About Live Chat
Built directly into SpecCheck Lab View, Live Chat is a faster, secure, and fully integrated communication experience with your ECPs. This article explains everything you need to know to get set up, manage conversations, and make the most of SpecCheck Live Chat!
Key Callouts
1. Live Chat Is On Lab View
Chats live directly within SpecCheck Lab View, so you can see messages, orders, and account information all in one place. If you don’t see the Live Chat button on the left hand menu in your SpecCheck dashboard, please reach out to our team at [email protected] and we’ll update your permissions.
2. Live Chat Notifications
You’ll never miss a message - notifications are built right into your SpecCheck dashboard. When a new chat comes in, you’ll see:
A toast notification in the top-right corner of your screen
A purple bubble indicator on the Live Chat navigation link showing the number of open conversations
A gentle notification chime when new messages arrive
An email alert whenever a new conversation is started by an ECP.
Email alerts can be toggled on and off, learn more here.
3. Fully Mobile Optimized
Live Chat is fully mobile optimized for all browsers! You can access all core chat features from any phone or tablet simply by logging in through your device’s browser. This gives you full flexibility on the go without the need for a separate app.
4. We've Imported Your Initial Chat Flows
The initial chat flows — the automated messages ECPs see when they first start a new conversation — have been configured automatically for you. To make updates to your initial chat flows, please reach out to us directly at [email protected].
5. No Changes for ECPs
Although this represents a major upgrade for labs, ECPs will not experience any changes on their side. Their Live Chat interface, workflow, and messaging experience remain exactly the same. There is no action required from ECPs and no training or change management needed. Everything will continue to work just as it does today, so you can transition confidently without impacting your ECP partners.
Getting Started - Configure Live Chat
Before you start chatting, please review your Live Chat settings in Lab View. Admins and users with access to Live Chat can configure these. Learn more about lab roles and permissions here.
1. Set Lab Hours and Availability
Admins and Live Chat users can manage your lab’s Live Chat hours directly in SpecCheck to control when your team is available to receive messages. These hours are also what is shown on the ECP dashboard, and are localized based on a user and the lab's location. To set or update your lab’s hours:
Go to Settings → Live Chat
Set your lab’s Live Chat Office Hours
Click Save Changes
Next, configure your After Hours Messaging preferences. When After Hours Messaging is enabled:
ECPs can still send messages outside of business hours, but the SpecCheck Helper Bot will alert them to expect a delay
Messages sent after hours will be received and flagged for review the next business day
Your team can reply once you’re back online
See below for how the Live Chat modal appears for your ECPs depending on your system settings:
2. Add Macros (Pre-Filled Responses)
Macros are pre-written responses you can send during a chat, helping you reply quickly without typing the same messages over and over. Macros can be personal and available only on your account, or they can be set as global and made available to all users.
For example:
“Thank you for contacting our lab. Have a great day!”
“Thanks so much! We’ll update you as soon as your order ships.”
In the new Live Chat system, to set up Macros:
Go to Settings → Live Chat → Manage Macros
Add or Delete macros one at a time from the Settings page
To Edit a macro, click the macro you want to edit, make your updates, then click the purple Save button.
3. Add Widget Links + Announcements
Widget Links allow you to share helpful resources, such as FAQs, order guidelines, warranty policies, directly inside the ECP’s Live Chat window.
You can add one or more links that will appear when an ECP opens the Live Chat messenger.
Each link includes a label, which is what the ECP will see and click on.
Links open in a new browser window.
You can add, edit, or delete Widget Links one at a time in your Live Chat settings.
The Widget Announcement Message is a customizable message that appears at the top of the ECP’s Live Chat view. You can use it to communicate important updates, reminders, or announcements.
Examples include:
“Welcome to Live Chat. Our team typically responds within one business hour.”
“Please include your order number when reaching out about a specific job.”
“Our lab will be closed on Monday for a holiday.”
Only lab admins and Lab View users with a Live Chat seat can update this message, and changes take effect immediately for all ECPs.
4. Set Your Communication Preferences
Live Chat now includes improved notification controls so your team can decide which email alerts they want to receive. You can customize these in the Communication Preferences section of your settings.
To update your preferences:
Go to Settings → Communication Preferences
Review the list of available notifications
Toggle email alerts on or off based on your needs
These settings help you control the flow of email communication. You can update your personal communication preferences at any time! Learn more about communication preferences here.
