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Working as an Operator in CloudRadial Chat and Microsoft Teams

Evan G
  • Updated

If you're a member of the Team designated for your MSP's Service Channel, you're an operator. That means CloudRadial Chat will route Live Chat requests to you and respond to your commands. This article covers everything you need to know to work with Chat day-to-day in Microsoft Teams.

Chat appears in Teams as a bot. You interact with it in two ways: through buttons on Adaptive Cards that Chat posts during conversations, and through commands you send directly to the bot. Everything you do with the bot is invisible to the client; they only see your direct messages to them.

Managing Your Status

Your operator status determines whether Chat considers you available for Live Chat assignments. You manage it from the Chat Settings tab in your designated Teams channel.

Set yourself to available when you're ready to take chats and unavailable when you're not: in meetings, at lunch, focused on a project, or done for the day. Your status affects how Chat routes incoming requests based on your MSP's Live Chat Strategy (round robin, all operators, or manual pickup).

Talking to the Bot

There are two ways to interact with the bot, and the key difference is whether the bot knows you're talking to it.

In a DM with the bot: open a direct message conversation with the bot in Teams. In a 1:1 DM, the bot knows every message is for it, so there is no need to @-mention. This is the most convenient way to run commands outside of a Live Chat. Many operators pin the bot to their favorites and keep a DM conversation open.

In a channel or group chat: the bot only responds when addressed directly. @-mention the bot before your command, for example @BotName /help. This applies both in the Service Channel and during Live Chat group conversations.

Tip: if the bot doesn't respond to a command, the most common cause is that it wasn't @-mentioned. In any conversation with more than two participants, the bot needs to be addressed directly.

When a Live Chat Comes In

When an end user escalates to Live Chat, here's what happens on your side:

  1. Chat posts a Chat Request Card into your designated Service Channel. The card shows the ticket subject, the client's name, email, company, priority, and status, along with a summary of what the Responder already collected.
  2. Depending on your MSP's Live Chat Strategy: with Do not auto-assign (the default) the card sits in the channel and any available operator can click Join Live Chat to take it; with Round Robin Chat automatically assigns it to the next available operator; with All Operators all available operators are added to the conversation.
  3. When you click Join Live Chat (or are auto-assigned), Chat creates a group conversation with you, the client, and the bot. The client sees that you've joined and can start communicating with you directly. Chat updates the original card in the Service Channel to confirm you've taken the chat.

The client doesn't see anything until an operator joins. From their perspective, they're waiting for an agent.

The TicketCard

Once you're in a Live Chat, Chat displays a TicketCard in the group conversation. This card is visible only to you; the client never sees it.

The TicketCard shows a Ticket Summary with the ticket subject, number, and creation date; the client name and email; company, priority, and status; and a summary of the conversation so far.

Below the summary, a PSA Actions section provides buttons for managing the ticket without leaving the conversation:

  • View Ticket: opens the ticket in your PSA.
  • Update Status: change the ticket status.
  • Change Priority: change the ticket priority.
  • Add Notes: append a note to the ticket.
  • View Transcript: opens the full conversation transcript.
  • End Chat: ends the Live Chat session (red button).

Working the Conversation

Everything the client said to the Responder before escalation is visible in the conversation history. Read it before you start; if ChatAI already asked "have you tried restarting?" and the client said yes, you don't need to ask again.

Messages you type in the group chat go directly to the client. Commands you send to the bot (via @-mention) are invisible to the client. The bot handles the behind-the-scenes work, updating tickets, fetching information, and managing the conversation, while you focus on solving the problem.

If you need help from a colleague, add them to the group chat just like you would in any other Teams group conversation. They join with full visibility into the entire conversation history and can jump in immediately.

Handling Multiple Chats

You can handle more than one Live Chat at the same time. Each chat is a separate group conversation in Teams, and you switch between them just like you switch between any other conversations. This is one of the main advantages of chat over phone support. While waiting for a computer to restart in one conversation, you can work on another.

Ending a Chat

When the issue is resolved, click the End Chat button on the TicketCard, or @-mention the bot and send /end. This closes the Live Chat session and writes the complete conversation transcript to the ticket in your PSA.

Ending the chat does not automatically close the ticket. You can update the ticket status separately using the TicketCard buttons or directly in your PSA.

Commands Reference

Common commands you can send to the bot: /help lists all available commands, and /end ends the current Live Chat session. For the full list of commands, see the How Commands Work in CloudRadial Chat article.

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