How to Setup Chatbots for SMS & WhatsApp Channels

Factoreal allows you to create automated chatbots for SMS & WhatsApp channels with the API-based bots. You can also automate the human takeover process for specific agents/ teams e.g. sales, customer support etc.

NOTE: The Agent app is available as an add-on which you need to purchase. Feel free to contact us for more details on this. Make sure you have set up your WhatsApp and SMS sender numbers to be able to use this feature.

API-based bots and it will require a different set of configurations. First we’ll have to create the bot in a similar way we created the website chatbot. To do that, perform the following steps:

  1. Login to Factoreal and click Conversations.
  2. Click Launch Bot Portal.
  3. The Conversation bot creation page will open in a new tab. Click on New Bot in the conversation bot creation page.
  4. Select API.
  5. The bot editor is the place where you will create the conversation workflow. You can select from various types of nodes, such as, multiple choice, free text, no reply, phone number, email, and many more. Based on the user-intent you can then drive the user down a suitable path in your workflow.
  6. Let’s start by adding a multiple choice node. Click +Node, from the right panel, select Multiple Choice.
  7. Greet the user by entering a welcome message and provide with the user with options that you think they would like to perform.
  8. Once you’ve entered all the options, select the “Add Node” button.
  9. Now to add a new node, select the +Node button under the multiple choice node we have just added. This will show the “Add a node” menu for your new node.
  10. Now choose a node type from the right side menu.
  11. Let’s say we are adding a free text node. This means that the bot will ask a question and then wait for the user to respond before proceeding. Type in the question for which you want your user to respond to in “Ask a question” input box.
  12. Once you’ve entered all the options, select the “Add Node” button.
  13. Now say you wish to collect contact information from your users. To do that, click +Node, select Email Address node type.
  14. Now choose an email address node type from the left side menu.
  15. Ensure that the bot tells the user that it’s looking for an email address in response. So type a question which informs the user that they’re expecting an email id in response in “Ask a question” input box. For example, “That seems like a better question for our support team. Can you provide your email so someone can follow up with an answer?”
  16. Repeat the steps to add a new node.
  17. Click Publish once you’ve finished creating your bot.

Now, once you’ve created the bot you can find it in the list of Active chatbots in Factoreal under Conversations. You’ll have to assign channels between SMS & WhatsApp.

To do that, perform the following steps:

  1. Login to Factoreal and click Settings.
  2. Click Rules Setup.
  3. Click Conversations.
  4. Here, you’ll see the list of the published API-based bots. Click the channel selector dropdown next to the bot you want to assign.
  5. Select SMS for the first one.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click the channel selector dropdown for the other bot you want to assign. Select WhatsApp.
  8. Click OK.

You now have 2 automated chatbots that you set up assigned, one each, for WhatsApp and SMS channels.

To find out how you can automate chat assignment, please refer to – How to Configure Chat Routing Rules.