Creating proactive messages for the Web Widget



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Proactive messages let you start conversations with customers through
the Web Widget based on set conditions. You can create messages, choose
between human or AI agent responses, and format them with rich text,
emojis, and links. Set rules for when messages are sent, pause or resume
them as needed, and troubleshoot issues by adjusting conversation control
settings.





Note: This functionality is part of
AI agents - Essential.



Proactive messages allow you to initiate conversations through the Web
Widget with
customers based on specified conditions you define.


In this article, we’ll take you through the following tasks:




Creating the proactive message


Composing the message


Setting the rules


Choosing when to send the message


Pausing and resuming proactive messages


Troubleshooting proactive messages




For an overview of proactive messages and how they work, see
About proactive messages.



Creating the proactive message


Proactive messages are created on the
Proactive messages page
in Admin Center.




You can create up to 140 proactive messages.

To create a proactive message



In Admin Center, click
Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Proactive
messages.


On the Proactive messages page, click the
Create proactive
message
button.


Under
Compose messages, specify the following
information for
the new message:


Name: Enter a brief but
descriptive name for the
proactive message.


Brand: If you have multiple
brands, use the dropdown to
select a brand for the message. Brands can run multiple
proactive
messages simultaneously.


Channel: Use the dropdown
to select a Web Widget for
the message. Only channels connected to the brand selected
above appear
in the menu. Each proactive message can only be published
on one
channel.




Click
Next
to open the new message configuration page.





Composing the message


After you’ve added the proactive message to your account, you can
compose the message text.
Composing the message requires adding and
formatting the text
that will greet your customers, then
selecting and configuring the response type.



There are two response types you can choose from:


Human agent: Lets you create
a simple follow-up to the initial message before handing
the
customer over to a human agent.


AI agent: Lets you use
an
answer
as a follow-up message.



Composing a message for each response type has slightly different
steps. The
sections below describe these in more detail.





Composing a proactive message with a human agent response


The basic customer experience for a proactive message with an
agent response is:


An initial greeting, or message, to the customer

A follow-up message to transition the customer to a
conversation with a human agent


A request for the customer’s name and/or email address
(optional)



For a more detailed example from the customer’s perspective,
see
Customer experience: Agent
response.







To compose the message with a human agent response



In the Compose messages
section of the configuration page, use the required
Proactive
message
box to enter the text for your initial message.


Under
Choose how to respond,
click
Human agent.


Enter the
follow-up message.
This can let the
customer know they’re being transferred to a live
agent, and
introduce the request for additional information
(if used).


In the optional
Customer details
section, a request
for both the customer’s name and email address are
included by
default. Click the X to delete either detail (or
both). Click the
down arrow to add back the deleted field(s). Deleting
both fields
removes the data collection request from the proactive
message.


Click
Next
to expand the
Set the rules
section.







Composing a proactive message with an AI agent response



Note: If your account has
reached its automated resolution
limit,
you will not be able to create or publish a proactive
message with an AI agent response until more automated resolutions
are
available.



The basic customer experience for a proactive message with an
AI agent response is:


An initial greeting, or message, to the customer.
An answer, which transitions the customer to the AI agent.


For a more detailed example from the customer’s perspective,
see
Customer experience: AI agent response.







To compose the message with an AI agent response



In the
Compose messages section
of the proactive
message’s configuration page, use the
Proactive message
box
to enter the text for your message.


Under Choose how to respond,
click AI agent.


Note the AI agent being referenced. If it is incorrect,
click Edit AI agent
and choose
the AI agent you want to use.

Only AI agents connected to the
channel you selected in the Compose messages
section can be
used. If necessary,
create a new AI agent
with the
messaging you need, or
publish an existing AI agent
to the
channel.



Use the Response drop-down
to choose the
answer
you want to use as
your customer follow-up message. If needed, click
Edit
answer
to make changes to the selected answer.


Click Next to expand
the Set the rules section.







Formatting the proactive message


You can format the proactive message with rich text, emojis,
external links, name
personalization, and dynamic content.






Rich text


You can apply the following rich text formatting to the proactive
message:


Bold

Italics

Underline

heading styles








To apply rich text to the proactive message


Select the text you want to format.

Click the Format text
icon ( ),
and select the
rich text formatting
you want to apply.







Emojis


You can choose from a standard set of emojis to add personality
to
your message.







To use emojis in the proactive message



Place the cursor where you want to insert the
emoji.


Click the Emoji
icon ( )
to select from
available emojis.







External links

You can include external links in your proactive messages.






To add a link to the proactive message



Place the cursor where you want to insert the
link, or
select the text you want to add the link to.


Click the Link
icon ( ).


In the Add link
window, enter the URL and the
text you want to display.


Click Add link.







Name personalization


You can personalize the proactive message to individual users
by adding a
placeholder that adds their first or full name, as shown
in their
user profile,
to the displayed
message text. If the selected name is not available, it will
not be added to
the message. For example, if the message begins with
Hello
<firstname>.,
the end user would see “Hello.”

Note: If your Web
Widget is embedded in a help center and the proactive
messaging trigger
is configured to
send when the visitor loads the
page,
the name information may not be available when the proactive message is sent.








To use name personalization in the proactive
message



Place the cursor where you want to insert the
name
placeholder.


