Communication elements

Channels

To use a channel in your flow, you must first configure the channel. For more information, refer to the documentation for the channel that you want to use.

After configuring the channel, add the channel element to your flow and configure the element. Each channel element has generic features that are available in all channels and channel-specific features.

This section shows how to configure the channel-specific options in channel elements.

After configuring and activating the flow, you can view traffic reports for the channel. Go to Analyze and view the channel statistics. You can also generate a report that contains detailed information.

Apple Messages for Business

With Apple Messages for Business you can send Apple Messages as part of a Flow.

When you start creating a communication with this channel included, select an entry point that best matches your needs. Once you add the Send Apple Message for Businesselement to the communication flow, fill in the sender field and select what kind of message you want to send in the side panel: Text, Attachment, Video, Audio, Files, Quick Reply, or Rich Link(to create content with rich messages containing images or videos to enable customers to preview products or services within the Messages app).

The Design Editor will open where you can construct your message with text, buttons, and an image depending on the level of customization you need for your message. You can even include an optional quick reply text and/or button in the Design Editor too.

Apple Messages for Business is also supported in the Evaluate Inbound Message element so you can branch your Flow based on the message that the user sends to you.

Email

With email, you can design a simple two-way messaging campaign via Flow, or use it for a multichannel communication strategy.

To add a message to the Email element, do one of the following:

• Create the message from within the Email element.
• Create the message from the Messages section and then select it within the Email element. Doing so enables you to reuse messages across communications. This feature is in the Early access phase.
• In the Email element, select an existing message from the Messages section. This feature is in the Early access phase.

Besides the basics: sender name, sender email, reply-to address, subject, and the preheader that will be displayed next to the subject, you can use the placeholders next to the subject and preheader. They will add to the personalization. Supported placeholders are, for instance, the first name, address, subscription, and any other custom values.

The Email Editor is where you create custom content for customers and provides an easy-to-use way of working with HTML versions of your emails.

If it suits your communication scenario, add an attachment. This could be any document, image, or audio/video file.

You can also track who opened and clicked your email. These events are logged for the reporting purposes. Tracking is set by default, but you can exclude it.

LINE

With LINE you can send customized LINE messages as part of a Flow.

When you start creating a communication including this channel, select an entry point that best matches your needs. Once you add the Send LINE Message element to the communication flow, fill in the sender field and select what kind of message you want to send in the side panel: Text, Image, or Rich Card(to create content rich messages containing images, titles, content, and buttons).

The Design Editor will open where you can construct your LINE message with text, buttons, and an image depending on the level of customization you need for your LINE message. You can even include an optional quick reply text and/or button in the Design Editor too.

LINE is also a supported channel with the Evaluate Inbound Message element so you can branch your Flow based on the LINE message that the user sends to you.

Messenger

Use Messenger inside the Flow to converse with the customers regardless of their location, and provide support or a response to their inquiries.

When you start creating communication that includes this channel, select an entry point that is the best match for your scenario. Once you add the Messenger element to the communication flow, fill in the required fields and, in the element`s side panel, add the content types: Text, Buttons (so customers can quickly select the options offered in the message), and/or Image.

Check out our Getting Started guide for Messenger.

MMS

Create engaging multimedia messages with MMS and add them to your flow. Add the sender information and then provide your rich media content in the side panel. Use multiple media formats including audio, video, image, text, application, and vCard files in your message, just ensure that the message file size is within the recommended limit for your mobile network operator.

See MMS message types to learn more.

Mobile Push

User behavior inside a mobile app and an automated communication based on that behavior, are key to customer engagement. With mobile push in Flow, you will be able to build a variety of very specific customer journeys.

The panel that opens when you click the Send Push element that you are adding to the communication flow will prompt you to define whether your use case requires notifications for the users who are inside or outside of the app. Or, you can send both message types.

If you would like to notify internal business units as part of your communication flow i.e. notify a store manager or staff member when a customer has responded then see Notify Internal Recipients.

Push and In-App Notification Features

For both Push Notification and In-App types, include the title and message. Go for richer and more intuitive content by adding an image and custom payload.

The Push Notification has an on-tap action where you can set what happens when the user taps the screen:

Just below the On-Tap Action field, you will be offered the possibility to include the in-app message type together with the push notification.

If using In-App, these are the actions available to you:

Primary Button

• Button text -Open.
• Action - select between the app home screen, open URL within a web view, page in the mobile app, or open URL.

Dismiss Button

• Button text - Cancel.

