Chat integration with tawk.to
- name:
- Chat integration with tawk.to
- description:
- Integration of the Twak.to chat in iTop (both backoffice & portal)
- version:
- 1.0.0
- release:
- 2021-11-01
- code:
- combodo-tawk-integration
- state:
- pilot
Tawk.to is a free, hosted, third-party, live support chat that can be easily integrated within iTop to offer a new contact channel. It's a perfect way to enable live chat in iTop with a minimal effort/investment.
Revision History
Version | Release Date | Comments |
---|---|---|
2021-11-01 | 1.0.0 | First public version |
2021-01-01 | 0.2.0 | First beta version |
Features
It brings a small bubble in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Users can click on it to start a conversation with support agents.
Note that the chat widget can also be enabled in the backoffice.
Support agents can reply through the tawk.to dashboard.
Limitations
-
Unfortunately, embedding the agents dashboard in iTop through an iFrame dashlet is no longer possible as they have shutdown this feature.
-
Tawk.to does not provide a way (yet) to create a ticket directly in iTop based on the conversation with the end-user. The only fallback is for the support agent to retrieve the “transcript” of the conversation in the Tawk.to UI and to paste it in the iTop ticket.
Important: Keep in mind that Tawk.to is a free third-party chat which is not part of iTop. For any question regarding its usage and features, please check its documentation directly on their website.
Installation
Use the Standard installation process for this extension.
Configuration
Get tawk.to account
Go to tawk.to, create a free account.
Set widget configuration
First, go to the tawk.to backoffice, on the “Administration”
page, “Overview” tab and retrieve the Property ID
(“123456789” in the screenshot below) we will use it later.
Then, go to the “Chat Widget” tab and retrieve the Widget
ID
, it's the last part of the Direct Chat Link
(“ABCDEF” in the screenshot below)
Once you got them, fill the module settings as follow, using one of the methods described bellow:
-
property_id
Put the property ID retrieve in the previous step. -
widget_id
Put the widget ID retrieve in the previous step. -
enabled_portals
An array of the “portals” you want the chat to be enabled on. Can bebackoffice
for the administration console or any end-user portal ID (eg.itop-portal
for the standard portal), by default only theitop-portal
is enabled. -
allowed_profiles
An array of iTop profiles to define which users will be able to use the chat. If not defined, all users will be able t use it, by default onlyPortal user
is allowed.
Important: “Property ID” was once named “Site
ID” on tawk.to, mind to change the site_id
parameter
to property_id
if you were using an early beta version
of the extension.
There are 2 ways to configure the module settings:
-
Through the iTop configuration file: Will only
-
Through the XML datamodel via the ITSM Designer or an extension
Method 1: Configuration through the iTop configuration file
Pros:
-
Can be done easily as you just need to edit the configuration in your iTop instance
Cons:
-
Only applies to that particular iTop instance. If you are running several iTop frontals or environments, you will need to duplicate the configuration on each instances you want the chat to be enabled.
Simply put the following in the configuration file and fill it with your own settings:
'combodo-tawk-integration' => array ( 'property_id' => 'PUT_YOUR_PROPERTY_ID_HERE', 'widget_id' => 'PUT_YOUR_WIDGET_ID_HERE', 'api_key' => 'PUT_YOUR_API_KEY_HERE', 'enabled_portals' => array ( 'itop-portal', ), 'allowed_profiles' => array( 'Portal user', ), ),
Method 2: Configuration through the XML datamodel
Pros:
-
Configuration will apply to all instances using this datamodel:
-
If done in the ITSM Designer: All instances of the concerned license
-
If done in an extension: All instances using the extension
-
-
Can still be overloaded locally with method #1
Cons:
-
When using the ITSM Designer: Need Combodo's assistance to configure the module parameters
-
When using an extension: Need to be familiar with iTop extension development
Use the following XML as a bootstrap:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <itop_design xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" version="1.6"> <module_parameters> <parameters id="combodo-tawk-integration" _delta="force"> <property_id>PUT_YOUR_PROPERTY_ID_HERE</site_id> <widget_id>PUT_YOUR_WIDGET_ID_HERE</widget_id> <api_key>PUT_YOUR_API_KEY_HERE</api_key> <enabled_portals type="array"> <enabled_portal id="itop-portal">itop-portal</enabled_portal> </enabled_portals> <allowed_profiles type="array"> <allowed_profile id="portal-user">Portal user</allowed_profile> </allowed_profiles> </parameters> </module_parameters> </itop_design>
Using the secure mode
Tawk.to provides an optional secure mode to ensure that a user
identify isn't impersonated. If you want to use it, go to their
backoffice in the “Administration” page, “Overview” tab and
activate the “Secure mode”. Then copy the Javascript
API
Key (“MyAp1K3y” in the screenshot below), then put it in the
api_key
of the extension settings (see previous
section).
Usage
Once the extension is installed and configured:
-
Portal users will be able to open the tawk.to chat widget and start a chat conversation with your support agents.
-
Those agents must have open
tawk.to
in a separated tab and answer there. -
If they want to create a ticket from a live conversation, they will have to copy paste manually the discussion from
tawk.to
into an iTop Ticket
For more information on how to use tawk.to
, check
their web site