Sticky Chat

Sticky Chat ensures that returning customers are automatically routed to the same agent they previously spoke with, creating continuity and building stronger customer relationships.

When a user is "sticky" to an agent, any new conversation they start will be automatically assigned to that agent (if available). This helps maintain context from previous conversations and provides a more personalized customer experience.

How Sticky Routing Works

When a sticky user sends a new message, the system routes the chat to their assigned agent whenever that agent is online and has not marked themselves Busy. Sticky chats reach the assigned agent even when the agent is already at their maximum concurrent-chat limit — this keeps long-running customer relationships connected to the right agent. If the agent is offline or has marked themselves Busy, the chat waits in the queue until that changes.

Mark Busy is the hard stop

The agent's Mark Busy toggle is the only way to stop sticky chats from being routed to them. While Mark Busy is on, no new chats — including sticky customers — will be allocated. The maximum concurrent chats setting acts as a soft target for non-sticky routing only.

How Users Become Sticky

Users can become sticky to an agent in two ways: automatically through bot settings, or manually through agent actions.

Automatic Sticky Assignment

Administrators can configure chatbots to automatically make chats sticky. When the Make chats sticky option is enabled in a bot's routing rules, any user who chats with that bot becomes sticky to the agent who handles their conversation. This is ideal for scenarios where ongoing relationships are important, such as account management or complex support cases.

Manual Sticky Assignment

Agents and supervisors with appropriate permissions can manually stick a user to any agent. This is useful when you want to ensure a specific customer always reaches a particular specialist or account manager.

Sticking a User to an Agent

You can manually assign a user to always be routed to a specific agent.

Stick User to Agent

Assign a user to always be routed to a specific agent for future conversations.

Steps:

1. Open the user's profile by clicking their name in any user list, chat, or search result.
2. Click the Actions dropdown menu.
3. Select Stick User to an Agent.
4. Choose the agent from the list that appears.
5. Confirm your selection.

Result: The user is now sticky to the selected agent. A star icon will appear next to the user's name indicating their sticky status.

Removing Sticky Assignments

Sticky assignments can be removed to allow chats to be redistributed through normal routing.

Unstick a User

Remove a user's sticky assignment so their future chats go through normal routing.

Steps:

1. Open the user's profile by clicking their name in any user list, chat, or search result.
2. Click the Actions dropdown menu.
3. Select Unstick User.
4. Confirm the action when prompted.

Result: The sticky assignment is removed. The next time this user starts a conversation, it will be routed through the normal queue to any available agent.

Unstick All Users from an Agent

Remove all sticky assignments for a specific agent (administrator action).

Steps:

1. Navigate to Admin > Agent Status.
2. Find the agent in the list.
3. Click the Actions dropdown for that agent.
4. Select Unstick All Chats.
5. Confirm the action in the dialog that appears.

Result: All sticky assignments for that agent are removed. When those users next send messages, their chats may be routed to different available agents.

Identifying Sticky Users

Sticky users are clearly marked throughout the interface so you can easily identify their routing status.

Visual Indicators

Sticky users display a distinctive star icon and badge showing which agent they are assigned to:

Understanding Badge Colors

Agent badges use consistent colors to indicate different states:

Best Practices

Follow these guidelines to get the most value from sticky chat functionality.

When to Use Sticky Chat

• Account Management - Assign key accounts to dedicated agents for personalized service
• Complex Cases - Keep users with ongoing issues connected to the agent who understands their situation
• VIP Customers - Route high-value customers to your most experienced agents
• Language Matching - Ensure users are routed to agents who speak their language
• Specialized Support - Connect users with technical issues to specialized support agents

Considerations

• Agent Availability - Sticky routing works whenever the assigned agent is online and not marked Busy. If the agent is offline or marked Busy, the chat waits in the queue
• Workload Balance - Too many sticky users on one agent can create uneven workloads
• Agent Transitions - Remember to unstick users when agents leave or change roles
• Out of Office - When a sticky agent sets themselves out of office and names a delegate, their sticky customers route to that delegate first while they're away. See Set Out of Office
• Backup Plans - Sticky users wait in the queue when their agent is offline or has marked themselves Busy. For extended absences, use Unstick User or Unstick All Chats to release the assignments

Related Topics

• User View
• Agent Status
• Agent Chat
• Users
• Set Out of Office