Messaging — chatting with a customer in real time

Ref: B08 · Track: Channels · Time to complete: ~10 min

Why this matters

Messaging is the real-time channel — customer types in the widget on your website or app, you respond in the agent workspace. Faster than email, more casual in tone, and subject to its own rules you need to know.

Go Online for messaging

Same as Talk — messaging only routes to agents who are Online.

1. Click your avatar, top-right.
2. Click the messaging icon (speech bubble).
3. Set status to Online.

You can be Online for messaging and Offline for Talk independently (or vice versa). Admins set which channels you're even eligible for.

Receiving a messaging chat

1. A customer types into the widget on your website / app.
2. Zendesk creates a ticket (yes — messaging is still tickets underneath).
3. If you're Online and have capacity, a pop-up slides in from the top-right.
4. Click Accept within the allowed window.
5. The ticket opens. Start replying.

The conversation appears in the ticket timeline, rendered as a chat bubble stream.

Authenticated vs unauthenticated chats

Two flavours:

Unauthenticated

The customer is anonymous — they landed on the site, opened the chat, started typing. Zendesk only knows their browser session. - You'll typically ask for their email early in the chat. - Once they give you the email, you can update the user profile and link the ticket to them.

Authenticated

The customer is signed in to your product. Your frontend passes their identity into the chat widget via a JWT. - Their name, email, account details, and recent activity flow in with the conversation. - No "what's your email?" dance needed — Zendesk knows.

Authenticated chats are much faster to resolve. If your product supports them, use them.

Blue ticks vs black ticks

• Two blue ticks — your message has been read by the customer (they had the widget open when it arrived).
• Two black ticks — your message was delivered to them but they haven't seen it (widget closed).

This matters because of the 10-minute fallback (next section).

The 10-minute email fallback

Messaging isn't always real-time. Customers close the widget and walk away. If the customer has closed the widget and hasn't seen your latest message for 10 minutes, Zendesk does one of two things (depending on admin config):

• Emails them your latest message, so they can reply by email. The ticket continues; the channel effectively switches to email.
• Notifies them via push/SMS if your product has mobile push configured.

This is why every messaging customer needs an email on file. Without one, the fallback can't fire and the conversation dies.

Replying to an ongoing chat

• Type in the composer and send — same as email but shorter messages, no subject.
• Use chat-specific macros (see B10) — short replies that fit the widget.
• Mark Pending while waiting on the customer — same status flow as any ticket (A09).
• Solve when done.

Tip: Messaging customers expect rapid replies (under a minute). If you're going to be longer, say so: "Let me check your account — give me 60 seconds".

Ending a messaging conversation

1. Confirm with the customer the issue is resolved.
2. Thank them.
3. Mark the ticket Solved.

The widget shows the customer a small "conversation ended" indicator. If they come back later with the same issue, they may start a new chat (which becomes a new ticket) or Zendesk may route them to the existing one — depends on config.

Common mistakes

• Writing a 200-word paragraph in chat. Customers won't read it. Break into short lines.
• Waiting 3 minutes between messages with no acknowledgement. The customer thinks you've left. Send a quick "one moment" if you're researching.
• Using email macros in chat. They're often too long and include greetings/signatures that don't fit the chat format. Use chat macros (B10).
• Forgetting to get their email on unauthenticated chats. If the 10-min fallback fires and there's no email, the conversation is lost.

Quick check — have you got this?

• You message the customer. Two black ticks appear. Have they seen it?
• The customer hasn't responded for 15 minutes. What happened to your last message?
• You're Online for messaging but not for Talk. Is that possible?

Related articles

• B09 — Channel switching: answer via email from a chat ticket
• B10 — Chat macros vs email macros
• D01 — Omnichannel routing and capacity rules