Since version 4.25.6.4 there is a cool new plugin in LiveAgent called "Display external info in a ticket " which gives you an option to load data from an external server or application when the agent opens a ticket. With some development skills to create the connection, the plugin can be a very useful tool for your agents for finding more info on your external systems.
For example, it could be used to call API of your e-commerce system to list last orders of a customer your agent is currently communicating with so the agent can directly see in LiveAgent backend what the customer has ordered in your shop. The possibilities for the plugin are extensive and can save a lot of unnecessary clicks for your agents.
You can activate the plugin and configure it from your LiveAgent admin panel from Configuration->System->Plugins section where you click "Activate" next to "Display external info on the ticket ". Once the plugin is activated and the application reloaded you need to go back to Plugins section and there click on "Configure" button next to the "Display external info in the ticket" to actually set the plugin up.
What the plugin does is that it essentially loads the content of the desired URL via iframe and displays it in the ticket sidebar inside the application under the little "cloud" icon inside the ticket section here:
When you configure the plugin you will see several fields with a few options,
let us describe what each field and option does:
The display method is used to select how should be the content of your script displayed to your agents and there are 2 options:
- Proxy request through LiveAgent - if you select proxy method then the script is loaded by LiveAgent server and only the actual content is displayed to the agent so the agent has no way to capture the URL of your script which displays the content.
- Load directly into agent's browser - if you aren't concerned with agents being able to catch the URL of your script, then you can easily use this option
URL should hold the URL address to your custom script which should be called when the agent opens a ticket and goes to the Custom plugin's section. You can use the variables to assemble the URL as you need, e.g.
https://mydomain.com/info.php?customer={$contact_email}&customer_phone={$contact_phone}
HTTP Method determines how the HTTP request to specified URL address will be sent, whether it should use GET or POST method.
Request body field is used only if you select the POST as your HTTP request method and is used to build your POST request and include any of the available LiveAgent variables which you would want to use in your custom script. e.g.
ticket={$conv_conversationid}&subject={$conv_subject}
If you select GET as your HTTP method then you include the variables as regular GET parameters in the URL (see above)
HTTP Authentication user and password is used if you have the script secured with .htaccess HTTP authentication so that the application can authenticate itself when displaying your content.