Finally, delivery options for both notification types are similar to those of other channels, except that in MaM you can also select geographic areas. 

RCS

Deliver important notifications, engage customers with promo offers, or provide support using rich and interactive communication designed in our visual builder.

To add a message to the RCS element, do one of the following:

• Create the message from within the RCS element.
• Create the message from the Messages section and then select it within the RCS element. Doing so enables you to reuse messages across communications. This feature is in the Early access phase.
• In the RCS element, select an existing message from the Messages section. This feature is in the Early access phase.

With RCS, you can send the following message types:

• Text
• File
• Card
• Carousel

Each type has its set of mandatory fields and other features:

Text	File	Card	Carousel
From	From	From	From
Content	URL	Orientation	Card Width
Suggestions	Suggestions	Alignment	Cards (Title, Description, Media, Suggestions)
		Card Content (Title, Media, Suggestions)

Suggestions that are present inside every message type allow for interaction with end users, and they involve these actions: reply, open URL, request location, or dial phone.

The postback data field in suggestions helps collect the information from customers and save it for future use.

SMS

To communicate with end users through the SMS channel, add the Send SMS message element to the flow editor.

Configure the element

Select the element to open the side panel and configure the following fields.

Message

Sender: Select the sender.

Message: Add the message content.

You can add a maximum of 160 characters, including spaces, special characters, new line, emojis, and placeholders.

(Optional) You can generate the message automatically by using AI. To use this option, do the following.

1. Select Generate AI content.
2. Complete the following fields.
   • Add keywords or phrases: Add examples.
   • Provide additional context: Describe your use case, target audience, or messaging goals.
   • Set the tone of voice: Specify the tone of the AI generated message. Example: Professional, courteous, use emojis. Press Enter after each characteristic.
3. Select Generate to create the message.
4. (Optional) To create a variation of the message with the same criteria, select Regenerate. You can regenerate the message a maximum of 100 times.
5. (Optional) To create a new message with different criteria, update the fields and select Regenerate. You can regenerate the message a maximum of 100 times.
6. Select Use to add this message to the Send SMS message element.

Special characters (optional): If you need to use characters that are not part of the GSM alphabet, define special characters.

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT): Enable DLT if you want to track and verify the delivery of SMS messages, and to make sure that they are sent and received by the intended recipients. For more information, refer to the DLT documentation.

Tracking and reporting (optional)

If your message contains links (URLs), you can do the following.

• Shorten URLs: Shorten the length of the URLs.
• Track URL clicks: Identify the number of times end users click the URL, which end user clicked the URL, and the campaign from which the clicks originated.

For more information, refer to the URL shortening and tracking documentation.

Enable delivery reports over API pull: Select this option to identify the number of delivered messages.

Data payload: Select one or more data that you want to add from stored or imported contacts to your messages. Example: first name and country. For more information, refer to the Data payload documentation.

Message scheduling (Optional)

Delivery time window: Set the time and time zone for your communication. For more information, refer to the Delivery-time window documentation.

Send-time optimization: Enable the flow to determine the best time to send messages to end users. For more information, refer to the send-time optimization documentation.

Advanced settings (Optional)

Message sending speed: Enter the number of messages that you want to send within a specified period.

For more information, refer to the Message sending speed documentation.

Validity period: Set the maximum period during which the flow tries to deliver the message to the end user. For more information, refer to the Validity period documentation.

Flash SMS: Display the message directly on the screen of the recipient’s device. The recipient does not need to open the message to read it.

Ignore the Do not contact list: The flow sends a message to the end user even if the contact is in the Do not contact list. Use this option when you want to send transactional messages to end users but do not want to send them promotional messages.

Other SMS options

Evaluate responses from end users

You can receive an SMS message from your end users and evaluate their response to continue an informed communication. To evaluate the end user's message, use the Evaluate inbound message element.

Notify internal recipients

If you want to notify your internal business units as part of the flow, use the Notify internal recipients function. Example: You want to notify a store manager or staff member when an end user responds.

Viber

Send important notifications or create engaging offers that include buttons and pictures. After selecting the sender and entering your content in the element`s side panel, check out the rich content possibilities.

If the message is promotional, select the matching check box in the side panel.

WhenViberis your channel of choice, maybe consider adding a failover to another channel from the Infobip portfolio to ensure that your message gets delivered.

WhatsApp

Use WhatsApp Business solution over Flow to communicate with your audience using one of the following ways:

• Use a predefined message template that has been approved by WhatsApp.
• Send a free-form message within 24 hours from the time the end user sends a message to your business. You can use this option only for user-initiated communication.

