Prepare to Upgrade

Learning Objectives

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

• Describe the steps required to prepare for upgrading standard messaging channels to enhanced channels.
  
• Explain how to replace any standard bots with enhanced bots or an AI agent.
  

Steps to Upgrade

Now that you’ve reviewed the advantages of enhanced messaging channels, let’s get real about the upgrade process. Every business wants to avoid messaging downtime or delays for their customers. To upgrade your standard WhatsApp, SMS, and Facebook Messenger channels with little to no disruption, follow these steps.

Step 1: Know What to Expect

To ensure that you don’t miss out on any features, take a few minutes to review a side-by-side comparison of standard and enhanced channels for each type: WhatsApp, SMS, and Facebook Messenger.

Important:

WhatsApp requires a few extra steps, such as turning off two-step verification for your phone number before you upgrade. If you have standard WhatsApp channels, read Considerations for Upgrading or Migrating to Enhanced WhatsApp.

Step 2: Create a Bot or an Agent

If you’re ready to make the leap to Agentforce, welcome to the generative AI side! To add an AI agent to your upgraded channel, create the agent and then add it to your channel’s Omni-Channel routing flow. To create an agent, see Design and Implement Agents in Salesforce Help.

If you prefer to stick with a scripted AI tool, create an enhanced Einstein bot for your upgraded channel. Standard bots can’t be used in enhanced channels, but if you’re already using a standard bot and you’re happy with it, good news: You can clone it and make the cloned version an enhanced bot. Here’s how.

1. From Setup, enter Einstein Bots in the Quick Find box, and then select Einstein Bots.
   
2. Find the standard bot and click Clone in its action menu.
   
3. Update the name and make sure its API name is unique.
   
4. Select Enhanced Bot.
   
5. Configure its remaining settings and save your new enhanced bot.
   

This cloning process auto-creates two Omni-Channels flows: an inbound flow that routes messaging sessions to the bot, and an outbound flow that lets the bot route sessions to service reps or queues. You can use these flows with your enhanced channel or stick with existing flows. More on that in a bit.

Step 3: Update Your Routing Logic

The way you configure routing depends on a) how you currently route messages in your standard channel, and b) how you want to route messages in your newly upgraded enhanced channel. Let’s review the routing options available for enhanced channels.

• Queue and routing configuration: Great for basic routing needs, but can’t route to an enhanced bot or AI agent.
  
• Omni-Channel flow: Lets you route to service reps, queues, enhanced bots, and agents.
  
• User-based routing: Lets you route all messages in a specific enhanced channel to a user you select.
  

If you’re already using a queue and routing configuration and want to stick with it, there’s nothing for you to do pre-upgrade. And if you prefer to use user-based routing, just decide which user you want to route to. Move on to Step 4!

If you want to use an Omni-Channel flow to route messages, create it now so it’s ready to go after you upgrade. As always, you have a few options:

• Option 1: Clone an existing Omni-Channel flow that’s currently routing messages in your standard channel. Then, update it to route to any new enhanced bots or agents. (Leave the original flow alone so you don’t disrupt messaging activity.)
  
• Option 2: If you’re using an enhanced bot with auto-created inbound and outbound flows, customize those flows to control how messaging sessions are routed to and from the bot. After the upgrade, select the inbound flow in your channel routing settings.
  

Step 4: Set Up Automated Messaging

As a business, you likely need to auto-alert customers about important changes. For example, perhaps you want to message customers when their order ships or their case is assigned. The method for sending these automated messages varies.

Automated notification messages aren’t supported in enhanced Facebook Messenger channels.

Here’s how to continue or start using automated messages in an enhanced SMS or WhatsApp channel. Because of the approval process, WhatsApp requires a few extra steps.

1. (WhatsApp only) Copy your message templates from the original WhatsApp Business account (WABA) to the WABA associated with your enhanced channel.
   
2. (WhatsApp only) In WhatsApp Business Manager, create new message templates or recreate any that couldn’t be copied.
   
