Engage Customers Using Channels

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• List the messaging channels that Service Cloud supports.
  
• Determine the optimum number of channels to create for your customers.
  
• Describe the basic requirements you need to set up Messaging.
  

Messaging Channels in Service Cloud

Messaging is all about helping your customers faster by communicating with them in a familiar channel. Customers can start conversations with you by sending messages to your numbers and accounts. Service reps can then respond to customers directly from the Service Console. Reps can also start conversations with customers under certain conditions, or you can set up flows that send automated notifications.

In the previous unit, you learned that a channel is any way that a customer can communicate with your business. Service Cloud supports a number of channels, including phone, email, web forms, and social media networks. Service Cloud Messaging includes these channels:

• SMS
  
• Facebook Messenger
  
• WhatsApp
  
• Apple Messages for Business
  
• LINE
  
• Messaging for In-App and Web
  
• Bring Your Own Channel
  
• Bring Your Own Channel for Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)
  

How Many Channels Do I Need?

You’re probably wondering how many channels to create to maximize your messaging efficiency. Well, a lot depends on your customers. Messaging lets you tailor your strategy to meet the needs of your customers, all while streamlining it for your support team. 

For example, maybe your company doesn’t have a Facebook account, so setting up a Facebook messaging channel wouldn’t make much sense. Or maybe you have a Facebook account but you want to keep it strictly informational. In that case, you could stick with a WhatsApp channel to communicate with customers. 

Will All of My Messaging Channels Be Easily Accessible?

No matter which channels you use, you get them all in one place: the Service Console. Incoming messages appear in the Omni-Channel widget, just like phone calls. Service reps can then accept a message and start chatting. The Enhanced Conversation component in the console shows all messages exchanged with the customer. 

Messaging user records, created for anyone who has exchanged messages with your company, show the user’s related records and all of their messaging sessions for a particular channel. If a customer wants to talk over multiple channels, all their conversations are visible on their record, at the service reps’ fingertips.

Set Up Messaging

To set up Messaging, you’ll follow these general steps.  

This unit describes how to set up Messaging for third-party channels, such as WhatsApp or Apple Messages for Business. Messaging for In-App and Web, Bring Your Own Channel, and Bring Your Own Channel for CCaaS follow a different setup path. For detailed steps, see the resources at the end of this unit.

Prerequisite Steps

Start by completing a few prerequisite steps. 

1. Turn On Messaging
   Take the first step to letting service reps communicate with customers.
   
2. Assign the Messaging User Permission Set License
   Set these permissions for all users who talk with customers in sessions or supervise messaging reps.
   
3. Create and Assign Messaging Permission Sets
   These permission sets serve as toolboxes that allow service reps to deliver top-notch support and admins to provide a great Messaging experience.
   

Set Up Messaging

When the prerequisite steps are out of the way, you’re ready to set up Messaging.

1. Create Messaging Channels
   Give your customers new ways to contact your business. Set up at least one messaging channel using a simple guided setup flow. You can create up to 2,000 channels.
   
2. Set Up Routing for Messaging Channels
   Omni-Channel routes customer messages to a queue, flow, or qualified service rep.
   
3. Update Messaging Channel Settings
   Configure your settings for each messaging channel.
   
4. Protect Customer Data and Privacy in Messaging
   Customize the messaging opt-in and opt-out experience, and honor your customers’ requests for handling their personal data.
   
5. Add Messaging to the Service Console
   Add Messaging to your Service Console app.
   
6. Test Your Messaging Channels
   Review the customer and service rep experience during a test messaging session.
   

Now that you know more about channels and how to set up Messaging, let’s review how to extend Messaging with some optional—but seriously awesome—productivity tools. In the next unit, we outline the capabilities that power the full portfolio of channels.

Resources 

• Salesforce Help: Provide Conversation Support with Messaging in Service Cloud
• Salesforce Help: Add Flexibility and Power with Messaging for In-App and Web
• Salesforce Help: Bring Your Own Channel to Salesforce