Using Live Chat
There are a couple different ways to initiate a Live Chat through the new system. Both ECPs and Labs can initiate new conversations, and you can always have multiple conversations happening at the same time.
1. Understanding Your Inbox
SpecCheck Live Chat uses an inbox structure similar to tools like Intercom, giving your team clear visibility into conversations and flexibility in how they’re managed.
Your Inbox: This view shows conversations currently assigned to you. Any chat you are responsible for responding to will appear here.
All: This view shows all conversations across your lab, regardless of assignment. This is helpful for visibility, collaboration, and stepping in when needed.
Unassigned: These are new or unclaimed conversations that have not yet been assigned to a specific user. Your team can pick these up and assign them as needed.
2. How Assignment Works
Conversations can be assigned either manually or automatically depending on your labs configuration. To change your assignment rule for your lab (e.g. manual to round robin), please contact [email protected].
Below are the different types of assignment and how they work:
Manual Assignment: Any user can assign a conversation to themselves or reassign it to another team member at any time. To do this in the Details section scroll to Assignee, click the +, then select a user.
Round Robin (if enabled): New conversations are automatically assigned to users in a rotating order. Users marked as Away will be skipped.
Unassigned Conversations: If a conversation is not auto-assigned, it will appear in the Unassigned inbox for your team to pick up and manually assign.
Once a conversation is assigned, it will appear in that user’s Your Inbox for follow-up and response. If needed, you can reassign the conversation by opening the chat, clicking on the rotating arrows icon next to Assignee, and selecting a different team member.
3. ECP to Lab Live Chats
When an ECP starts a new conversation, your team will be notified in several ways.
Once the chat begins, the ECP will receive the initial automated message from the SpecCheck Bot confirming that their message has been received. If the message is sent outside of lab hours and After Hours Messaging is turned on, they will be notified by the SpecCheck Bot that they should expect a delay in your response.
Custom routing to specific Live Chat users can be set up for Live Chats based on your lab's preferences. We've been imported existing routing rules, but to make adjustments please contact us at [email protected].
4. Lab to ECP Live Chats
Lab users can start a live chat directly with an ECP from SpecCheck Lab View, making it faster and easier to connect with your ECPs! To initiate a message with an ECP:
From the Live Chat page on Lab View, click the + button located at the top left across from the word Inbox.
In the search bar, type the name of the ECP’s office to find the correct location.
Once you’ve selected the office, choose one or more people to include in the conversation.
Type your message and click Send to start the chat. By default, you will be the default assignee for any message you create.
The selected ECPs will receive a notification on the bottom left of their SpecCheck dashboard when a new message arrives. They will also be notified via email, and reminded again via email if the chat goes unanswered for 2 days.
5. Searching + Filtering Chats
To help you stay organized, Live Chat includes powerful tools to quickly find the conversations you need. You can both filter and search your chats to stay focused and efficient.
Filtering options let you control which conversations appear in your inbox:
Open: Shows only active conversations that haven’t been resolved.
Snoozed: Shows all conversations you've (or another team member has) Snoozed.
Resolved: Displays all resolved chats, so you can easily reference past conversations and reopen them if needed.
Search makes it even easier to find specific chats. You can search live chats for message content, user notes, keywords or phrases discussed in the conversation.
Use filters and search together to quickly locate ongoing discussions, review historical conversations, or keep your inbox focused on only what needs action.
Please Note: In your inbox, you can view chats up to 35 days. For chats older than 35 days, please go to to the specific ECP details page.
6. Viewing a Specific ECPs Chats
Another improvement in the new Live Chat is that you can view and search chats associated with an individual ECP. This feature is available to all Lab View users, regardless of it they have a Live Chat seat or not. To access:
Log into SpecCheck Lab View.
On the ECP Overview page select the ECP whose chats you'd like to view.
Select the Live Chat tab to view or search their conversations.
Please Note: Chats on the ECP Details page are read-only! To reply or reopen a conversation, you will need to go to the main Live Chat page.
Other Useful Live Chat Features
We’ve rolled out several enhancements to Live Chat that make collaboration faster, clearer, and more efficient. Below are some helpful features available today, with even more features coming soon! To request a new feature, please email us at [email protected].
1. Read Receipts
Read receipts help you quickly understand when your ECP has seen the latest message in a conversation. Read receipts appear under the latest message and are indicated with Seen or Not Seen.