3. Create a notification messaging component in Setup.
   
4. (WhatsApp only) Connect your messaging component to a WhatsApp template that you created or copied.
   
5. Create a flow that uses the Send Conversation Messages action to send your component at certain times. Or if you already have a flow to send automated messages in your standard channel, replace the Message Notification action with the Send Conversation Messages action.
   

Step 5: Add Productivity Tools

Your support team deserves nice things. Before upgrading your standard channel, prepare several tools for your service reps.

Upgrade Sensitive Data Rules (Recommended)

Sensitive data rules protect your customers’ data by blocking specific patterns, like credit card numbers or profanity, in messaging sessions. You can remove the text or replace it with placeholder characters.

If you’re using sensitive data rules in your standard channels, recreate them for your newly upgraded enhanced channels. The process is similar: Just head to the Setup page named Sensitive Data Rules for Enhanced Channels, and create one or more rules.

Upgrade the Service Console (Required)

To give reps access to enhanced channel capabilities such as audio messages, add the Enhanced Conversation page component to your Messaging Session page layout. The Conversation page component, used in standard channels, can’t be used in enhanced channels.

1. In the Object Manager in Setup, select Messaging Session and click Lightning Record Pages.
   
2. Edit or create a new Lightning record page.
   
3. If you’re editing an existing page, click the trash icon to remove the Conversation component.
   
4. Drag the Enhanced Conversation component onto the page.
   
5. Save and activate your page, and assign it to reps who will message on your upgraded channels.
   

Then, go to the Publisher Layouts page in Setup and drag the Send Message global action onto your global action layout. This action lets reps proactively message opted-in customers from any Salesforce page.

Create Messaging Components (Recommended)

Create a library of messaging components for service reps to send to customers. The sky’s the limit with messaging components, but here are our favorites.

• Create an enhanced link that links to your New Products web page.
  
• Create a question with static options that shows a clickable list of contact reasons.
  
• Create a time selector that shows a clickable list of open service appointment times.
  

Create and manage your components on the Messaging Components page in Setup.

Explore Other Productivity Tools

Because Salesforce regularly releases new features for enhanced channels, you have a lot to choose from! For help with other productivity tools as well as the ones we’ve mentioned, see Increase Messaging Productivity in Salesforce Help.

Step 6: Prepare Your Support Team

Before upgrading your standard channels, let your support team know what changes to expect. Reps should be able to answer these questions.

• How do I send messaging components?
  
• How do I send audio messages?
  
• What file types and sizes can I send and receive after the upgrade?
  
• How will message routing change after the upgrade?
  
• Will I see new tools in the Service Console after the upgrade, and how do I use them?
  
• How do I message a customer after the upgrade?
  
• Will the upgraded channel include an enhanced bot or an agent? How will customers interact with them?
  

Step 7: Update Your Auto-Response and Pause Channel Activity

If you’re upgrading an SMS or Facebook Messenger channel, update your channel’s auto-response to let customers know they might experience delays.

1. On the Messaging Settings page in Setup, click Edit in your channel’s action menu.
   
2. Unassigned sessions are auto-ended during an upgrade, so update the End Conversation auto-response.
   

3. Save your changes.
   

If your standard channel has any active messaging sessions that are assigned to a service rep, the upgrade won’t work. So as a final pre-upgrade step, pause channel activity.

1. Ask all reps to close their active sessions in the channel and log out of Omni-Channel.
   
2. Optionally, to manage stragglers, reassign the channel to a holding queue with no assigned service reps until the upgrade is complete.
   

You don’t need to pause activity in a WhatsApp upgrade, but we recommend using a test or low-traffic phone number at first. This way, you can test your routing logic and customer experience and minimize downtime.

Now that you’ve prepared for it, upgrading your standard channels to enhanced channels will be quick. In the final unit, let’s walk through it together.

Resources

• Salesforce Help: Upgrading from Standard to Enhanced Messaging
• Salesforce Help: Send Automated Messages in Enhanced Messaging Channels