Click the Add a variable
icon ( ).


Select First name
or Full name.







Dynamic content


If your account allows you to use dynamic content, you can
manually
add it to your proactive message.





To use dynamic content in the proactive message



Place the cursor where you want to insert the dynamic
content.


Enter the
placeholder for the dynamic
content
you want to use.







Setting the rules

Next, you’ll need to set the rules, which includes:



Adding conditions. A condition
includes an object
(visitor or device),
an operator, and a value. You can
also nest conditions to create more complex conditional logic.
You can
expand the Condition key to use as a reference.


Configuring the timing for checking conditions.
Here,
you’ll determine what event can trigger the condition check
– usually
when the customer visits a specified web or help center page,
often for
a specified amount of time.




For more information on the options for building conditions, see
Proactive messaging conditions and events reference.




To set the condition rules



In the
Set the rules
section, configure the conditions
that must be met to send a proactive message.


Click
Add condition.


Use the drop-down field to select an
Object
as the
subject of the condition.


If you’re using the
customer’s visit information
as a
condition for sending the message, select
Visitor
in the Object
drop-down, then:



Use the
Field
drop-down to choose what information to
consider: The
Page URL
of the customer’s current
page, the
Page title
of the customer’s current page,
or the
Visit history
of the customer.


Use the
Operator drop-down
to choose an operator.
Depending on your Field selection, this can
be
Is,
Is not,
Contains at least one of,
or
Doesn’t contain.


Use the
Value
field to enter the page URL or title to
check. If you selected Visit history in the
Field drop-down,
choose
New user
or
Returning user.

Note:

Page
URL and Page Title values are
case-insensitive.






If you’re using
information from the device the customer is on,
select
Device
in the Object drop-down, then:



Use the
Field
drop-down to select the
Language
option.


Use the
Operator drop-down
to choose an operator,
Is
or
Is not.


Use the
Value
drop-down to select the language you
want to check for. This value is checked
against the
language set on the customer’s device.





Click
Add
to save the condition.


To add another condition to the rule, click the + and
select
Add
condition.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 as needed.


To create a nested condition, click the
+
and select
Add
nested condition.
A nested condition is a condition that
contains two or more conditions inside it. You can use
nested conditions
to build complex logic that relies on multiple conditions.
They are
especially useful when combining conditions using both
AND
and
OR.


Under
When to check the conditions,
use the Event drop-down to
define what customer event causes a condition check,
then use Minutes
and Seconds to define how long the event must last before
the check
is triggered.


Optionally, add tags to the tickets created from the
proactive message
interaction.


Click
Next
to expand the
Schedule
section.







Choosing when to send the message


Finally, you’ll choose when, and how often, to send the message to
the
customer, and publish your message.


To choose when to send the message




In the
Choose when to send
section, select the Time of day for
sending the proactive message:



Any time conditions are met.
This sends the message
whenever the customer meets the conditions defined
in the
previous section, regardless of any set business
hours.


Only during business hours.
This lets you select one of your previously-defined
schedules
to restrict when proactive messages are sent.
This option is
only available if you have setbusiness hoursfor the channel.


Only outside of business hours.
This sends the message only when the customer
meets the
conditions outside of any previously-defined
schedules.
This
option is only available if you have setbusiness hoursfor the channel.





Under
Frequency,
choose how often a customer will receive a proactive message:



Once per customer.
Message will only show the first time
the customer meets the conditions. After clearing
the browser’s
cache, the customer will be treated as a new
user at their next
visit and will see the message again.


Once per visit.
After the message is opened or dismissed,
it won't show again until the customer’s next
visit.


Every time the conditions are met.
Recommended only for
critical or time-sensitive messages.





Click
Publish.





Note:
When you publish the proactive message, it is immediately activated
in your
Web Widget, and its status is updated to
Live. For more information on
activating and managing the status of proactive messages, see
The proactive messages admin
page.





Pausing and resuming proactive messages


All published proactive messages can be paused manually by admins
at any time. Paused
proactive messages are indicated by a Paused label in the Proactive
messages
list:





Proactive messages that use AI agent capabilities, such as generated
replies, are
automatically paused when your account is configured to pause AI
agent functionality
when it
reaches its automated resolution limit.
These proactive messages will automatically resume when automated
resolutions are
again available on your account. Proactive messages paused for this
reason are
indicated by a warning icon next to the Paused label in the Proactive
messages list:




Note: If you update an AI agent
proactive message to an
Agent proactive message when AI agent functionality is paused,
you will need to
manually resume the message when automated resolutions are again
available on
your account.



To manually pause a proactive message




In Admin Center, click
Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Proactive
messages.


In the Proactive messages list, hover over the message you
want to pause and
click the options menu icon ( ).


Select Pause.




To manually resume a proactive message




In Admin Center, click
Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Proactive
messages.


In the Proactive messages list, hover over the message you
want to resume
and click the options menu icon ( ).


Select Resume.






Troubleshooting proactive messages


If your proactive messages are not sending correctly, check that
Conversation control
is set to
Release control.


To configure Conversation control




In Admin Center, click
Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social >
Messaging.


On the Messaging channels page, click
Manage settings.


Expand the Conversation control section and select
Release
control.


Click
Save settings.






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