Automation and SLAs

Premium Enterprise

Less clicking, fewer missed targets

Let rules handle the routine and targets flag what is slipping

Automation rules act when a conversation is created, a message arrives or a status changes. Macros run a saved list of actions in one click. Auto-assignment hands waiting conversations to available agents. These are part of Premium, at $19 per agent per month.

Advanced SLA policies, with next-response and resolution targets per department and priority, are part of Enterprise at $49 per agent per month. A single first-response target and its dashboard panel are free on every edition. This page describes the ASP.NET Core edition of ZChat 2.0.5; the separate Web Forms package does not include the 2.0.5 additions.

Premium

Automation rules

When something happens and every condition holds, the rule's actions run in order: label, prioritise, assign, reply, add a note, send a webhook or an email.

Premium

Macros

A named list of actions, such as label, set priority, reply and snooze, that an agent runs on a conversation in one click. Personal or shared with the team.

Enterprise

Advanced SLA policies

First-response, next-response and resolution targets per department and priority, with breach alerts and an SLA_BREACHED webhook.

Rules you can read

Each rule shows when it runs, its conditions and its actions. Rules run top to bottom, and a run log shows what each one did.

ZChat automation rules list with a refund rule that adds a label, sets high priority and sends a message

Macros

Run the same steps the same way every time, from Conversations or Live Chat.

ZChat macros list with a team macro that adds a label, sets urgent priority and adds a private note, and a personal macro that snoozes

SLA policies

Each conversation follows the first policy whose department and priority match.

ZChat SLA policy table with first-response, next-response and resolution targets per priority

By tier

  • Free: one first-response SLA target and the SLA dashboard panel
  • Free: SLA missed badges in the conversation list
  • Premium: automation rules, with a run log and starter templates
  • Premium: macros, personal or shared with the team
  • Premium: auto-assignment, round robin or least busy
  • Premium: each agent's own concurrent-chat limit
  • Premium: attributes that must be filled in before resolving
  • Enterprise: advanced SLA policies with breach alerts

How it works

What a rule can check

On Premium, conditions include status, priority, label, department, message text, a contact attribute, the email domain, browser language, page URL and whether you are inside business hours.

Auto-assignment and capacity

On Premium, incoming conversations are auto-assigned round robin or to the least busy agent, and each agent can have their own concurrent-chat limit. Auto-assignment starts switched off after an upgrade.

Safe by design

A rule never re-triggers itself, and a chain of rules triggering each other stops after three steps. Both are recorded in the run log.

When an SLA is breached

On Enterprise, a missed target marks the conversation, alerts its assignee, sends a push notification, writes an audit entry and fires the SLA_BREACHED webhook. Targets can count business hours only.

Questions we get asked

Which automation features are free?

The first-response SLA target and the SLA dashboard panel are free. Automation rules, macros, auto-assignment, per-agent chat limits and required attributes are Premium. Advanced SLA policies are Enterprise.

Can one rule trigger another?

Yes, up to three steps deep. A rule never re-triggers itself, and the run log shows each step.

What happens to my rules if Premium lapses?

Rules and macros stop running, and live chat keeps working with unlimited agents. The rules stay stored and come back when you renew.

Free first-response targets, paid automation when you want it

Premium is $19 per agent per month and Enterprise is $49, billed only for the agents you choose to cover.

Self-hosted customer support software

Deploy live chat on your own terms, not on someone else's pricing model.

ZChat gives you the installable server, web dashboard, website widget, and desktop agent tools in one self-hosted product, with live chat free to run. Run it on infrastructure you trust and connect AI only if and how you want it.

Deployment

Install on Windows or Linux, behind IIS or Nginx, in a VM, or in Docker if that fits your stack.

Commercial model

Live chat is free with unlimited agents. Only the optional AI assistant is billed, per agent per month.

AI Flexibility

Use Ollama locally or connect OpenAI and Anthropic with your own provider accounts.