Table of Contents
- 01What is a live chat connection request?
- 02The customer's journey from widget to agent
- 03What the agent sees: the request panel
- 04Request statuses: Waiting, Accepted, Declined
- 05Chat statistics and what they tell you
- 06Response tips that improve satisfaction scores
- 07Best practices for managing live chat requests
- 08Frequently asked questions
12
Active chats — live right now
8
Pending — waiting for agent
156
Resolved — conversations closed
What is a live chat connection request?
A live chat connection request — sometimes called a chat request or connection request — is the moment a real human customer asks to speak with a live support agent. It's distinct from an automated bot conversation. When a customer submits a live chat request, they've decided the issue needs a person, not a script.
In Kamflo, this happens through your embedded chat widget — the small chat bubble on your website or app. A customer opens it, starts a conversation, and at some point — either by clicking "Talk to a human" or by the bot recognizing it can't help further — a connection request is created and sent to your available agents.
Think of it like a phone ringing at a call center, except the "ring" is a live chat connection request appearing in your agent's Kamflo request panel. The agent sees who it is, what they wrote, and where they came from — then decides to accept or decline.
A live chat connection request is a bridge between automated and human support. The AI bot handles what it can; the connection request routes what it can't to a real person — seamlessly, in real time.
The customer's journey from widget to agent
Understanding the customer's experience helps agents respond better. Here's exactly what a customer goes through from the moment they see your chat widget:
Customer opens the widget
They click the chat bubble on your website. They see a greeting message and an option to start a conversation.
AI bot responds first
Kamflo's bot tries to answer the query automatically. If the customer's question matches trained knowledge, it answers instantly.
Customer requests a live agent
The customer clicks 'Talk to a person' or the bot recognizes it can't resolve the issue and offers to connect them with an agent.
Connection request is created
A live chat request appears in Kamflo's request panel with the customer's name, message, and timestamp. Status: Waiting.
Agent accepts the request
An available agent clicks Accept. The request converts into an active conversation in the shared inbox. Status: Accepted.
Conversation is resolved
Once the customer's issue is addressed and the conversation is closed, it moves to Resolved status and becomes part of the support history.
The entire flow — from widget open to agent response — can happen in under 60 seconds when your team is properly staffed and using Kamflo's request panel efficiently.
What the agent sees: the request panel
From the agent's side, the live chat request panel in Kamflo is designed for fast triage. When a new connection request comes in, agents see:
Live Chat Request Panel — Agent View
Customer name
Shown if provided, or 'Anonymous Visitor' if not
Initial message
The first thing the customer typed — giving context before you accept
Source channel
Which channel the request came from (widget, WhatsApp, etc.)
Wait time
How long the customer has been waiting — turns amber after 2 min, red after 5 min
Page URL
Which page on your site the customer was on when they opened the widget
Previous visits
Whether this customer has contacted you before (returning vs new)
This context matters because it changes how you respond. A customer who's been waiting 4 minutes and sent a frustrated first message needs a different opening than someone who just typed "quick question." Kamflo surfaces all of this before you accept, so your first response lands right.
The single most impactful thing you can do for live chat satisfaction is respond within 2 minutes of a request being accepted. Customers who wait longer than 5 minutes for a first response are 3× more likely to abandon the conversation.
Request statuses: Waiting, Accepted, Declined
Every live chat connection request in Kamflo moves through a clear set of statuses. Understanding these helps teams manage workload and ensure no customer is left hanging.
The customer has submitted a connection request and no agent has accepted it yet. The request is visible to all available agents in the request panel. This is the most critical status — every second here is a second the customer is waiting with no feedback.
Action required: Any available agent should accept immediately.
An agent has accepted the request and the conversation is now live. The request has converted into an active inbox thread. The customer receives a notification that an agent has joined. The conversation is now private between the customer and the accepting agent (plus team admins).
In progress: Agent is actively handling this conversation.
An agent has declined the request — typically because they're at capacity or it's outside their area. A declined request should be re-routed immediately. Kamflo notifies other available agents when a request is declined. The customer sees a message that the agent is unavailable and the next available agent will assist.
Needs re-routing: Assign to another available agent or queue.
