Quick Answer: This FAQ walks you through every screen, control and rule involved in operating the WhatsApp Live Chat module in MyOperator, from first message to resolution.
1. Module Overview
The Live Chat module is reached from the Chat icon in the top navigation bar, placed next to Logs. It lets agents in one or many Business Account Numbers (BANs) manage real-time WhatsApp Business API (WABA) conversations across the full lifecycle—OPEN → ASSIGNED → CLOSED—with multi-role, multi-number support.
- Multi-agent inbox with OPEN, ASSIGNED, CLOSED tabs
- Handles first inbound, manual assignment, resolution, auto-close, customer re-open and template-based Business Initiated Conversations (BIC)
- Displays up to 6 months of chat history per contact (configurable)
2. Prerequisites
- At least one active WABA account and one connected phone number.
- If no active WABA: the screen is disabled and shows the button ‘Apply for WABA APIs’.
- If active but no number: clicking Start Conversation returns the error “Connect your WABA account and Phone number to use this service.”
3. Supported Browsers
| Browser | Desktop Support | Mobile Web Support |
|---|
| Google Chrome | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Microsoft Edge | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Mozilla Firefox | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Safari | ✅ Supported (limited) | ✅ Supported (limited) |
Sales should recommend Chrome or Edge for the most reliable experience; Safari has known push-notification and file-handling issues.
4. Key Terminology
| Term | Definition |
|---|
| BAN | Business Account Number – the top-level account container. An agent may belong to multiple BANs. |
| WABA | WhatsApp Business API account connected to MyOperator. |
| DID / Phone Number Code | 4-character code (e.g., MY01, HE01) shown per WABA phone number to distinguish chats. |
| 23-Hour Window | For 23 hours after a customer message, agents may send any free-form reply. Afterwards only approved templates are allowed. |
| 48-Hour Rule | A chat closed <48 h ago and reopened by the customer routes to the last agent; after 48 h it moves to the Unassigned queue. |
| BIC | Business Initiated Conversation – sending a template to (re)start a chat. |
| Recent Chat | A chat closed less than 48 hours ago. |
5. Conversation States
| State | Description | Visible To |
|---|
| OPEN (Unassigned) | Inbound messages not yet assigned or chats reopened after 48 h. | All users in the BAN. |
| ASSIGNED | Chat actively owned by a specific agent. | Everyone can view; only the assignee (plus managers) may act. |
| CLOSED | Resolved by an agent or auto-closed after 48 h inactivity. | All users (Closed tab shows resolver name). |
6. State Transition Rules
| Transition | Trigger |
|---|
| OPEN → ASSIGNED | Agent replies to an open chat or manager manually assigns. |
| ASSIGNED → CLOSED | Assignee clicks Resolve. |
| ASSIGNED → Auto-Closed | 48 h of no activity (system marks auto-closed). |
| CLOSED → ASSIGNED | Customer replies within 48 h or any user sends a BIC. |
| CLOSED → OPEN | Customer replies after 48 h. |
| BIC → ASSIGNED | Agent sends a template; chat assigns to sender. |
7. Edge Cases & Validations
- If two agents reply simultaneously to the same OPEN chat, ownership is randomly granted to one.
- Deleting an agent moves all their chats to OPEN. History labels them as “[Agent] (Deleted user)”.
- Turning an agent’s availability off does not change 48-hour routing; a manager must reassign manually.
- Campaign outbound messages never appear in Live Chat; only customer replies do.
- Chat history loads up to six months per contact (configurable).
8. Inbox — Layout & Navigation
- Three tabs: OPEN, ASSIGNED, CLOSED; only one state per chat.
- Sorted newest-first; lazy-loads 10 chats at a time with a spinner.
- Section-level and per-chat unread counters update in real time; badge clears 2 s after chat is opened.
- Main menu Chat icon: red dot = unread assigned, blue dot = unread open (red supersedes).
9. Conversation Card Components
| Component | Behaviour |
|---|
| Avatar / Initials | Initials shown (‘A’, ‘AS’). Avatar removed in latest UI for density. |
| Contact Name | Saved name → WhatsApp webhook name (prefixed ~) → phone number. |
| WABA Phone Code | Shown only if >1 active number. Format: first 2 letters of WABA + 2-digit index. |
| Timestamp | Today = time; Yesterday = “Yesterday”; last 7 d = day; older = DD/MM/YY. |
| Message Preview | Text: first 50 chars…; 📷 Image received; 🎥 Video received; Sticker; Mixed: first 50 chars of caption; Unsupported: ⚠️ Unsupported message. |
| 23-Hour Timer | Counts down in OPEN/ASSIGNED until expiry. |
| Assignee Name | Shown in ASSIGNED/CLOSED; auto-closed tag if applicable. |
| Unread Badge | Customer unread count. |
10. Filters
- User: multi-select across all pro-users; applies to ASSIGNED & CLOSED; default = logged-in user.
- WABA Number: multi-select; default all; applies to all tabs.
- Filter panel replaces customer pane; blue dot shows active filters.
- Click New Chat.
- Search existing contacts or create new: mandatory Name & Phone, optional Email.
- System pre-selects the channel last used by the agent.
- Validations: phone ≤ 10 digits; name = letters/numbers; email = xxx@domain.com.
- Only one chat can be started per action—bulk outreach uses Campaigns.
- Header shows name, phone (+country flag), WABA code (hover reveals full account/number), and live 23-h timer.
- Clicking assignee name opens transfer dropdown (current assignee pre-selected).