2. Live Chat Summaries
SpecCheck automatically generates AI-powered summaries of your conversations with each ECP to help your team stay informed and respond more efficiently. These summaries:
Appear in the Live Chat Details section, and also on the ECP Details page
Include an AI generated summary of all conversations from the past 30 days
This gives your team quick context on recent interactions, common issues, and ongoing requests, without needing to read through every message. These summaries update automatically as more messages come in.
3. @ Mentions
Mentions make it easy to call out your teammates in conversations when needed.
Lab View users can use the @ symbol to mention specific Lab View Live Chat users in a chat.
When you’re mentioned, an @ symbol will appear in the chat list next to that conversation to flag this for you. The indicator disappears once a new message arrives that does not include a mention of your name.
Lab users will be notified via email as well when they're mentioned in a chat.
4. User Notes
User Notes allow lab teams to add internal-only context directly within a live chat conversation. To toggle between sending a Reply or a Note, click the Reply button in the upper left corner of the message box.
These notes are visible only to your lab staff and are never shared with the ECP, making them ideal for capturing follow-ups, order details, internal reminders, or handoff context between team members. User Notes are also searchable so you can quickly find internal information as well.
5. Snoozing a Live Chat
The Snooze function lets Lab View users temporarily set aside a live chat and return to it later. Snoozing does not close or resolve the chat, it simply moves it out of your Open inbox into your Snoozed inbox for a set period of time.
Please Note: Snoozing a conversations moves it to the Snoozed inbox for all lab live chat participants, not just the user who Snoozed it.
How to Snooze a Chat
Go to your Open inbox and select the live chat conversation
Click the clock icon with a "Z" next to Mark as Resolved
Select a snooze duration
The chat will move to your Snoozed inbox for the selected period of time.
What Happens When a Chat Is Snoozed
The chat is removed from your Open inbox
It appears in your Snoozed inbox for the selected duration
Once the snooze time expires, the chat automatically returns to your Open inbox
Snoozing does not notify the practice and does not resolve the conversation
When to Use Snooze
You need more time to investigate or follow up
You’re waiting on information from another team member
The issue isn’t urgent but needs to be revisited later
Snooze helps keep your Open inbox focused while ensuring conversations are not forgotten.
6. Typing Indicator
Avoid duplicate responses and improve team coordination with typing indicators. When someone is actively typing a message, you’ll see a typing indicator in the chat window. This is especially useful for lab teams, so multiple team members don’t respond to the same inbound message at once.
7. Keyboard Shortcuts
Speed up your workflow with built-in typing shortcuts:
Press # to quickly pull up your list of saved macros.
Press : to quickly open the emoji selector.
8. Reporting
You can track Live Chat performance directly within SpecCheck by navigating to:
Reports → SpecCheck Metrics Report. At the bottom of the report, you’ll find Live Chat metrics, including insights into response times, CSAT scores, conversation volume, and overall engagement.
Access:
Available to Admins
Also available to Standard Users with reporting access enabled
These insights help your team monitor performance, identify trends, and improve response times over time.
Please Note: All reporting metrics are updated with a 24-hour delay due to how data is ingested and processed.
When You're Done Chatting or Need to Step Away
1. Setting Yourself as Away (and Returning Online)
When you’re marked as Away, you will still have full visibility into all live chat conversations, but you will not receive live chat email notifications. Assignment behavior while Away depends on your lab’s setup:
If round robin assignment is enabled, you will be skipped for new conversations
If round robin is not enabled, conversations may still be assigned by other users to you and will appear in Your Inbox
To set yourself as Away:
Go to Live Chat in Lab View.
Toggle to Away under Your Status.
When you’re back, switch your status back to Online to start receiving messages again.
2. Closing Conversations
When a conversation is complete, you can close it manually, or allow the system to close it automatically after 24 business hours of inactivity (on by default). To close a chat manually:
Click on the conversation.
Click Mark as Resolved in the upper right hand corner.
If needed, you can click Reopen Chat to reopen a resolved conversation.
Resolved chats will move out of your Open inbox, but can be reopened at any time by going to All and clicking Reopen Chat in the upper right hand corner.
Please note: Be sure to resolve chats once they’re complete. This helps keep your inbox organized and ensures our reporting metrics, including individual performance data, remain accurate.
Conclusion
SpecCheck Live Chat gives labs a faster, more reliable, and more connected way to communicate with their ECPs, all from one place. We’re excited to roll this out and can’t wait for you to experience how much smoother communication feels with everything integrated into SpecCheck.
For any setup questions, feature requests or if you ever need any help, please reach out to [email protected]!