About conversational support with messaging

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<div id="docs-wmp-link"><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5411234991258-plan" rel="noopener" target="_blank">What's my plan?</a></div>
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<strong>All Suites</strong>
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<td>Team, Growth, Professional, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus</td>
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<strong>Support with</strong>
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<td>Live chat and messaging Team, Professional, or Enterprise</td>
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<li class="li"><a class="nav-link" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5746900266906" target="_blank">Messaging deployment guide:
Introduction</a></li>
<li class="li">Part 1: About conversational support with messaging</li>
<li class="li"><a class="nav-link" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5746068733338" target="_blank">Part 2: Designing your conversational
messaging workflow</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="nav-link" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5746038824346" target="_blank">Part 3: Planning your staffing and
operational requirements for messaging</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="nav-link" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5746034323866" target="_blank">Part 4: Rolling out conversational messaging
support</a></li>
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<p class="sidenav-heading">Articles in the series</p>
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<p class="p">Messaging lets you have rich conversations with your customers that are
persistent, with full context and history. When you enable messaging, you can connect it
to your website or help center, mobile apps, and third-party channels, making it easy
for your customers to self-serve or connect with your agents.</p>
<p class="p">As your support needs grow, you may want to automate some or all of this communication with
options such as offering a simple <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4500737327258" target="_blank">messaging response</a> before handing the customer over to an
agent, deflecting inquiries using knowledge base articles, or more comprehensive
automations such as an <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6970583409690" target="_blank">AI agents</a>. </p>
<p class="p">This article provides an overview of what messaging can do, the channels you can use to
deliver messaging to your customers, and guidance on how to get started.</p>
<p class="p">This article includes the following sections:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_rcg_1nc_gnb__ul_d1c_2nc_gnb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_idc_qnc_gnb">Understanding
messaging</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_dk3_rnc_gnb">Requirements and
limitations</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_srz_xb4_crb">Next steps</a></li>
</ul>
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<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_idc_qnc_gnb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Understanding messaging</h2>
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<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_idc_qnc_gnb__image_wk2_cbt_jnb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/messaging_workspace_example.png" width="600"></p>
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<p class="p">Messaging allows you to support multiple conversational styles, from real-time
chat functionality to asynchronous communication with your customers. It's
easily scalable and highly customizable.</p>
Messaging provides the following
features and benefits: <ul class="ul" id="topic_idc_qnc_gnb__ul_cqg_fg5_5zb">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Multiple channels.</strong> You can communicate with users seamlessly across
your <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408827701530" target="_blank">website</a>, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408827701530" target="_blank">help centers</a>, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408827701530" target="_blank">mobile apps</a>, and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408831648794" target="_blank">social messaging</a> channels. Choose which channels
you support so you can connect with and support customers wherever they
are.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Persistent conversations.</strong> Agents and end users can interact multiple
times over a period of time, across different channels, all within a single
conversation. This makes it easier to refer to earlier interactions and
avoid asking users to repeat themselves. The increased efficiency benefits
agents and end uses alike.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket creation</strong>. Tickets are generated for requests received through
messaging channels, enabling agents to follow up on more complex requests
through Zendesk Support when needed.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Integrate with the Zendesk Agent Workspace.</strong> Agents can use familiar
productivity aids within the Agent Workspace to handle messaging
conversations, similar to traditional channels such as email. They can
respond to customers at any time and continue where they left off, and the
conversation history provides agents with additional context when needed
without asking the user to repeat themselves.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Conversational automations and AI agents.</strong> Automations and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6970583409690" target="_blank">AI agents </a>can enhance your
customer experience by automating deflection options and triaging support
issues before (or instead of) handing the conversation over to live agents.
Customers benefit from the opportunity to self-solve their issues.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Extensive customization options</strong>. Admins can <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409103246874" target="_blank">quickly set up messaging channels</a>
in Admin Center. Then they can create an automated <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6970583409690" target="_blank">AI agent</a> to greet customers, offer
relevant article suggestions, gather information, and more.</li>
</ul>
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<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_dk3_rnc_gnb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Requirements and limitations</h2>
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<p class="p">Messaging is the default experience for customers on Zendesk Suite plans. </p>
<div class="p">If you're not a Suite customer, you must meet the following requirements: <ul class="ul" id="topic_dk3_rnc_gnb__ul_mpc_5n5_5zb">
<li class="li">Any Zendesk Support plan <p class="p">or</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Support + Chat subscriptions with a Team plan or above <div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Some channels
require a Zendesk Suite plan. </div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_dk3_rnc_gnb__ul_kbs_l3m_jnb">
<li class="li">The Zendesk Agent workspace must be
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581758611866" target="_blank">activated</a>.</li>
<li class="li">You must have at least one team member assigned to a Chat role. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882929946" target="_blank">About Staff roles in Zendesk Admin
Center</a>.</li>
<li class="li">You must deactivate any social messaging integrations you configured previously.
See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408839268378" target="_blank">Social and third-party messaging
resources</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">Additionally, we recommend you have an account with an active help center. Having at least 10
published articles that cover common questions allows you to use <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6970583409690" target="_blank">AI agents</a> to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408820349850" target="_blank">recommend relevant articles</a> from your help center.</p>
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<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_srz_xb4_crb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Next steps</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Walk through the
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5746900266906" target="_blank">Messaging deployment guide</a>. The next article in the
series is
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5746068733338" target="_blank">Designing your conversational messaging
workflow,</a>
which will help ensure you're making informed decisions, are
prepared with the necessary information when configuring your messaging workflows,
and have clear next steps along the way.</p>
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span>
If you've been using live chat and want to transition to messaging, start with
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408845841946-Resources-for-migrating-from-live-chat-to-messaging" target="_blank">Resources for migrating from live chat to
messaging</a>
instead.
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