- Customer messages left, agent right, with agent name label for multi-agent clarity.
- Date separators: Today, Yesterday, weekday (last 7 d), DD/MM/YY.
- Per-message timestamp HH:MM AM/PM and status icons: Clock (queued), Sent (✓), Delivered (✓✓), Read (✓✓ blue), Error (!) with reason.
13. Supported Message Types
| Type | Agent Can Send? | Agent Can Receive? | Notes |
|---|
| Text | ✅ | ✅ | Up to 4 000 chars. |
| Image | ✅ | ✅ | ≤ 5 MB JPEG/JPG/PNG. |
| Video | ✅ | ✅ | ≤ 10 MB MP4/3GPP. |
| Document | ✅ | ✅ | ≤ 10 MB PDF/DOCX, inline preview. |
| Audio | ❌ | ✅ | Playback inline; agents cannot send. |
| Sticker | ❌ | ✅ | Shown inline. |
| Template Message | ✅ | ❌ | Used outside 23-h window or proactively. |
| Quick Reply Buttons | ❌ (display) | ✅ | CTAs handled automatically. |
| Unsupported | — | ⚠️ | Shown as ⚠️ Unsupported message. |
14. Compose Box & Sending Templates
- Expandable to 2 lines, then scrollable.
- Formatting: Bold, Italic, Underline (toolbar appears on typing; hover shows shortcuts).
- ‘/’ opens canned responses; placeholder says “Type / for canned messages”.
- Icons left→right: Attachment, Template, Message field, Emoji, large Send button (also Enter key).
- Template Modal: single screen – choose category & template, fill variables, live preview. Deleted templates still listed (Meta error on send). File limits: Image ≤ 5 MB; Video ≤ 16 MB; Document ≤ 100 MB.
15. Reply to Message
- Click reply icon on a bubble; quoted preview appears above compose box.
- Cross icon removes quote before sending.
- Clicking a quote in a sent message scrolls to original.
16. Error Handling
- API/Backend failure: red! + “Failed to send. Retry” plus retry button; info icon shows backend error.
- Meta failure: red! + “Failed to send” (no retry); info icon shows Meta reason.
- Frontend validation: toast explains exact issue (wrong type, oversize, missing field).
- Backend-failed messages disappear on logout; Meta failures persist.
17. New Message Indicator
If scrolled up, a downward arrow with count (e.g., “4 New Messages”) appears; click to jump to bottom. A ‘New Messages’ separator with count is inserted at that point in the thread.
18. Activity Feed
| Event | System Message |
|---|
| Auto-assignment after reply | Conversation Assigned to [User Name] |
| Manual assignment | Conversation Assigned to [User Name] By [Manager Name] |
| Transfer (agent) | Conversation transferred from [User 1] to [User 2] |
| Transfer (manager) | Conversation transferred from [User 1] to [User 2] by [Manager Name] |
| New conversation | New Conversation Started |
| 23-h expiry | 24-hour window ended |
| Resolved | Conversation resolved by [User Name] |
| Auto-resolved | Conversation auto-resolved |
| Reopened | Conversation reopened by [User Name] OR Conversation Reopened |
Agent names, bot names and action verbs are highlighted with distinctive colours and weight.
19. Chat Actions — Transfer, Resolve, Reopen
- Transfer: OPEN – only Manager/Admin/Owner may transfer; ASSIGNED – any user can transfer (current assignee excluded from dropdown); CLOSED – no transfer.
- Post-transfer, original assignee’s Send & Resolve disable; view-only.
- Resolve: button in OPEN & ASSIGNED; auto-assigns then closes if from OPEN. Only assignee can resolve; managers may self-assign then resolve.
- Reopen: Any agent may send a message to reopen. <48 h: routes to last agent; >48 h: goes to OPEN.
- Right-side collapsible panel (avatar icon when collapsed).
- Header = contact name.
- Two accordions:
• Basic Information – phone (with country flag), email, marketing opt-in.
• Custom Fields – all additional fields. - Pencil icon enables edit; Save Details / Cancel.
- WABA details now appear as a tooltip on the channel code in the header.
- Keyboard shortcut reference list shown below avatar.
21. UI/UX Enhancements (Orbit MW-5617)
- Agent name in header now opens transfer (button removed).
- Formatting toolbar auto-appears; canned response hint added.
- Status labels (Queued / Sent / Delivered / Read) shown with icons.
- Template sending compressed to single modal.
- Conversation timer now visible in both inbox card and header.
- Compose-area icon order updated; Send is a large labelled button.
- Down-arrow new-message indicator while scrolling.
- Avatar removed from inbox; filter panel overhauls UI.
- Contact creation simplified: number required, name optional default ‘User’.
- Info panel collapsible; country flag next to number; structured accordions.
- Document inline preview, consistent file icons, improved empty states and error copy.
22. Role & Permission Matrix
| Action | Owner | Admin | Manager | Agent |
|---|
| View OPEN chats | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| View ASSIGNED (all) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| View CLOSED (all) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Pick Unassigned | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Transfer from OPEN | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Transfer from ASSIGNED | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Resolve own chat | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Take over another agent’s chat | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Configure notification settings (default) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Manage notification permission (Super Admin) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| View campaign failure notifications | ✅ | ✅ (if enabled) | ✅ (if enabled) | ❌ |
Keywords
Live Chat, WhatsApp, inbox, assign, resolve, transfer, templates, message types, roles, UI enhancements, MyOperator