Conversational assistants

Customer Assist, our conversational assistant feature, provides multiple interactions that you can use to gather information about your customers and guide them through the conversation path. Depending on what you select, you can either have a customer continue to the next interaction within the dialog after answering a question or selecting an option, or you can choose to redirect them to another dialog entirely. The conversational assistant is fully customizable to your business needs.Who can access this feature?User typesAdmins can access the Customer Assist page.To learn the main concepts of an assistant, see Introduction to Customer Assist. For a step-by-step conversational assistant tutorial, see Tutorial: Build a conversational assistant.In this article:Available interactions by channelAvailable interactions by assistant typeAdd an interactionSend messageText questionButton questionAttribute questionConditional branchBusiness scheduleObject selectorRun workflowUpdate attributeAdd an end interactionRequest feedbackAI responseNavigation buttonsArticle deflectionList selectorRedirect to dialogTransfer to an agentEnd conversationAvailable interactions by channelThis table shows the interactions that are available for each channel. InteractionChatWhatsAppSMSKustomer VoiceTwilio WhatsAppMessageBird WhatsAppSend MessageXXXXXText questionXXXXXButton questionXAttribute questionXConditional branchXXXXXBusiness scheduleXXXXXXPlay promptXObject selectorXXRun workflowXXXXXUpdate attributeXXXXXNavigation buttonsXXAI responseXXArticle deflectionXRequest feedbackXXList SelectorXCollect customer inputXCollect Language preferenceXRedirect to dialogXXXXXXTransfer to an agentXXXXXXSend to voicemailXEnd conversationXXXXXAvailable interactions by assistant typeDepending on the type of assistant you have, you may have different interactions available. For more information, see this article. Please note that the channel type mainly determines available interactions. For example, if you create an SMS assistant that does not support the Button Question interaction, it will not be available regardless of the assistant type.Note: See this article for information on the interactions available for Kustomer Voice and how to set up an IVR.Add an interactionInteractions (interactions without redirects) are messages or questions the assistant sends the customer.Interactions without redirects continue to the next interaction within the dialog. The assistant runs through interactions from top to bottom for a dialog. You can reorder interactions. Use interactions without redirects to:Collect information from the customer to help you personalize the support experienceSend multiple messages to provide instructions or contextAsk multiple questions that require a customer text, button, or multi-level list responseYou can add an interaction by selecting Add Interaction in the editor and selecting one of the available options.Send MessageSend Message sends a message to your customer and automatically moves to the next interaction.Use Send Message to send messages that do not require a customer response. Attachments can only be sent in assistants created for WhatsApp. The supported file formats for attachments are JPEG, PNG, and MP4.Text questionText question sends a message to your customer and wait for a text response.You can select to save the customer response as a text attribute (that is, a message) on a standard Conversation or Customer object. This interaction can be used to detect intent with the conversational assistant.Button questionButton question creates custom response buttons for the customer to select.Similar to the Customer Text Response option, you can select to save the button text of the customer response as a text attribute (that is, a message) on a standard Conversation or Customer object.Attribute questionAttribute question creates custom response buttons based on the existing values for data attributes on your Customer and Conversation Klass.You can select the values for the response buttons based on the Klass (that is, Customer or Conversation), the data attribute on the selected Klass, and the data value (for example, Conversation [Klass] > Assigned Teams [data attribute, or field] > CX, Sales, Shipping [separate data values]).The assistant automatically saves the customer button response data to the selected Conversation or Customer Klass in Kustomer. You can select to skip the Attribute question interaction if the data for the selected attribute already exists for the Customer or Conversation object in your Kustomer organization.Conditional branchConditional branch creates personalized interactions based on if-else conditions using conversation and customer data. With this option, you can set up various conditions at any point in your conversation flow that connect and direct customers to any of our interactions or redirect them to another dialog.Using conditional branches, you can solve various use cases based on your customer's input. For example, you can create separate responses based on the email address they are using or if they are considered a higher VIP tier in your organization.Notes:If you redirect all of your conditional branches, you can't add additional interactions after this block or redirect the customer to another dialog.When building your conditions, the In all other cases then statement is optional.You need to verify new email addresses in Kustomer before you can use them in a condition.For more information on operators and to learn more on how to build your conditions, see Understanding filter operators.Business scheduleUse the Business schedule interaction to allow the conversational assistant to perform different actions based on your organization's business hours. For example, you can use this option to ask a customer for their name and email address if they contact you during your business hours or send a message notifying them that your business is currently closed if they contact you outside of those hours. Learn more about defining your business schedules in this help article.You can use this interaction to perform the following actions during or outside of your business hours:Send MessageText questionButton questionAttribute questionRun workflowUpdate attributeRedirect to dialogObject selectorObject selector creates a card in the assistant that looks up and presents authenticated customers with the most 3 recent objects created for a Klass on their timeline that match their input.  