Inserting common phrases with shortcuts

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With shortcuts, you can save typing time by inserting common phrases with just a few keys. For example, you might want to create a shortcut that says, "Hi there, how may I assist you today?" You can also use placeholders to pull in visitor-specific and chat session–specific information.

This article contains the following topics:

About shortcuts

Creating shortcuts

Editing and cloning shortcuts

Reassigning shortcuts

Using shortcuts in chats

Related articles:

Setting up shortcuts and departments to optimize agent efficiency

Creating custom roles and assigning users

About shortcuts

You can create up to 15,000 shortcuts in your account.

There are three types of shortcuts available: Personal, shared global, and shared department:

Personal shortcuts, which can be created by an agent or administrator for their own use.

Shared shortcuts, which can be created only by an administrator, and can be shared among multiple users. There are two kinds of shared shortcuts:

Department shortcuts, available to agents in specific departments. A single department shortcut can be used by multiple departments. See Creating shortcuts for more information. Department shortcuts are not available on all plans.

Global shortcuts, available to all agents, regardless of their department affiliation..

You select the type of shortcut during its creation. Depending on your permissions, you can change the shortcut type by reassigning it. See Reassigning shortcuts for more information.

Administrators can restrict the permissions available to agents:

All shortcuts: Can add and edit personal, department, and global shortcuts.

Department: Can add and edit personal and department shortcuts.

Personal: Can add and edit personal shortcuts.

None: Unable to add or edit any shortcuts.

These permissions are applied to a user via their Chat role, and are configured on each role's edit page, in the Shortcuts section:

For information on these and other permissions, see Creating custom roles and assigning users.

Creating shortcuts

Shortcuts are created on the Shortcuts settings page, which is accesed from the Chat dashboard.

To create a shortcut

From the Chat dashboard, select Settings > Shortcuts.

Click Add Shortcut to open the shortcut creation page:

In the Shortcut field, enter the abbreviated text you want to use as your shortcut.
Note: Shortcut names cannot contain the following characters: /, \ , $.

Use the Available for drop-down to select the shortcut type you want to create. See About shortcuts for information on shortcut types:

Select All Agents to create a shared global shortcut.

Select Agents in Department(s) to create a shared department shortcut.

Select Me only to create a personal shortcut.

If you selected Agents in Departments in the previous step, enter the names of the department(s) you want to share the shortcut with into the Required field.

In the Message field, enter the complete phrase or question the shortcut should insert.
To pull in visitor-specific details, you can click the Insert placeholder link to display a list of available placeholders. Click on the placeholder you want to use to insert it into the message body.

(Optional) If your shortcut is for a question with a discrete list of answers, click Add Option to add one or more Options to enter answers visitors should select from, such as in the example below:

(Optional) If needed, click in the Tags field to add a tag to a chat when this shortcut is used.

Click Create Shortcut to finish.

Editing, deleting, and cloning shortcuts

You can edit existing shortcuts, delete unneeded shortcuts, or clone a shortcut to copy its content and modify it.

To edit an existing shortcut

From the Chat dashboard, select Settings > Shortcuts.

Click on the row of any shortcut to edit it.

Update the information as needed, then click Save Changes.

To delete an existing shortcut

From the dashboard, select Settings > Shortcuts

Click on the row of any shortcut to select it.

Use the Actions drop-down menu at the top of the page to select Delete.

The shortcut is removed from the list.

To clone an existing shortcut

From the dashboard, select Settings > Shortcuts

Click on the row of any shortcut to select it.

Use the Actions drop-down menu at the top of the page to select Clone.

Update the information as needed, making sure to give the shortcut a new name.

Click Create Shortcut.

Reassigning shortcuts

Admins and agents can change a shortcut’s type by reassigning them. Shortcuts can be reassigned individually, or in bulk.

To reassign shortcuts

From the dashboard, select Settings > Shortcuts.

Select one or more shortcuts. You can select all shortcuts on the list by clicking the checkbox at the top of the list.

Click the Actions drop-down menu, then select Reassign.

Select the shortcut type you want to apply:

Select All Agents to create a shared global shortcut.

Select Agents in Department(s) to create a shared department shortcut, if available.

Select Me only to create a personal shortcut, if available.

If you selected Agents in Departments, enter the names of the department(s) you want to share the shortcut with.

Click Set to save the new assigned type.

Using shortcuts in chats

Note: If you are on a Chat + Support account with the Agent Workspace enabled, see Serving chats in the Agent Workspace: Using shortcuts in chats for information on applying shortcuts.

Shortcuts are entered into a chat by the agent, who either begins typing the abbreviated shortcut text, or entering a slash. If the agent enters only a slash (/), the first 10 shortcuts appear. You can filter the displayed shortcuts by typing in more of the shortcut name.

Agents and admins will see:

Their personal shortcuts

Department shortcuts shared with the departments they belong to

Global shortcuts

To use a shortcut in a chat

In a chat, start typing a shortcut, or type a slash (/) to view all shortcuts. The matching shortcut options appear, like in the example below:

Personal and department shortcuts are labeled as such.

Highlight the shortcut you want to insert either by clicking it or by pressing the down arrow and then Enter.

The complete shortcut appears. If your shortcut includes options, they appear with radio buttons when you send the chat.