Live chat is one of the fastest wins in HaloITSM — and one of the most commonly half-configured. The settings live in Configuration › Chat, and this quick guide covers the nine that matter most. It is part of HALO IN 60, our series explaining one configuration screen at a time. It is based on the official Halo Chat guide.
Ticking Enable Chat for End-Users on the Self-Service Portal places the live chat bubble on your portal. There is no code to add and nothing to install.
The Self-Service Portal Chat Profile sets the bot flow users meet before an agent joins. It can be overridden at Organisation level or per User Role — the role-level profile takes precedence — which makes it easy to give different audiences a different first experience.
New live chat display decides whether agents handle chats in a pop-up bubble or directly inside the user's ticket. Working in the ticket keeps the full history and context in one place.
Show the new chat bubble lets agents open a conversation themselves, rather than waiting for the user to start one.
Log a ticket when an Agent chat is ended enables ticket logging at the close of agent chats. The behaviour itself is configured per Chat Profile, so different chat flows can log different ticket types. Once set, every conversation is auditable, searchable and reportable.
Canned Text gives agents ready-made replies. We recommend also enabling Paste Canned Text into message box instead of sending straight away, so agents can personalise before the message goes out.
Chat Connection Method offers Heartbeat, which polls for new messages every few seconds, or WebSocket, which delivers them in real time. We set WebSocket as standard on our implementations.
Halo does not scan uploaded attachments for malicious content, so Allow image and attachment upload deserves attention. Restricting uploads to logged-in users is a sensible default for most service desks.
Auto end live chats if User abandons chat before Agent joins closes abandoned anonymous chats automatically, so your queues and reports reflect real demand rather than drop-offs.
Good tools deserve good configuration. Hikon is a HALO Partner — we implement, configure and support HaloITSM for service teams. Get in touch via hikon.co.uk.
Talk it through with the people who wrote it — a free 20-minute call, no pitch.
Let's talk →Book a free 20-minute call about your platform and your plans — no pitch, no obligation.
Start the conversation