Chat statistics and what they tell you
Kamflo's live chat statistics dashboard gives you a real-time and historical view of your team's performance. Here's how to read and act on each metric:
Active Chats
The number of live conversations happening right now — accepted requests currently being handled by agents. A healthy active chat count depends on your team size. A single agent can comfortably handle 3–4 simultaneous live chats. If active chats per agent are consistently above 4, you need more capacity or better bot deflection.
Pending (Waiting)
The number of connection requests that haven't been accepted yet. Pending should always trend toward zero. If pending requests are sitting above 3–5 at any time during business hours, your response capacity is insufficient for your volume. This number is your clearest early warning signal for under-staffing or under-coverage.
Resolved
The cumulative count of conversations that have been successfully closed. This is your output metric — it tells you how much actual customer service your team is delivering. Track resolved chats weekly and month-over-month. A rising resolved count with stable or falling active/pending counts means your team is getting more efficient.
How to read your stats together
Response tips that improve satisfaction scores
Quick Response: the 2-minute rule
Research consistently shows that customers who receive a first response within 2 minutes of an accepted chat report significantly higher satisfaction scores. After 5 minutes, satisfaction drops sharply — even if the resolution is perfect. Speed of first contact matters more than most teams realize.
In Kamflo, wait time is visible on every pending request. Set a team standard: any pending request visible for more than 90 seconds gets accepted immediately, even if the agent needs a moment to review before responding.
Use response templates for common openings
Response templates in Kamflo let agents insert pre-written text with a single shortcut. The best use of templates isn't for full answers — it's for consistent, warm openers that buy you 30 seconds to read the full context:
Example template: Opening
"Hi [Name], thanks for reaching out! I'm looking into this for you right now — give me just a moment."
This single template, sent within seconds of accepting, tells the customer they're not talking to a bot, they're heard, and help is coming. Satisfaction scores improve before you've even answered the question.
Use the customer's name — always
Kamflo surfaces the customer's name (when available) before you accept a request. Use it. "Hi Sarah" versus "Hi there" is the difference between feeling like you're talking to someone who cares and feeling like you're in an automated queue. This is the smallest change with the largest psychological impact in live chat.
Best practices for managing live chat requests
Set agent online/offline status before shifts
Kamflo's live chat toggle lets agents mark themselves as available or unavailable. Make this a mandatory part of shift start and end. A pending request piling up while all agents are offline is entirely preventable.
Define a maximum concurrent chat limit per agent
3–4 simultaneous chats is the typical productive ceiling for most support agents. Beyond this, quality drops. Set this as a team standard and use it as the trigger for accepting vs. routing to a queue.
Route declined requests within 30 seconds
When a request is declined, it needs to go somewhere immediately. Don't let it sit in declined status — assign it to the next available agent or route it back to the general queue.
Close resolved chats promptly
Active chat counts that include stale conversations (where the customer has clearly left or the issue is resolved but the chat is still open) inflate your numbers and create confusion. Close chats as soon as the customer's issue is confirmed resolved.
Review pending stats at the end of every shift
Any conversations that were pending at the close of a shift — especially declined ones — need a follow-up message to the customer acknowledging the miss and offering next steps.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to a request if no agent is online?▾
If no agents are online when a request comes in, Kamflo holds the request in pending status and sends an automated acknowledgment to the customer that all agents are currently unavailable, with estimated response time. The request appears in the queue when agents come back online.
Can a customer send a live chat request from WhatsApp or Instagram, not just the widget?▾
Yes. Live chat connection requests can originate from any connected channel in Kamflo — the chat widget, WhatsApp, Instagram DM, Messenger, or Telegram. All requests route into the same request panel for agents to manage.
What happens to the conversation history after a chat is resolved?▾
Every resolved conversation is permanently stored in Kamflo's inbox history. Agents can search previous conversations by customer name, keyword, or date. This history is available even after the customer leaves and never expires.
Can multiple agents accept the same request?▾
No. Once an agent accepts a connection request, it becomes exclusively theirs. The request is removed from the pending panel for all other agents. It can be reassigned later if needed.
Is there a way to set up automatic routing so requests go to specific agents?▾
Yes. Kamflo supports channel-level routing rules — you can configure requests from specific channels to be offered first to specific agents or roles. For example, technical widget requests can route first to developer-role agents before being offered to general support staff.
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