Can I have a bot-only widget?

Question

I only want my customers to interact with autoreply. Can I use Zendesk Chat without needing to have my agents respond?

Answer

Yes, you can set up the Web Widget (Classic) to be self-service only, so your customers interact with autoreplies.

Web Widget (Classic)

To configure an autoreply only widget

In Admin Center, click ( ) Channels in the sidebar, then select Classic > Web Widget

Toggle off Chat and toggle on Help Center and Autoreply with articles

For more information on configuring autoreply in your widget, see the article: Enabling article recommendations in Web Widget (Classic).

Web Widget with AI agents - Essential

To configure an autoreply only widget with an AI agent

If you use AI agents - Essential in the Web Widget, configure the escalation response behavior with a custom response to inform the user that no escalation will take place.

In Admin Center, click ( ) AI in the sidebar, then select your AI agent

Open the Answers tab. Choose the Talk to a human or Build your own answer option in the answer setup. Customize the answer to redirect your customer with your message

Open the messaging behavior tab, and add your answer to each necessary response option

This configuration removes the ability for the AI agent to transfer the conversation to a human agent, so ensure that you provide the necessary information in your message to redirect the user as needed.

For more information, see Customizing the standard responses for an AI agent on a messaging channel.