Interactions

There are several parts of your communications which can be configured in different ways depending on your business requirement and available support times and options.

Chatbots and Agents

The benefit of using chatbots is that they can be configured to run automatically 24 hours a day without any interruption. While you always have the option to transfer chats to an agent, this ensures that answers to basic queries, such as FAQs, can always be accessible.

Agents are humans who are available on the other end of the chat. Usually, agents are only available at certain times of the day (depending on location). You can set up agent times and offline messages when receiving messages out of agent working hours.

Entry Points

When users Google search you on their devices, they will have the option to start a chat. Depending on your required setup and configuration, chats can be initiated through local and non-local entry points.

Each entry point has its own unique appearance, and each will increase your chat visibility for customers. Information is gathered around which entry points chats were initiated so that you can route messages as required and respond more efficiently.

Here are some examples of some non-local entry points:

Featured Snippet

Sitelink

Web Widget

Here are some examples of some local entry points:

Maps	Placesheet

 

Read more at the official Google documentation about Entry Points.

Infobip will provide you with the URL and AgentID if required depending on when you wish to place the entry point URL.

Conversation Starters

Conversation starters are automated messages which guide the end-user on their chat initiation. Commonly a list of the most frequently raised reasons for contacting you via chat. Use these starters in combination with a welcome message that covers the chat’s/agent’s functions at a high level.

Conversation starters consist of text displayed in the chip and postback data, sent to Infobip webhook in the message payload. Agents can have 5 conversations, and each starter can have a maximum of 35 characters.

CAUTION: Agents should not rely only on conversation starters to trigger automated responses. If a user has an outdated version of a client, that client may start a conversation with the agent, but not be able to display conversation starters. Make sure that freeform user input can trigger automated responses, and craft a good welcome message that covers your agent's functionality.

Chat Times and Offline Messages

If you are using chatbots and agents, you must define during setup which is the primary interaction. If chatbots are set to always available you do not need to define a chat time, otherwise you need to set these up. If users message you within your open chat hours, users are presented with your welcome message.

If users message your business during available hours, users will be presented with your welcome messages along with your conversation starters. If messaged out of hours, they are displayed with offline messages. If your chatbot is available for 24 hours and human agents are available from 8:15 do 17:00, you can specify them separately.