Free-Form Messages

To send a free-form text message, choose type: Text, Image, Audio, Document, Location, Video.  Fill in the required fields and consider personalizing each message with previously defined variables.

Check out which advanced options you might need for your selected message type.

Message Templates

Message templates are the message formats that have been registered and approved by the service provider. WhatsApp requires businesses to use message templates in business communication to avoid inappropriate usage and ensure message quality for their customers.

Template example:

Hello {{1}}, your access code to {{2}} is {{3}}. If you didn`t initiate this request, kindly ignore this notification. Thank you. The brackets with numbers are called parameters and they are the only parts of message templates that can be changed after approval. That gives you the possibility to use the same message template several times and adjust it according to your needs.

Once the template has been approved, create your communication and insert the following:

• From – select your registered phone number
• Type – select Template
• Template – select the name of the template you want to send
• Language code – select the language you want to send your message in (only predefined languages apply) 

Now you can preview the message.

The template contains placeholders and the preview window is used for placeholder mapping. In other words: placeholders include variables that are stored on the People data platform, such as first name, city, etc, and they can be modified, while the rest of the text remains unchanged.

If you choose Media Templates, you can add an image, document, video, or location.

Channel Options

Each channel element has generic features that are available in all channels and channel-specific features. This section shows how to configure the generic options.

Select a channel element in your flow to open the side panel and configure the following fields.

URL shortening and tracking

URL shortening

If the links (URLs) that you include in messages to end users are long or contain other parameters, end users might consider such links untrustworthy or spam.

Also, some channels, such as SMS, might have a limit on the number of characters in a message. If a message contains long URLss, it increases the length of the message. If a message exceeds the character limit, the message might be divided into multiple messages, which could increase costs.

Long URLs also increases screen space occupied by the URL on the end user's device, and makes the URL less readable.

URL shortening enables you to shorten the length of the URLs that you share with end users.

URL shortening is available for the following channels:

• LINE
• SMS
• Viber
• WhatsApp

URL shortening works differently depending on the settings you choose. These settings are applied to all the links in the message.

Your message might contain the following types of links.

• URLs that contain only a primary or default domain. Example: www.infobip.com (opens in a new tab).
• URLs that contain a custom domain or subdomain. Example: www.dev.infobip.com (opens in a new tab).

Shorten the URL for a default domain

Use this option to shorten URLs that contain only a primary or default domain. When you select this option, the entire URL is shortened.

(Optional) You can also remove the 'http' or 'https' prefix from the URL.

Example:

Original URL	../flow-elements#entry-points
Shortened URL	https://rrj.nu/x5T3jd2Y (opens in a new tab) The entire URL is shortened.
Shortened URL with protocol removed	rrj.nu/x5T3jd2Y The entire URL is shortened, and the protocol https is removed.

Enable URL shortening for a default domain

Do the following:

1. In the flow, go to the channel element in which you want to enable URL shortening.
2. In the Message field, enter the message that contains the links to send to the end user.
3. In the Tracking and reporting section, select Shorten URLs.
4. (Optional) To remove the protocol from the URL, select Remove https:// from domain. 
5. In the choose a domain section, select default domain.
6. Continue configuring the channel element.

Shorten the URL for a custom domain

Use this option to shorten URLs that contain a custom domain or subdomain.

When you select this option, the URL is shortened such that it retains the custom domain. Use this option to send personalized, branded links to end users.

(Optional) You can also remove the 'http' or 'https' prefix from the URL.

Example:

Original URL	https://www.dev.infobip.com/docs/api/customer-engagement/moments (opens in a new tab)
Shortened URL	https://www.dev.infobip.com/x5T3jd2Y (opens in a new tab) The URL content after the custom domain https://www.dev.infobip.com (opens in a new tab) is shortened.
Shortened URL with protocol removed	https://www.dev.infobip.com/x5T3jd2Y (opens in a new tab) The custom domain https://www.dev.infobip.com (opens in a new tab) is retained, the URL content after the custom domain https://www.dev.infobip.com (opens in a new tab) is shortened, and the protocol https is removed.

Prerequisites

Register your brand domain.

Enable URL shortening for a custom domain

Do the following:

1. In the flow, go to the channel element in which you want to enable URL shortening.
2. In the Message field, enter the message that contains the links to send to the end user.
3. In the Tracking and reporting section, select Shorten URLs.
4. (Optional) To remove the protocol from the URL, select Remove https:// from domain. 
5. In the choose a domain section, select the custom domain that you have registered. If you have not registered the custom domain with Infobip, select add domain. For more information about adding a custom domain, refer to the URL shortening documentation.
6. Continue configuring the channel element.

