different fields when creating/editing a Live Chat channel:
🔎 Field | 💡 Description |
Channe Title | The internal name of the channel |
Widget Colour | The hex color of the widget open/close icon, buttons and header |
Widget Header Logo | This logo appears in the chat window header (225px by 30px) |
Widget Design |
|
↳ Default | Uses Gecko's default animated chat window open/close icons |
↳ Custom | Upload bespoke static image chat window open/close icons (70x70px) |
Chat Into Message | If using a pre-chat form, display this message in the chat header |
Unavailability Options |
|
↳ Show Unavailability message | Shows this message when Available When users are offline/unavailable |
↳ Hide widget | Hides this Live Chat channel widget when Available When users are offline/unavailable |
Available When | The agent(s)/team(s) to reference when checking Unavailablity Options |
Pre-Chat form | Pick the custom fields you want to capture before students can start a conversation. Individual fields can be set to required or optional |
Translate Bot Messages | When speaking with a bot, it allows the student to auto-translate bot messages into another language |
Use bot suggestions | Pick a bot to provide answer suggestions to your agents in conversations |
Allowed websites | Only allow your widget to load on pre-defined webpages |
Embedding a Live Chat channel
Clicking on any Live Chat channel on the Settings > Channels page will expose all live chat settings and your channel's unique Embed Code.
This code can be pasted directly into your web page's <body> or <head> tags or added to multiple web pages using Google Tag Manager.
The Gecko Engagement Widget also lets you embed your Live Chat channel into its various offerings!
Once embedded, your live chat widget will appear in the bottom-right corner of your webpage. The widget location can be changed using the following code:
<style>
<!-- Moves the open/close chat widget button -->
.GeckoChatWidget .ChatButton {
bottom: 60px !important;
right: 60px !important;
}
<!-- Moves the chat window -->
.ChatContainer {
bottom: 160px !important;
right: 60px !important;
}
<!-- Moves pre-chat workflow messages, sender avatar and close icon -->
.GeckoChatWidget .UnreadMessages {
bottom: 200px !important;
right: 60px !important;
}
</style>
SMS/Texting
To create an SMS channel, ensure your Chat agent profile has a valid telephone number. This can be set in Agents > {your agent} > Edit Agent Details > Telephone. Your personal number will not be used for the SMS channel; it's needed to send you confirmation that your SMS channel has been set up! Once the setup is complete, your agent's telephone number can be removed.
There's no limit to the number of SMS channels you can create on your Chat account. Existing SMS channels can be edited by going to Settings > Channels. New channels can be added by clicking + Add New, finding the SMS card, and clicking Add New Channel.
Give your channel an internal title and pick whether your number should be based in the UK, USA, or Canada. After choosing a number, pick whether you'd like to forward incoming calls to a specific telephone number before clicking Save.
Gecko will immediately send a text message to the number in the telephone field of the user who created the channel, congratulating them on the channel being created! Reply to this message to see your text come into Chat.
SMS Channels allow you to use 2-way texting throughout the Engage platform.
Students can quickly opt-out of any texts you send through Chat by replying to any messages with STOP. This prevents them from receiving future messages from the SMS channel they respond to.
There's no limit to the number of email channels you can create and no cap on the number of emails you can send from Chat. Existing email channels can be edited by going to Settings > Channels. New channels can be added by clicking + Add New, finding the Email card, and clicking Add New Channel.
🔎 Field | 💡 Description |
Your GeckoChat email address | The field is visible once the email channel has been initially saved. Gecko will use this non-spoofed email address when sending emails from Chat. This email can be used to set up forwarding rules from your actual email inboxes into Chat |
Channel title | The internal name of the email channel. Not visible to students externally |
Sending email address | The spoof email address Gecko should use when sending emails from Chat. This will be visible to email recipients |
Sender name | The spoof sender name Gecko should use when sending emails from Chat. This will be visible to email recipients |
Reply to option | If a student clicks 'reply' on the email, they receive from Chat, which email address should go in the 'to' field? By default, this will be the Sending email address |
Chat supports all the features you’d expect of an email provider - rich text editing, CC + BCCs, email forwarding, email threading based on the subject line, email staff signatures, and the ability to upload attachments.
Facebook Messenger
Note: for this channel to function, you will need a Facebook business page or account connected to an Instagram business account.
The Facebook messenger channel allows any DMs sent to your FB business page to be pushed into Chat. Any replies you send back from Chat are sent to the student on Facebook messenger.
Setting up your Facebook messenger channel is quick and easy. Go to Settings > Channels > + Add New. Find the Facebook card and click Add new channel.
Click Login to Facebook and enter your email and password. Once configured, a window will open in Chat, asking you to provide a Channel Title and to specify which eligible Facebook page(s) you'd like to integrate.
Troubleshooting
🔎 Issue: Why can't I respond to old Messenger messages from Chat?
To explain, if a student sends you a message on Facebook Messenger or Instagram, this begins a 24-hour countdown. During this 24-hour countdown, you can respond to the student without restrictions. Each time the student sends a new message, it resets the 24-hour countdown.
