Live Chat is a study type in FC Qual that lets researchers run real-time, text-based moderated sessions with large groups of participants. Once you have built and launched your live chat study, this article walks you through how to manage participants, start the session, send tasks, monitor responses, and end the session.
For help building a live chat study from scratch, see FC Qual: Live Chats: Setup.
Before You Begin
Make sure your live chat study has been built and launched before attempting to field it. The study must have a scheduled date, time, and at least one assigned moderator.
Session Roles
Live Chat sessions support three distinct roles:
| Role | Access |
|---|---|
| Moderator | Full session control — sends tasks, manages participants, uses Support Chat and Team Chat |
| Participant | Joins via invitation link, responds to tasks via text |
| Observer | Read-only view of the main chat; can message moderators via Team Chat |
Step 1: Access Session Details
After your live chat study is launched, click the study tile from the Studies list to open the Session Details page. From here you can manage participants, access links, and start the session.
The Session Details page displays the participant-facing title, description, session status, scheduled date and time, and time zone. Click View Team to see the list of assigned moderators.
To make changes to the study or reassign moderators, click Edit Live Chat to return to the study builder.
Step 2: Share Session Links
Use the link options on the Session Details page to invite participants and observers:
- Copy Links — Opens a dropdown with separate links for observers and participants. Click either link to copy it to your clipboard instantly.
- Copy Registration Link — Located in the Registration panel on the right side of the page. Share this link with participants to let them self-register. Once they register, they appear in the Registered Participants list.
Note: Screening is separate from registration. Share the registration link only with participants you have already screened and selected. Registration is first-come, first-served.
Step 3: Manage Participants
The Registered Participants list shows all participants who have registered for the session, along with their name and email address. The registration panel on the right displays how many seats are filled out of the total available.
To manually add a participant:
- Click + Add Participant.
- Enter the participant's name and email address in the pop-up window.
- Click Add Participant. The participant will receive an invitation from the platform.
To remove a participant, click the delete icon next to their name in the list.
Step 4: Start the Session
When you are ready to begin, click Start Session. This opens the live session window.
The task panel on the left side of the screen shows all tasks you configured in the study builder, organized under Completed and In Queue. The main area will display participant responses as they come in. At first, the page will be blank until you send a task.
The top right of the live session window displays:
- Session duration (live timer)
- Number of participants in the session
- Number of observers present
Step 5: Send Tasks to Participants
To send a task from your queue:
- Click a task in the left panel to preview it. You can make quick edits to the task text before sending.
- Toggle Display answers to participants on or off depending on whether you want all participants to see each other's responses.
- Click Send to push the task to all participants in the session.
Moderators and observers always see responses in real time, regardless of the display setting for participants.
To create a new task on the fly during the session, click + Ask New Question at the bottom of the task panel. The new task is added to the queue and can be sent at any time.
Step 6: Monitor Responses and Mark Tasks Complete
As participants respond, their answers appear in the main session view. For poll tasks, response percentages update in real time.
When all participants have responded, click Mark Complete to close the current task. This is required before you can send the next task to the group.
Step 7: Ask Follow-Up Questions
For poll tasks, you can program a follow-up question based on a specific answer choice:
- Click Ask Follow Up below the response results.
- Select the answer choice(s) that should trigger the follow-up. Only participants who selected that answer will receive the follow-up question.
- Type your follow-up question in the text field. It will appear to participants as an open-text opinion question.
- Click Send to mark the original question complete and deliver the follow-up. You can set up multiple follow-ups for the same task.
Step 8: End the Session
When all tasks are complete, click End Session in the top right. This ends the live chat for all participants and observers simultaneously.
After the session ends, response data is available for review and export from the Responses tab on the Session Details page.
Chat Channels
During the session, two dedicated chat channels are available in the bottom right of the session window:
| Channel | Who can see it | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Support Chat | Moderators and participants | Address participant technical issues or access questions without disrupting the main session |
| Team Chat | Moderators and observers only | Private channel for observers to suggest questions or follow-ups without being visible to participants |
Invite Additional Participants During the Session
If you need to share session links while the session is live, click Invite in the top right of the session window. A dropdown will appear with direct links for participants and observers.