Bypassing Chat Welcome

Overview

Developers can bypass the chat Welcome stage and allow conversations to start immediately when customers enter, using a specific installation configuration.

This is especially useful for customers who have already completed identification or a preliminary stage through a non-chat channel. It allows them to continue the conversation seamlessly, without repeating unnecessary or cumbersome steps.

Sending a URL

The welcome screen can be bypassed by appending a query parameter to the chat URL.
The system checks for the parameter skipWelcome=1.
When this parameter is present, the welcome screen is disabled, and the user is taken directly into the conversation.

Chat Installation Code (connect.js)

This behavior can also be configured directly in the website’s chat initialization script.

By passing the parameter skipWelcome: true into the BY.chat configuration object, the welcome message is skipped automatically.

connect.js implementation:

window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function () {
  BY.chat({
    baseDomain: 'bumpyarddev.com/',
    appsSubDomain: 'apps',
    brandName: 'bumpyard',
    streamId: 'ts3LQ4H3yIPbGhPDPvU3FQ%3d%3d',
    skipWelcome: true
    // ...
  });
});

When this configuration is applied, the system automatically ensures that requests include skipWelcome=1, loading the user directly into the conversation.

Use Cases

1. Seamless Website Chat Integration
   A company may want its website chat widget to open directly into an active conversation, without requiring users to go through a welcome screen.
   By adding skipWelcome: true to the chat installation script (connect.js), every chat session on that website will automatically skip the welcome page.

2. Specific Button or Page Redirects
   A website or customer portal may include buttons or links that direct users to a chat URL with ?skipWelcome=1 appended.
   This allows control over when the welcome screen is shown and when it is skipped.

3. Client-Specific “Redirect to Conversation”
   This feature can support client-specific needs, such as redirecting users straight into an ongoing or pre-configured conversation flow.