Agent Console

Operator workflow

Give agents a workspace that feels like a real application

ZChat is built for teams that want more than a browser tab with chat pasted into it. Operators can work from the web interface and the native desktop client, stay responsive with notifications, and manage multiple conversations without sacrificing clarity.

Focused login and status control

Agents connect quickly, set availability, and stay attached to the right deployment without friction.

Multi-session handling

Move between live chats, historical sessions, and team context without losing track of who needs attention next.

Better team coordination

Departments, routing, transcripts, and operator visibility all sit inside the same owned support system.

The agent toolkit

  • Accept and route visitors by department
  • Canned responses with inline shortcut expansion
  • AI-suggested replies drawn from the knowledge base
  • Private internal notes on every conversation
  • Share files and see inline image previews
  • Online / away / busy presence with auto-away
  • Search past transcripts and block abusive IPs
  • Work from the browser or the native Windows app

Start fast and stay responsive

Agents get a clean sign-in flow and a dashboard view that makes it easy to see who is online and which conversations need attention.

Agent login Agent dashboard

Work through live and historical conversations

Operators can review sessions, collaborate by department, and pick up context from previous interactions without leaving the product.

Chat sessions Agent management

A workspace, not a chat box

An agent handling four conversations at once needs more than a message list. These are the parts of the console that decide whether a busy shift is manageable.

Seeing the queue

Waiting visitors appear with the question they asked, so an agent can pick up the one they can actually answer. With monitoring enabled, people still browsing appear too, and can be invited into a conversation.

Presence covers online, away and busy, with automatic away so a forgotten session does not silently hold the queue.

Handling several at once

Conversations open as separate threads with typing indicators and delivery state. A per-agent concurrency limit stops one person being handed more than they can hold, and auto-assignment spreads new chats across whoever is free.

Answering faster

Canned responses with shortcuts keep frequent answers consistent. Files go in both directions, images appear inline, and private internal notes record context the visitor never sees.

Handing over cleanly

Transfer to another agent or department carries the transcript with it, so the customer never repeats themselves. Awkward visitors can be blocked by IP - including CIDR ranges with automatic expiry - straight from the transcript view.

Browser console and Windows desktop console

  • The browser console is part of the dashboard - nothing to install, works anywhere.
  • The Windows desktop console suits agents who would rather not keep a tab open.
  • Desktop notifications and a sound on new chat requests.
  • The customer panel shows pre-chat answers and your custom fields.
  • Visitor context - current page, referrer, device, visit count - when monitoring is on.
  • Saved desktop credentials are protected with Windows DPAPI, scoped to that user.

Questions we get asked

Is there a desktop application, or only a browser console?

Both. The browser console is part of the dashboard and needs nothing installed. A Windows desktop console is also available for agents who would rather not keep a tab open; it needs the .NET Framework already present on Windows.

How many conversations can one agent handle at once?

As many as you allow - a per-agent limit on concurrent conversations is a setting, and incoming chats can be auto-assigned to whoever is available and under their limit.

Can a conversation be handed to someone else?

Yes. Transfer to another agent or another department without asking the visitor to repeat themselves; the transcript goes with it.

What does the agent see about the visitor?

The pre-chat answers including any custom fields you defined, and - when visitor monitoring is enabled - the page they are on, how they arrived, their device and how many times they have visited.

When I sign in to the desktop console, how do I point it at my server?

Type your site URL including the scheme - https://your-server, or http:// for a plain-HTTP test server - and the console connects accordingly. Only a bare host name falls back to the 'use secure connection' setting in Options. Saved credentials are protected with Windows DPAPI, scoped to the signed-in user.

Owned 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 you buy once and keep. 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

One-time purchase, perpetual license, and no monthly per-agent bill attached to growth.

AI Flexibility

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