Connect to Channels
Last updated
Last updated
Omnichannel gives you the ability to create 1 single bot and connect it to all channels supported in omnichannel.
Currently, there are 8 different channels but as we keep adding more you will be able to connect these as well.
So where you first needed 8 chatbots to each connect to their own channel you can now do the same with just 1 chatbot!
Unlike separate channels like Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram and so on, you have 1 omnichannel per workspace. This might be subject to change in the future but keep this in mind for now when connecting your channels.
From the left-hand menu press omnichannel. You will then have two options to create your omnichannel chatbot.
1- You can create a completely new chatbot. If you are starting with an empty workspace where you don’t have any chatbots yet, this will be the most likely option you will choose.
2- If you already created a chatbot into a channel and want to use this same chatbot inside of your omnichannel, then you can choose the option “Convert Existing Chatbot”. This will also have the big advantage of importing the bot users you already have into the omnichannel chatbot.
Once you have chosen any of your preferred option you will continue to the next step.
If you selected the “create new bot” then you will be taken to the template store where you can select any of the available templates, or select the option “Blank Template”. This option lets you start from scratch and you can build the chatbot to your own liking.
Once you made your choice you will be taken to the window where you are able to name your chatbot, along with adding a description.
Once you are done press the green button named “create bot” and you will be able to connect the channels.
Once your omnichannel chatbot has been created, head back to the main dashboard to connect the channels you like the omnichannel to manage with this chatbot.
If you did not connect any channel yet to your workspace then it will take you to that specific channel to do so. Once you have added them you will be able to link them to this omnichannel chatbot.
You can unlink them at any time by pressing the button on the right-hand side.
Now that you have created the chatbot and connected your channels you are ready to create your chatbot.
Now every single feature inside the flow builder will be available to you but do note that certain channels may not be able to use them.
We have a condition you can use to determine which channel a user is coming from.
Just go to creating a condition, then select the “channel” option.
Once selected you will be able to choose from the available channels in omnichannel.
Once you set up this condition you can direct the user to specific channel features.
For example cards might be available to Messenger but not to Telegram. It does not show the same way.
So using this condition you can send a customized response for Telegram users.
Every block when hovering over it will show the available channels by displaying the icons of those channels at the top.
You can also reference the same icons when inserting a node into the flow builder
Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 in the above screenshot and jump to facebook.com, select all the pages in your page list, that you want Flochat to help with the automation.
If you connect your Facebook Account with more than one workspace, remember to select all pages that require management on Flochat regardless of workspace.
The red x is for disconnecting the flow with your page only. Your flow won't be removed. It will still stay in your workspace remain intact (in "All Bots")
After connection, these are some of the operations in the screenshot above:
Click "Reconnect" when you want to add/remove a page or refresh.
Click "Create Flow" to create a new flow for the bot.
Click the red x to remove the connection between the bot and your page.
Flip the status to stop/start the automation.
Click the link to talk to the bot. You can also share the link with other Facebook users.
3 ways:
Click on URL in step 6 in the above screenshot.
Use the preview button in your flow.
Search your page name on Facebook to visit your page and click Send Message or Message.
Firstly, you need an Instagram business account.
Navigate to the Instagram tab located under the bots tab. Then press the link button located to the right of the dashboard.
Once it is connected, you can either go ahead a create an Instagram chatbot from the same dashboard, or if using omnichannel as your workspace. Link it there as shown below.
In Progress
We are working on building more functions for Telegram bots. The documentation will be updated as soon as we have done that. Should you have any query, please feel free to contact us.
In Progress
We are working on building more functions for Slack bots. The documentation will be updated as soon as we have done that. Should you have any query, please feel free to contact us.
In the mean time check out the Slack info docs here
Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 in the above screenshot.
If you already have a WeChat official account or wanted to register one, click "Sign up"
If you don't have an official account yet, click "Sandbox Test account" to test the bot with your WeChat personal account
You can choose English on the WeChat website by clicking the globe icon on the upper right side. However, some pages do not support translation.
Login yourself with your WeChat account. On the top, you can see your "appID" and "appsecret" as below:
Copy them back to the chatbot. Follow the steps below:
choose a type
paste your App ID and secret
name a token yourself
click "Save"
a webhook URL will show, copy it to the WeChat's website
Paste the webhook URL (in step 5) and the token (in step 3) here then click the green "Submit" button. Finally, scroll down a bit, you can see your testing QR code:
Now you can share your QR code with any WeChat user. By scanning and following your official/testing account, they are able to talk to your bot. Besides, their nickname and WeChatID will be listed here (100 users maximum).