When the 24-hour countdown elapses, you cannot send any additional messages to the student. Any subsequent messages that you try to send from a Meta channel will be blocked until the student messages you once again.
tl;dr - if a student last messaged you on Facebook Messenger or Instagram more than 24 hours ago, you'll be unable to respond.
Note: for this channel to function, you will need an eligible Instagram business account connected to a Facebook page or account.
The Instagram channel allows any DMs to your Instagram page to be pushed to Chat automatically. Any replies you send from Chat are sent back to the student on Instagram.
Setting up your Instagram channel is easy. Log into Chat and click Settings > Channels > + Add New. Find the Instagram card and click Add new channel.
Click Login to Facebook and enter your email and password. Lastly, a window will open in Chat asking you to provide a Channel Title and to specify which eligible Instagram Business Account you'd like to integrate.
Troubleshooting
🔎 Issue: Why aren't messages being pushed from Instagram to Chat or vice versa?
To allow messages to sync between Instagram and Chat, you must ensure the two platforms are correctly configured to talk to one another. To ensure this:
Log into your Instagram Business Account
Select the "hamburger" drop-down menu in the top-right
Navigate to Settings > Privacy > Messages
Toggle Allow access to messages to on
🔎 Issue: Why can't I respond to old Instagram messages from Chat?
To explain, if a student sends you a message on Facebook Messenger or Instagram, you begin a 24-hour countdown. During this countdown, you can respond to the student without restrictions—each time the student sends a new message, the countdown resets.
When the 24-hour countdown elapses, you cannot send any additional messages to the student. Subsequent messages that you try to send from a Meta channel will be blocked until the student messages you again.
tl;dr - if a student last messaged you on Facebook Messenger or Instagram more than 24 hours ago, you'll be unable to respond.
Note: for this channel to function, you'll need a Facebook Business Manager account. All WhatsApp channels are also subject to Meta's business case review.
Gecko's WhatsApp channel allows you to speak with students on a 1-to-1 basis via an existing WhatsApp business number. Once set up, messages sent to your WhatsApp number will automatically be pushed to Chat, and any replies from Chat will be sent to the student via WhatsApp.
Creating a new channel
Log into Gecko and navigate to Settings > Channels > + Add New. Find the WhatsApp card and click Add New Channel.
In the Channel Title field, you can give your WhatsApp channel an internal name to identify it within Gecko. Students will never see this.
Then, proceed to choose a new WhatsApp business number to text students from. At present, there is no way to use a pre-existing WhatsApp number within Gecko (though this functionality will be coming soon!). To choose a new number, select your Country and a number that looks good to you.
Now, click Connect WhatsApp Business Account. You will be redirected to Meta and will be asked to fill in your business account information:
🚨 Only one WhatsApp business account can connect to your Gecko account. Accordingly, if you own multiple WhatsApp business accounts, think carefully about which one you'd like to connect to first! Once connected, the number of Gecko WhatsApp channels you can create that connect to your chosen WhatsApp Business account is unlimited.
Once selected, you will be redirected to Gecko and asked to provide a WhatsApp Display Name. This is the public-facing name of your channel, and it will appear on WhatsApp for students.
Finally, click Save. Your channel will now be successfully created in Gecko. Please note that it may take up to 2 hours for it to be ready to use!
Deleting a channel
If you're finished using your Gecko WhatsApp channel, head to Settings > Channels and find your channel. Click the breadcrumb icon ([...]) to the right of the channel name, and select Delete.
You might also wish to remove the channel from your Meta WhatsApp business account:
Troubleshooting
🔎 Issue: Why can't I respond to old WhatsApp messages from Chat?
To explain, if a student sends you a message on Facebook Messenger or Instagram, this begins a 24-hour countdown. During this 24-hour countdown, you can respond to the student without restrictions. Each time the student sends a new message, it resets the 24-hour countdown.
When the 24-hour countdown elapses, you cannot send any additional messages to the student. Any subsequent messages that you try to send from a Meta channel will be blocked until the student messages you once again.
tl;dr - if a student last messaged you on Facebook Messenger or Instagram more than 24 hours ago, you'll be unable to respond.
🔎 Issue: How can I start a conversation on WhatsApp?
The link below can be re-tooled and shared with students to instigate conversations. This link can be included in emails, SMS messages, or even as an anchored link on your webpage.
If a student clicks the link, it'll open their WhatsApp app and send a message to Chat via your WhatsApp channel.
https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone={your-phone-number}&text={your-message-goes-here}
To use the link, there are a few edits you'll need to make:
{your-phone-number} - replace this with your WhatsApp channel number. Head to Settings > Channels and click on your WhatsApp channel. Copy the number (including any international dial codes) into your link. For example, a WhatsApp channel number of +4412345678910 would look like this:
...?phone=+4412345678910
{your-message-goes-here} - replace this with the message you want to be automatically sent when the link is tapped/clicked. White/blank spaces are encoded using the characters %20. For example, a message of "Hello there" would be written as
....&text=Hello%20there
Simple! Combining the two examples above, our conversation-initiating link would look like this:
https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=+4412345678910&text=Hello%20there
Any questions? Start a live chat with a support team member, or feel free to explore the rest of our academy. Spotted an error or want to suggest a future article for the academy? Let us know here.