URL tracking

URL tracking helps you track the clicks for a link. You can identify which campaign links end users clicked, the number of times they clicked these links, and which end users clicked them.

To enable URL tracking, do the following:

1. In the flow, go to the channel element in which you want to enable URL tracking.
2. In the Content field, enter the message, which contains the link, to send to the end user.
3. Select Show advanced options.
4. Select Track URL clicks.
5. Continue configuring the channel element.

Data Payload

To customize your message, you can add data from stored or imported contacts. Example: first name or country.

In the Tracking and reporting > Reporting options section, select one or more data that you want to include. You can now add this data through placeholders in the message. This data is also included in message reports.

For the Mobile push channel, the predefined data payload is phone number (MSISDN) because of the technical implementation of Mobile push and In-app messages.

Delivery time window

Set the days, time, and time zone during which the flow sends the communication to end users.

Complete the fields in the Message scheduling > Delivery time window section.

You can also enable the flow to determine the best time to send messages to end users. For more information, refer to the send-time optimization documentation.

Message sending speed

Configure the number of messages that you want to send within a specified period (minutes, hours, or days).

Example: You configure to send 1000 messages in 1 day. After you set the limit and Infobip receives the first message, the 24-hour period starts regardless of when the daily limit has been met - in the first few hours or later. After the 24-hour period, another 1000 messages will go out.

Use this setting if you want to limit the number of messages that you send. Example: Your flow is for a promo campaign that encourages end users to place orders through your call center. If you send the message to all the audience at the same time, your call center might get high call volumes, which can result in long call wait times for end users. To avoid this situation, send messages at the speed that your call center can manage.

You can configure the Message sending speed in Send elements (Elements such as SMS, Email, and Viber, which send messages), Start call IVR element, and Call API integration.

Configure the fields in the Advanced settings > Message sending speed section.

Validity Period

Validity period is the period during which the flow tries to deliver the message to the end user's device.

Example: You want to send a communication to your audience. Some end users have switched off their mobile device. The system is unable to deliver messages immediately to these devices. The system periodically tries to deliver the message until the end of the validity period.

All messages that you send to end users through channel elements in the flow have a validity period. The default and maximum validity periods are 48 hours.

To set a shorter period, use the Advanced settings > Validity period section in the side panel of the channel element. Specify the period and select the unit as Hours or Minutes.

Channel Metrics

To quickly get the message data directly from Flow, hover over the channel element to see delivery numbers, click rates, opens, and more. The metrics availability depends on the channel in question.

The following delivery and click rate metrics are available:

• Message send - Number of messages sent by this element

• Total delivered - Number of engagements delivered by this element. A single person can receive multiple engagements.

• Delivery rate -  Percent of sent messages that were actually delivered.

• Total opens - Number of engagements that were opened for this element

• Open rate - Percent of delivered engagements that were actively opened by recipients

• Unique opens - Number of unique people who opened the engagement at least once.

• Click through rate (CTR) - Percent of delivered messages that resulted in a clicked link.

• Total clicks - Number of links clicked.

• Unique clicks - Total number of unique people who clicked a link at least once.

	EMAIL	SMS	RCS	CHAT APPS	PUSH (Mobile App Messaging)	LINE	MMS
TRAFFIC DELIVERY METRICS
Message Send	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Total Delivered	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	NO	YES
Delivery Rate	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	NO	YES
OPENS
Total Opens	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES (Total Seen)	NO	YES
Open Rate	YES	NO	NO	YES	YES (Seen Rate)	NO	NO
Unique Opens	YES	NO	NO	YES	YES (Unique Seen)	NO	NO
CLICKS
Total Clicks	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	YES	NO
CTR	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO
Unique Clicks	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	YES	NO

IVR elements

Your IVR (Interactive Voice Response) channel can consist of an endless number of different IVR (and non-IVR) actions. IVR actions available over Flow are the following:

• Start Call
• Play
• Collect
• Forward Call
• Record Voicemail
• Hang Up

Start Call

When adding the Start Call element to your IVR flow, the first step is to select the sender/caller ID (your business Voice number).

If you include the Machine Answered condition in this step of the communication and don`t want to continue the call if that happens, add the Hang Up element.

