Overview

Chatwoot is an open-source, self-hosted customer engagement suite that serves as an alternative to popular platforms such as Intercom, Zendesk, and Salesforce Service Cloud. This suite allows users to view and manage customer data, communicate with them through various channels, and re-engage them based on their profiles.

Features

• Conversation Channels: Chatwoot supports multiple conversation channels including website chat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, WhatsApp, Line, SMS, and API integration.
• CRM: Users can save customer information within Chatwoot and use contact notes to log emails, phone calls, or meeting notes.
• Custom Attributes: Chatwoot allows users to define custom attributes to store additional information about a contact or conversation, effectively extending the product to match their workflow.
• Shared Multi-Brand Inboxes: Users can manage multiple brands or pages using a shared inbox.
• Private Notes: @mentions and private notes can be used to communicate internally about a conversation.
• Canned Responses: Improve response rate by creating saved replies for frequently asked questions.
• Conversation Labels: Users can create custom workflows by using conversation labels.
• Auto Assignment: Chatwoot intelligently assigns tickets to agents based on their availability and workload for improved efficiency.
• Conversation Continuity: If a user provides an email address through the chat widget, Chatwoot will send an email to the customer, allowing them to continue the conversation via email.
• Multi-lingual Support: Chatwoot supports over 10 languages.
• Powerful API & Webhooks: Users can extend the functionality of Chatwoot through its APIs and webhooks.
• Integrations: Chatwoot natively integrates with Slack for easy management of conversations.

Installation

To install Chatwoot, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/chatwoot/chatwoot.git

2. Change into the Chatwoot directory:

cd chatwoot

3. Install dependencies:

bundle install && yarn install

4. Setup the database:

bundle exec rails db:setup

5. Start the server:

bundle exec rails server

6. Visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser to access Chatwoot.

For more detailed installation instructions and troubleshooting, refer to the documentation available at chatwoot.com/help-center.

Summary

Chatwoot is an open-source customer engagement suite that provides a self-hosted alternative to popular customer engagement platforms. Its key features include support for multiple conversation channels, a CRM system, custom attributes, shared multi-brand inboxes, and powerful integrations. Chatwoot is highly customizable and supports multiple languages. With its easy installation process and detailed documentation, users can quickly set up and start using Chatwoot for effective customer engagement.