Understanding the warning banner in the customer context panel

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When a returning customer (authenticated or unauthenticated) requests a live chat and fills out a pre-chat form with information that does not exactly match their existing user profile – for example, they enter the same name and email address but a different phone number – a warning banner appears in the customer context panel that alerts the agent to these conflicts. Using the information in the banner, an agent can update the visitor’s user profile to resolve the discrepancy.

This article includes the following topics:

About the warning banner

Resolving information conflicts

About the warning banner

The presence of the warning banner is informational only. Only the pre-chat data that does not match the existing user data is displayed in the banner. The information does not affect the customer’s account or profile information. The banner can remain in the customer context panel without impacting the customer’s account or the agent’s workflow.

The warning banner only appears when:

Pre-chat forms are enabled for chat requests.

The customer is a returning visitor (authenticated or unauthenticated), requesting a live chat (this feature is not currently available for messaging conversation requests).

There is an unresolved discrepancy between the information collected in the pre-chat form and the data in the customer’s user profile. When the discrepancy is resolved, the banner disappears.

The agent viewing the ticket is chat-enabled.

Matches are determined by comparing the field values submitted in the pre-chat forms. When fields are left empty, they are not considered mismatches, even when other form fields match existing user data.

For example, if returning customer fills out the pre-chat form and matches the name, email, or phone number field but leaves one or more of these fields blank, the blank fields will not trigger the warning banner. You can prevent this situation by requiring the customer to fill out all fields before submitting the form.

In addition, when a customer leaves the name field blank, it is automatically filled with a randomly-generated name in the Agent Workspace. These names are not considered mismatches.

It’s important to note, as well, that the information in the banner is dynamic. That is, if the customer updates their contact details in the chat widget, the details displayed in the alert are also updated. If the updated data matches their profile information, the alert will disappear.

Resolving information conflicts

As noted above, the warning banner remains visible in the customer context panel until the information conflict is resolved.

There are two ways to resolve a conflict and remove the banner from the context panel:

The agent can update the customer’s profile to match the information in the banner.

The customer can update their information in the chat widget to match their profile.

To update a customer’s profile from the Agent Workspace

In the customer context panel, click the Edit icon at the top of the profile.

Edit the customer profile. The updated information is saved automatically.

Click on the ticket tab to return to the Agent Workspace.