Use the advanced options to set the Record Callaction and the following options:

• Validity Period
• Retry Period
• Data Payload
• Callback URL

(The Callback URL is your platform URL where the delivery reports will be pushed.
Check out our Developers Hub for the delivery reports format (opens in a new tab).)

Play

Add the Play element, fill out all the necessary fields, and choose the audio source: text-to-speech message or audio file. These two come with their specific functionalities, but, for both, you can set up the duration of pause to add additional silence before the audio file has been played, and conditionsthat will help you further branch your flow.

Text to Speech

Text content can be up to 1400 characters long. Once you enter the message text, the language is automatically detected. You can also select the voice that will be used for the message.

To hear your message before sending it, click the audio preview button.

Audio File

For the audio file, select the source:

• File upload - prerecorded file from your computer
• File URL - publicly accessible URL location of your audio file
• Voicemail - select it from the list of the files created using the record action

Collect

The Collect element is added to the flow to get the response from your customers who will be communicating using the digits on their phones.

Define the following:

• Variable name - this is where the Flow will keep your customer inputs.
• Maximum input length - defines the number of inputs the customer is expected to enter when interacting with the IVR menu.
• Input waiting time - the number of seconds the IVR will wait for the customer to press the first key.

The # key cannot be collected; it is reserved for the user input termination. The IVR platform automatically stops reading the end user`s input after receiving*#*, and it does not store it.

If you want response codes to show in the IVR (Voice) reports, these are the options:

• Always show (default): Response codes will always appear in the reports and logs.
• Show masked: Response codes will show in reports and logs as a masked value (xxxx).
• Don’t show: Response codes will not show in reports and logs.

You can use the conditions in the Collect element to branch the IVR flow based on the response code received from the user or based on the user`s hang up action.

If you use the Collect element after the Play element then you have a few options depending on how you wish to collect the choice from the user:

• You can force the user to listen to the whole message in the Play element and only collect number choice after that. Choose the Audio played completely condition in the Play element to do this.
• If you want allow the user to make a choice before the audio has played completely then DO NOT choose the Audio played completely option.

Forward Call

Before forwarding the call to one or more phone numbers, you will need to fill in the following fields:

• From – Caller ID that will be used on the call-receiving side. Voice can only use numeric senders and the call delivery depends on the CLI route.
• To – One or more phone numbers to forward the call to.

When the call is forwarded to more than one phone number, you could have parallel calls to all of them (until one gets picked up) or sequential calling.  For the sequential dialing, set up how long do you want the ringing to last before we move to another number in the sequence.

The conditions for this element that you can use to continue designing the flow are answered, no answer, busy, error.

Record Voicemail

This element in IVR flow records a part of the call. For example, it could serve to record a customer opinion, get customer feedback, or leave a voice message. First, you will need to take care of the following:

• The name of the recorded file
• Maximum recording duration measured in seconds
• Maximum silence duration that IVR will wait for before stopping the recording
• Define the digits that will end the recording
• Select the beep sound check box if you want the tone played at the start of the recording

Audio files that are recorded using the Recorded Voicemail element can be retrieved on the Recordings page on our web interface.

After you add the Record Voicemailaction, the only way to branch the call is with the Hang Up condition.

Download the Voice IVR audio file (opens in a new tab).

Hang Up

The Hang Up action is used to end the call. After you add it to the flow, use non–IVR actions only or start a new call.

Non-IVR Actions

Make even more flexible flows and improve communication with your end users with other elements that you can combine with the IVR ones.

During an IVR communication, you can do practically anything – for example, you can send SMS or Push confirmations or update profiles based on customers` input. In addition, all the segmentation possibilities that the People data platform offers will help you plan and deliver relevant messages through the Voice channel.

These are actions available to use with IVR:

• Send elements
• Failover
• Segment Audience
• Update Person Profile
• Add or Remove Tag
• Add or Remove from Do Not Contact List
• Call API
• Start Conversation

The “wait for” elements (Wait for an Event, Wait for Change in People Profile, Wait for a Date) and Split Audience can be used before or after the call, but as a part of a separate flow.

Personalization using placeholders

No matter which communication channel is being used, there are placeholders to help you with personalization.

Once you start creating your messages, the curly bracket (placeholder) icon will be available inside the content panel; if you are sending an email, you will find it in the subject field.

Click the icon to see the menu with the available placeholder attributes. All Infobip users have access to the following ones:

• Standard attributes
• Custom attributes
• Contact information
• Variable names
• Channel specific attributes
• Computed attributes

You can select any number of placeholders when sending personalized messages.

