Chat SDK: What happens when all agents are offline, away, or busy?

If you are using the Chat SDK in your app, it is useful to know how it behaves in different circumstances. In particular, when your agents are offline, away, or busy.

Here's a quick reference to answer the most common use cases.

Use Case	Behaviour
All agents are offline (not using departments).	The 'no agents available' screen is shown, inviting the visitor to leave a message.
All agents are away (not using departments).	The chat is started.
All agents are online (not using departments).	The chat is started.
All agents are online (not using departments), but the maximum number of chats have been reached for all of them.	The chat is queued, waiting for an agent to become available.
Agents are online in a specified department.	The chat is started, with the department set.
Agents are online in a specified department, but the maximum number of chats have been reached for all of them.	The chat is queued, waiting for an agent to become available in that department.
No agent online in specified department, but other agents are available.	The chat is started, with no department set, if department is not a required field. The offline message is shown if department is a required field.

If you would like to remove the ability for visitors to leave a message when the 'no agents available' screen is shown, check out Hide the "Leave a message" button in the Chat SDK.

If you would like to send messages to visitors whilst they wait, use triggers.