SOAP API Data update latency?

Content

We're using Chat but not the Customer portal. Our customers authenticate through our regular .com which then forwards them on to the Rightnow chat widget and makes an API call to update some customer information.

The problem we're having is that the majority of the time, when a chat agent takes the chat, the fields appear blank. Sometimes they are filled out, but most of the time they are not. When I look at the logs hours later, I can see the API call updating the contact a full 60 seconds before the chat even starts, but the data just doesn't exist at the time of the chat. So it appears that the API call is working successfully but the chat widget isn't working with real time data.