Live Assist is a MyWatchtower service: a live person, in a remote capacity, processing visitor-initiated entries per the community's configured rules.
Live Agent is the name of the same service in the MyWatchtower apps, for example in the settings of a gate.
The rules for entry decisions
Live Assist follows these rules:
- Every entry decision rests with the community, the resident or the designated decision maker of the community. JEKA personnel do not make entry decisions.
- No Live Assist representative opens an access point on personal discretion.
- When no decision maker can be reached, the entry is handled under the standing policy of the community. That policy is denial, unless the community recorded a different policy.
- The representative compares the visitor with the records of the community, relays the decision and records the entry.
Live Assist covers visitor-initiated entries only. A community cannot direct Live Assist personnel to do other work, and JEKA declines such a request.
How a community gets Live Assist
A community gets Live Assist through its agreement with JEKA. JEKA then puts each gate of the community on Live Assist and sets the service hours of each gate. Community staff cannot turn Live Assist on or off in the app.
What your community sees in the gate settings
Community staff see the Help button setting of each gate in Settings > Unstaffed gates. To open this tab, your role needs Community settings set to Add & edit. By default, the Admin role has it.
1. Select Settings, then select the Unstaffed gates tab.
2. In the Gates card, select the tab of a gate. The chips under the tabs show the settings of that gate.
A gate with Live Assist shows the Live Agents chip. Its Help button row also shows Live Agents. JEKA sets the service hours of this gate. You cannot change the Help button of this gate.
A gate without Live Assist shows the choices Disabled and Phone number in the Help button row.
When no Live Assist representative can take a call for help, the kiosk calls the help phone number of the gate, if the gate has one. If not, it calls the default help phone number of the community. Set a Default help phone number in the Help phone card of the tab, then select Save.
When a person answers a call at a help phone number, a recorded message names the gate and asks the person to press 1 to accept the call. If nobody presses a key in 8 seconds, the call to that phone ends.
What visitors see at the kiosk
Visitors use the kiosk in the same way at each gate. To get help with an entry, a visitor selects Get help at the bottom right of the kiosk screen.
At a gate with Live Assist, the kiosk shows the Get help button during the service hours of the gate. Outside these hours, the button shows only when the gate or the community has a help phone number. Visitors can still use the other entry methods of the kiosk, for example a PIN, a QR code or the directory.
During a call for help, the representative can ask the kiosk to read the ID card of the visitor. The kiosk then shows the visitor where to put the card.
The representative can also send the call to a resident or a property. The kiosk then shows "Forwarding your call to the resident." The resident decides on the entry. When the call rings in the MyWatchtower app and nobody answers, the call goes back to the representative.
Need help?
To add Live Assist to a gate, or to change the service hours of a gate, contact JEKA. Select Help center in the navigation on a computer, or Help in the account menu on a phone. Each one opens the MyWatchtower support page. You can also speak to the management office of your community.