Workflows

Workflows make it easy to automate processes within the Kustomer platform. Unlike typical workflows triggered by an event, such as when a conversation is created, callable workflows are triggered by a conversational assistant. You can also use callable workflows to automate actions that depend on time-specific conditions. For more information, see Callable scheduled workflows.

With callable workflows, you can use data captured from a customer's interaction with conversational assistants to return relevant data to your customer. In this article, we will create a workflow that accepts an order number from a conversational assistant and outputs the return status for that order.

In this article

• Create the workflow
• Set up the conversational assistant

Create the workflow

The first step is to create a callable workflow that captures data from the conversational assistant, performs an action based on that data, and then returns output data to the conversational assistant.

1. Go to Settings > Platform > Workflows.
2. Select Add Workflow.
3. Enter a name for the workflow and then turn on the Callable Workflow toggle. We're going to name it Return Status.
4. Select Create.
5. Next, enter the data field(s) that the workflow expects to receive from the conversational assistant. In this example, we want to receive input from the customer.
   

   Note: You can make any of these parameters required by selecting the Required Field check box.

6. Select the Output Parameters tab and enter the name and data type of the parameter(s) that will be returned to the conversation assistant.
   
7. Select Update.
8. Add an Action step that takes the data entered into the conversational assistant and uses it to request information from a specific source. In this example, we're making an API call to get the status of the return.
   
9. Add a final Action step that sends a response back to the conversational assistant by selecting Kustomer as the Action App and Workflow: Send Response as the Action Event.
10. After you select the Send Response event, specify what parameters will be output to the assistant. In this example, we are going to tell the customer the status of their return.
    
11. Select Save.

Set up a conversational assistant

Now that we have the callable workflow configured, we'll set up a conversational assistant that is going to call that workflow. 

1. Add a new assistant and enter any desired dialogs and interactions, such as a welcome message or any questions you may want to ask your customers. For more information on creating an assistant, see Introduction to Customer Assist.
2. Select Add Dialog.
3. Select Add Interaction > Customer Text Response.
4. Enter the message that will prompt your customers to input the data you need to run the workflow and then select where their response is going to be saved. In this example, we want to save customer input 1, which is going to be the customer's order number and is the input parameter that we defined in step 5 when we created the workflow, in the Conversation object.
   
5. Select Add Interaction > Run Workflow.
6. Select the Return Status workflow that we created earlier from the drop-down menu and then specify the data you need the customer to enter to run the workflow. You can manually enter it or select Snippets & Dynamic Text to select the dynamic text value from the available list.
   Tips:
   • You can select Create Workflow from the drop-down menu to create the new callable workflow.
   • To view an existing workflow, select the open icon next to the drop-down menu.
7. Then, specify where to save the response that the workflow returns to the customer. In this example, we will save the customer's return status in Customer return_status.
   
8. Add any additional dialogs to the assistant, as needed. For this example, we're going to select Add Dialog and then Add Interaction > Send a Message to configure the message the customer is going to receive with their return status.
   
9. Add any additional dialogs to the assistant, as needed, and select Save and Publish.

Now, whenever a customer contacts you via chat inquiring about the status of their return, the conversational assistant will call the workflow and use the order number entered to find the requested information and send it back to your customer.