Failover

Secure the message delivery by setting up backup channels. This means that if you send a message over one channel and it`s not delivered, another channel of your choice will be automatically used after a defined time. There is no limit on channels that can be used in failover.

When designing your campaign, remember that there is a validity period during which the platform will try to deliver the message over one specific channel. The default value is 48 hours. Also, make sure that all the recipients have all the required destinations set in their profiles.

To use this feature, add the Failover element to the flow you are designing and set up the channels.

Evaluate Inbound Message

Use this element to branch the flow based on specific words sent by the end user. Example: If the end user replies products, send them a list of all products. If the end user replies promotions, send them a list of only products that have promotions.

The default output of the element is If no response in 2 days.

Configure the element

Follow these steps to configure the element.

1. Select the channel for which you want to evaluate the message.
2. Select the recipient.
3. Define conditions to compare the end user's message with the value that you specify. If the condition is fulfilled, the next step in the flow is triggered.
4. (Optional) Save the inbound message information in variables.
5. Specify the time to wait for a response from the end user.

For more information, refer to the detailed instructions below.

Select the channel

In the Channels and conditions section, select the channel for which you want to evaluate the end user's message.

The default channel is SMS. To use a different channel, delete the existing channel and select the required one.

Select the recipient

Select the channel name to open the card. In the To recipient section, select the recipient.

Define conditions for the inbound message

Define conditions to compare the end user's message with the value that you specify. Configure the action that the flow needs to take if the condition is fulfilled.

You can specify multiple conditions within the element.

You can set conditions for the following:

• Message body: Compares the body of the message against the condition value.

• Anything: Use this option so that end users can continue the flow even if their message contains something that is not included in the conditions.

  Exact matches have a higher priority over Anything. Example: You have two flows that are waiting for a message from the same end user. In one flow, the condition is to match the exact word yes. In the other flow, the condition is Anything. The end user responds yes. In this case, the end user continues in the flow that matches the exact word.

• Button text (WhatsApp only): When the end user selects a button to respond, this condition compares the button text against the condition value.

• Button Payload (WhatsApp only): When the end user selects a button to respond, this condition compares the button payload against the condition value.

Use the following operators in the conditions.

• Is equal to person attribute - checks whether the message body contains the person attribute that you select.

  The case is ignored when comparing the value.

• Matches text - checks whether the end user's response matches the condition value exactly. The condition is fulfilled if the end user's response contains only the condition value and nothing else. You can specify multiple condition values.

  Example:
  Condition value: time
  End user's response: time. The condition is fulfilled.
  End user's response: timezone, time!!, what is the time? The condition is not fulfilled because the response contains additional characters that are not part of the condition value.

  The case is ignored when comparing the value.

• Matches RegEx - checks whether the message body contains a regular expression pattern that you define.

  Ignore case (Optional): Specify whether to ignore the case when evaluating the condition.

  Multiline (Optional): Use this option when you want to match against multiple lines of text. The validation is successful if any of the lines match.

  

• Contains text - checks whether the message body contains the keyword that you specify in the condition value. You can specify a group of characters, such as a symbol or keyword, in the condition value. You can specify multiple condition values.

  Example:
  Condition value: time
  End user's response: time, timeframe, 3times, time!!, what is the time? The condition is fulfilled because the message contains the keyword.

  The case is ignored when comparing the value.

• Contains word - checks whether the message body contains the exact word that you specify in the condition value. The word in the message body can have symbols or spaces before or after the word, but must not contain digits or other letters.

  Example:
  Condition value: time
  End user's response: time. The condition is fulfilled because the message contains the exact word.
  End user's response: time!!, what is the time? The condition is fulfilled because the message contains the exact word with either symbols or spaces before or after the word.
  End user's response: times, timeframe, timezone, 3times. The condition is not fulfilled because the word in the message contains additional characters that are not part of the condition value.

  The case is ignored when comparing the value.

You can specify multiple condition values.

The system follows the above order to process inbound messages. So, if a condition that has a higher priority is fulfilled, the flow takes the action for that condition and ignores the other conditions.

Save inbound message information in variables

You can also define variables to capture and store inbound message information.

Define the data that you want to capture from the inbound message. You can capture the following information.

• Message body
• Recipient
• Sender
• Message ID
• Gateway ID

You can save either the whole or part of the information.

• Whole text: Save the whole of the information.
• RegExp parse variable: Use a regular expression to capture a specific keyword in the message content.

For more information, refer to Flow Variables.

Specify the time to wait for a response

In the Response waiting time section, define how long the flow needs to wait for a response from the end user.