As follow are the providers we currently work with. Different providers support different bots. Choose your provider according to your needs. Create an account with them and pick your number.
You can either access them in the according channel (see screenshot above) or on the "Integration" page (see screenshot below).
Follow the steps in the above screenshots to connect to the provider and add numbers.
Take Twilio as an example. On their website, sign up, login in, then you will get to your dashboard:
Click "Get a Trail Number".
In the pop-up window, the number is shown on the upper left side, click "Choose this Number" or "Search for a different number". Then you have your own number!
In your provider dashboard, click the little button on the right side to copy your "ACCOUNT SID" and "AUTH TOKEN" value back to the chatbot:
put your copied values in corresponding fields.
click "Save".
click "Add Phone Number" if you are building an SMS or Voice bot, otherwise, "Add WhatsApp Number".
More information click -> Twilio Docs (opens new window)
More information click -> 360Dialog Docs (opens new window)
More information click -> SignalWire Docs (opens new window)
More information click -> Message Media Docs (opens new window)
Click "Add Number" in area 3 in the above picture after connecting your provider with your chatbot.
Click "Find Number", the system will search all the numbers that are under your provider account. Click "Add" to add one of the numbers.
Thereafter, you are able to see all your connected numbers under the "Phone Numbers" page in "Integration".
Add new numbers from the drop-down list as below: ("Buy Number" is disabled at the moment)
If you would like to disconnect the WhatsApp / Voice / SMS flow with your number, or create a new flow for that number, copy the number and click "Release Number". Then your flow will be disconnected but stay safe in your "All Bots". Add the number again to create a new flow with it.
After adding phone numbers:
use the plus button to create new a flow.
button 2 is for "Open Flow" of this phone number.
WhatsApp - add the phone number as a new contact and send messages to it
Voice - call the phone number
SMS - send SMS messages to the phone number
The whole process will be:
connect Google account
create agent, build flow & test
verify agent
launch chatbot
go live
Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 to connect to your Google account.
Please note that this Google account must have access to the business (either owner or manager). For agency, you will need to be invited to be the manager of your client's business.
After the connection, in the above screenshot:
click "Sync Locations" to pull all the businesses that associate with this Google account, whether they are verified or not.
create agent then create flow
scan the QR code or visit the URL link to test the bot in Google Map
Click "Create Agent", fill in the profile information including:
phone number
website address (same as your business website address)
privacy policy URL
timezone
logo
entry points (local, non-local, both local and non-local)
welcome message
offline message
If you get an error saying that fails to create an agent because the location is not verified, try to click cancel and refresh the page. The "Create Flow" button will show.
| Type | Agent Verification Process | Entry Points |
|---|---|---|
Local | Automatically | Google search & Google map |
Non-Local | Manual Process | Google search, Google map, site links, answer card, website buttons etc |
When your agent is created, click "Create Flow" to start building your bot. Check "Flow Builder" documentation for how-tos.
IMPORTANT
Build and test everything before you request an agent verification. Because once verified, it's very difficult to change the agent information. You will need to contact Google yourself.
Before you send the request, check this:
Click the button next to the "Open Flow" button, then click "Verify Agent".
Provide a business website, contact person name and a contact email that share the same domain as the brand website.
For a local business, if your business is already a verified business, your agent can be verified automatically and immediately. You will see the green "Verified" label. Thereafter, you can launch your chatbot.
While for a non-local business, after submitting the request, you will receive 2 emails from Google. One email asks you to reply for approving us to help with the bot automation in a specified format (security key needed). Another email will give you the security key. It will take you a few days (up to 7 days) to get your agent verified.
When your agent gets verified, click "Launch Agent" and a chat button will show with your business after 4-6 hours. You will see the green "Launched" label.
If you wanted to stop the bot automation, click the green "Active" button under status. And to stop showing the bot with your business, you need to unlaunch your agent.
Click "Unlaunch Agent" and again, you will need to wait for 4-6 hours to see the "Chat" button disappear. By then the labels will look like this:
To launch it again, just click on "Launch Agent" again.
Before you launch your bot, goto *Google section on your chatbot dashboard. Visit the Test Url or scan the QR code to talk to the bot.
After your bot launched, Google your business name in a webpage. Click on the CHAT button to start the conversation:
Or search your business name in Google Map. Click on the Message button to start the conversation:
