using jQuery 3.4.1 - I have set up a system where an administrator when logged in will have a script running every 5 seconds to check if any users have initiated a chat request. If so a window will appear with the users name and their initial question/message.

As well as the window I want to play an alert sound to let the admin know when a chat request is made but the issue is if I put the audio inside the script which checks for chat requests it will play immediately (if they log in and there's already a chat request) and then every 5 seconds which is very irritating.

To remedy I tried checking if the chat request div is visible then play the sound but it won't play at all this way and I'm not getting any console messages about it - I think this is happening because the sound requires user interaction in order to play.

Here's my current code.

 // Chat Request Notification Sound (not working)
 var chatstartsound = new Audio('../img/root/start.wav');
 if ($('#chatrequest').is(":visible"))
 { chatstartsound.play(); }

 // Chat Request
 (function chatrequest() {
 $.ajax({
 url:"../inc/chat-request.php",
 method:"POST",
 context: document.body, // This is to stop the AJAX spinner appearing every 5 seconds.
 global: false, // This is to stop the AJAX spinner appearing every 5 seconds.
 success:function(data) {
 $("#chatrequest").html(data);
 $("#chatrequest").delay(5000).show(200);
 }
 }).then(function() {
 setTimeout(chatrequest, 5000);
 });
 })();