If chats are being missed - visitors are not receiving responses - there are several common causes and fixes.
Common Causes
1. No Agents Online
If all agents are offline or away, there is no one to accept incoming chats. Chats will time out and be recorded as missed.
Fix: Ensure at least one agent is online in your connected platform (Slack, Teams, etc.) during business hours. Use the Online Schedule to automatically show an offline message form outside business hours.
2. Notifications Not Appearing
Agents may not see chat notifications in their platform.
Fix for Slack: Check that the Social Intents bot is in the correct channel. Ensure Slack desktop notifications are enabled in Slack Preferences > Notifications.
Fix for Teams: Check that the Social Intents app is installed and the correct channel is selected. Ensure Teams notifications are not set to "Off" for the channel.
3. Chat Timeout Too Short
If the timeout is set to 30 or 60 seconds, agents may not have enough time to notice and respond.
Fix: Increase the timeout in My Widgets > your widget > General tab > Chat Timeout. A 3-5 minute timeout gives agents reasonable time to respond.
4. Chat Routed to Wrong Channel
If escalation routing is configured, chats may be going to a channel that is not being monitored.
Fix: Check your escalation routing configuration in AI Actions. Verify that each routing target channel has active agents.
5. Widget Hidden or Not Loading
If the widget is not visible to visitors, no chats will come in.
Fix: Check that the embed code is correctly installed, the widget is active, and URL targeting rules are not filtering out your pages.
6. AI Chatbot Handling Everything
If an AI chatbot is enabled and escalation is not configured, the chatbot may be answering all questions without routing to human agents.
Fix: Set up an Escalate Chat to Human action so visitors can reach a human agent when needed. See Escalation Routing.
How to Check Missed Chats
Go to Reports > Chat Report and look for chats with a "Missed" status. The Dashboard also shows a missed chat count and percentage.
Reducing Missed Chats
- Enable an AI chatbot to handle initial conversations 24/7
- Set up an online schedule so visitors see an offline form instead of waiting
- Configure the "Hide When Offline" setting if you prefer not to show the widget when agents are unavailable
- Use email notifications for offline messages so your team can follow up