When a new AI or live agent reply arrives, Boei makes sure the visitor notices, even if they're not actively looking at the chat. No configuration required, this is on by default for every chatbot widget.
How to get there: No setup needed. This is automatic on every Boei chatbot widget once installed.
Three soft signals fire together whenever a reply arrives and the visitor is not actively looking at the chat panel:
A small red badge with the unread count appears on the chat launcher button. Same look as a missed-message notification on a phone. Clicking it opens the chat panel and clears the count.
The browser tab title gets a (1) prefix (or (2), (3), etc.). The original title is restored as soon as the visitor returns to the tab or opens the chat panel.
A short, low-volume tone plays through the browser's audio (no asset download, generated on the fly). Browsers only allow sound after the visitor has interacted with the page at least once, so the chime stays silent on truly cold pageviews.
| Visitor state | Signals fire? |
|---|---|
| Tab visible, chat panel open | No (visitor is reading the message live) |
| Tab visible, chat panel closed | Yes |
| Tab hidden (other tab or app focused) | Yes |
| Visitor sent the message themselves | No |
The unread count clears the moment the visitor opens the chat panel, returns to the tab, or sends their next message.
If a conversation has been escalated to a live agent, Boei keeps watching for the agent's reply even after the visitor navigates to another page on your site.
Without these signals, visitors who escalate to a live agent and then switch tabs or browse other pages on your site often miss the reply entirely. By the time they come back, the agent has timed out and the conversation is lost.
The notifications keep the visitor engaged without being intrusive. They are deliberately softer than the alerts agents see in the Inbox (no repeating sound, no flashing tab, no popup) because the visitor is your guest, not your operator.
Can I turn this off?
Not currently. The signals are designed to be unobtrusive, and turning them off would mean visitors miss agent replies. If you have a specific use case that needs this disabled, contact support.
Will the chime annoy visitors?
The tone is short (less than half a second) and low volume. It only fires when there's a real new reply, never on system events.
What if the visitor closes the browser tab entirely?
Once the tab is closed, Boei has no way to notify them. The agent's reply is saved and visible the next time the visitor returns. If you also have email transcripts enabled, they will receive the conversation by email.
Does this work for AI replies too?
Yes. The signals fire for any non-visitor message, AI or human agent.