Silence is golden, but not when it means our chatting patron suddenly falls silent. We rely on communication from the patron during the chat session to provide feedback as we negotiate the query or send resources. What to do when a patron stops responding?
Of course it is impossible to know why a particular patron is not responding. The patron could be experiencing technical difficulties, browsing in another window, or be away from the computer. On one occasion, a patron vanished for a time in order to put money in his parking meter.
Section 4.4.2 of the 24/7 Reference Collaborative Policies and Procedures explains the process that chatting librarians should use when a patron appears to be non-responsive. To ensure that the patron has sufficient time to return to the session, follow these procedures before ending the call:
The librarian may end the call immediately upon receiving a system-generated message indicating the patron has left the session:
1. The "Patron is no longer connected" message is displayed four minutes after:
- the patron is accidentally disconnected due to a technical problem
- the patron navigates away from the window
- the patron clicks the browser X button and closes the window
Note: one minute before the message is displayed, a red diamond appears next to the patron's name
2. The "Patron ended chat session" note is immediately displayed after the patron ends the call correctly by clicking the "End Call" button.
If there is no message indicating patron has left, yet patron has been non-responsive, ask the patron if he/she is still there (and say you’ll end the call unless you get a response)
For example, you could have a scripted message similar to this: "Are you still there? I haven't received a response from you, so I'm thinking you're no longer with me. Unless you respond soon, I will be ending this call and another librarian can continue helping you via email."
If the patron continues to be non-responsive and a system-generated message does not appear, the librarian may end the call five minutes after asking the direct question about the patron's status.
Since the software does not display a timestamp for the librarian's chat, how can the librarian know when five minutes has elapsed? Immediately after asking a direct question about the patron's status (e.g. "Are you still with me?" or "Are you still there?"), the librarian can go to the bottom-left corner of the Chat Monitor, click the Notes tab, and record the time as indicated by the clock at the top of the Chat Monitor, including the seconds (e.g. 20:04:23).
If the patron left an email address, use the Follow Up By Patron Library resolution code so the local librarians can decide whether or not to continue helping the patron.
When the patron has entered an email address, a transcript will be automatically sent after the librarian ends the session. So, if there is an email address, try to send some information in answer to the question (a URL, a citation, a recommendation for a database).
In the goodbye message, don’t explicitly state that a local librarian will send an email follow up. Instead, inform the patron that the question will be sent to other librarians "for review." This will cover situations where the local librarian decides not to send an email follow up (e.g. question was sufficiently answered; patron was unaffiliated; patron subsequently logged in and was helped by another librarian).
Questions or comments about this topic? Comment below or email Susan McGlamery at [email protected].
Comments