Fix chat problems

Chat lets you write to the person at the remote computer, in sessions and before you connect to an Access device. See Chat with the customer for how it works.

The Chat button is missing

• Your plan must include Chat. Check the list on Instance › License, or ask someone who can see the license. See Understand your plan and its limits.
• Your role needs Chat (support) for Support sessions and Chat (access) for Access devices. The starter Technician and Admin roles have both, Viewer has neither, and custom roles get them only when an administrator adds them (or through All Support permissions, All Access permissions or All permissions). See Roles and permissions.

The Chat button is greyed out

Hover over the button to see why.

Message	What to do
No user signed in	Nobody is signed in on the Access device, so there is nobody to chat with. Connect instead, or wait until someone signs in.
Device offline	See Fix a Blink agent that will not connect.
Device revoked	The device was revoked. See Manage Access devices.
Update the agent to chat with this device or This agent version has no chat. Update the agent.	The device runs an agent without chat. See Keep agents up to date.

Screen locked: messages show after the unlock is not an error: you can write, and the user sees your messages once they unlock the computer.

A message is not sent

A message that did not go out is marked Not sent with the reason. Retry sends it again; Remove drops it.

Message	What to do
Not sent: the connection dropped.	Your connection to the console dropped while sending. Send it again once the panel is connected.
The device is offline. or No user is signed in on the device.	Messages to an Access device are not kept for later. Wait until the device is online with someone signed in.
You are sending too fast. Wait a moment.	Wait a few seconds, then send again.
The message is too long.	A message can have up to 4,000 characters. Split it.
You have started too many chats this hour.	Your administrator limits how many chats with devices’ users one person may start in an hour. Wait, or ask an administrator about Chats started per hour in Security settings.
This chat has ended.	The session ended or the chat closed. In a chat before a session, your next message starts a new chat.
You are not allowed to chat here.	Your role does not include chat for this session or device.
Not included in your plan.	Your plan does not include Chat (or Secret messages, for a secret).

The panel’s header also says when the chat has closed, for example The chat closed after an hour without messages or A different user signed in. A chat with a device’s user closes after an hour without messages, and when another user signs in, so a new user never sees an earlier user’s conversation.

The customer does not see the chat window

• The chat window could not open on the customer’s screen: Blink could not show the window on the remote computer. In an Access session, the user may have just signed out or switched users. Try again in a moment.
• Reconnecting to the customer…: the customer’s computer is reconnecting. In a Support session your messages wait for it; in an Access session they cannot be delivered until the device is back.
• The window may be behind other windows: it does not take the focus when a message arrives. Ask the customer to look for the flashing Blink button in the taskbar, or the Blink icon in the Mac’s menu bar. See What your customer sees.

Secret messages

What you see	What to do
No Secret toggle	Your plan does not include Secret messages, or the remote computer runs an agent without them.
Confirm the customer’s computer before sending a secret.	In a Support session, confirm the computer first. See Confirm it is the right computer.
Too many secrets are waiting to be viewed.	Wait until the customer opens or lets expire the secrets you already sent.
Pick a lifetime of 5, 15 or 60 minutes.	Choose one of the lifetimes under Expires after.
That secret is gone.	Someone already revealed it, or it expired. Ask the sender for a new one.
You cannot reveal your own secret.	Only the other side can open a secret you sent.
Expired (the server restarted)	Secrets waiting to be opened do not survive a restart of your Blink server. Send it again.
Expired (the chat closed)	The session ended or the chat closed before anyone opened it.

Clicking Reveal on the customer’s screen with your remote mouse does nothing: only the customer can reveal a secret you sent them.

When to contact IZT

Contact IZT if chat fails with The chat connection failed. again after Try again, or with a message not listed here. Send the session id (or the device name), the time and the message. See Collect logs for IZT support.