Integration with Polaris Powerpac..How does live chat interact with the catalog?

24/7 Reference Integration with Polaris PowerPac

Today we are rolling out the second phase of the 24X7 Ask! service that includes integration with the Powerpac. The completion of this project further develops the portal concept so that customers are able to log in to their account and access their personal information—renewals, requests, fines and fees, saved searches, reading history, and now, their reference transactions. The integration of 24/7 Reference and Polaris is the first merger of the two products. With the integration of 24X7 and Polaris there are several ways a customer enters the service:

1. Customer selects the icon on the homepage.
2. Customers access the service from My Account by selecting “Virtual Reference”.
3. Customers access the service from a link at the bottom of any PowerPac screen.
4. Customers who retrieve zero hits in the catalog will see an image inviting them to ask for assistance.

Once a Customer clicks on any one of the three access points they will see this screen. They will be asked for a library card number and PIN or they may login as a guest of the service. If they enter their card number and PIN the transcript of their 24X7 ASK! session will be saved in the My Account section during future logins. If they log in as a guest they may enter their email address and will receive via email the transcript of the session.

Asking Questions at 24X7 ASK!
Once the customer logs in with their library card number and PIN or as a guest they will see this form. They can submit their question with this form.

The Chat Session
After the customer submits their question the screen splits into two areas, the Powerpac is on the left and the chat session is on the right side. The librarian can send the customer text messages, links, and push Web pages to the customer. These new Web pages appear on the left side (replacing the Powerpac page). Once the librarian has pushed a page to the customer’s Web browser they can even demonstrate how to browse to a certain area or even search a database.

Viewing Transcripts
Once a chat session has ended the transcripts of the session hold valuable information such as answers to questions asked, citations of where that information was found, Web sites to explore further, and instructions on accessing library databases. If the customer entered their library card number and PIN at the entry screen then the transcripts are filed under the “Virtual Reference” tab in the My Account section. Additionally, if the customer entered their email address they will receive a copy of the transcript.

If you click on the date of the transcript (text is blue) the transcript will open up in a new browser. Transcripts remain in the customers account for 30 days.