With this option, you can use the object selector to add custom object data, such as order information, into your conversation experience.Note: Customers must be authenticated via a secure JWT token.To set up this interaction, first select the Klass you want to use and then customize the card by mapping the attributes to each of the three available fields.Note: The Card Image field is optional. If you don't map anything to this field, the card will only display a title and description.If results that match the authenticated user are found, they can select the object and get more information right in the conversation window. If the customer isn't authenticated or results aren't found, you can redirect them to another dialog to continue the conversation.Run workflowRun workflow calls the workflow you select in the drop-down menu and uses data captured from a customer's interaction with the conversational assistant to return relevant data to your customer.Note: You can create the workflow from this interaction by selecting Create Workflow from the drop-down menu. You'll be taken to the Workflow page to configure the callable workflow.Once you select the workflow, you can specify the data the workflow needs to run and optionally determine where the information you return to the customer is saved. For more information, see Callable workflows and the conversational assistant.Update attributeUpdate attribute changes a value of the Conversation and Customer object attributes from directly within the conversational assistant. For example, you can use this interaction to update a conversation's priority and route it to the correct team, or change an attribute that's required for closing the conversation.Along with new custom attributes, you can use this interaction to update the following attributes:ConversationNamePriorityBrandTagsDefault LanguageCustomerNameDefault LanguageCompanyAdd an End Interaction End Interactions (interactions with redirects) direct the customer to another dialog in the flow or end the assistant for the customer based on their response (for example, to connect the customer with an agent). Use End Interactions to link dialogs together to create your conversational flow. You can create both linear and branched conversational flows.Note: You can only have one end interaction for each dialog. This means you must delete an existing end interaction before creating a new one.You can add an interaction by selecting Add End Interaction in the editor and selecting one of the available options.Request feedbackRequest feedback sends a message to your customers asking for feedback on their most recent support experience.You will need to select redirects based on the type of feedback they give. For example, if they choose the Failure button, you may want to redirect them to an agent to assist them.You can customize the interaction by selecting from 3 different button designs.AI responseAI response uses information from your organization's knowledge base to answer customer inquiries. See this article to Use AI to respond to customer inquiries.This interaction can also be used to detect intent with the conversational assistant. You can customize the AI's response by creating a new profile with custom prompts. Navigation buttonsNavigation buttons create buttons to redirect customers to other dialogs in the flow. Use Navigation buttons to create branched paths for the customer in the flow. For example, you can redirect sales and support inquiries to separate dialogs in the flow.Note: We recommend not using emojis for buttons if using this interaction in a WhatsApp assistant.You can select to save the button text of the customer response as a text attribute (that is, a message) on a standard Conversation or Customer object.Article deflectionArticle deflection searches your knowledge base and returns relevant articles based on the customer response or request. This interaction can also be used to detect intent with the conversational assistant.Use Article deflection to help customers resolve their support requests without an agent.You can select the knowledge base brand the assistant should use for article deflection. You will need to select redirects for the following article deflection scenarios:If there are relevant knowledge base articles:The assistant finds and shares relevant articles from the knowledge base:A dialog redirect for when the article helps the customerA dialog redirect for when the article is unhelpful or the customer needs additional helpIf there are no relevant knowledge base articles:A dialog redirect for when the assistant doesn’t find any relevant articles in the knowledge base.List selectorList selector creates a list of up to 10 buttons that redirect your customer to another dialog when they select a button in the message. You can select to save the customer response as a text attribute (that is, a message) on a standard Conversation or Customer object. This interaction can be used to detect intent with the conversational assistant.Redirect to dialogRedirect to dialog redirects the customer to any dialog in your assistant.Transfer to an agentTransfer to an agent ends the assistant and transfers the conversation to an available agent based on the customer response and agent routing.Use Transfer to an agent to end the assistant and to connect customers with an agent. The agent will have access to the customer information collected by the assistant.End conversationEnd conversation ends the conversation with the customer. The customer cannot reopen or continue the conversation. The customer will need to open a new conversation to request additional support.

Dialogs are the main building blocks for your conversational assistants built through Customer Assist. Each dialog is a distinct unit of conversational exchange between the assistant and the customer. You can use the dialog editor to define the interactions and end interactions for each dialog.You can also create intents to help navigate your customers through the conversation path. With intents, you can train Kustomer to detect specific keywords entered in the conversation and redirect customers to a specific dialog based on what they enter.Who can access this feature?User typesAdmins can access the Customer Assist page.To learn the main concepts of an assistant, see Introduction to Customer Assist. For a step-by-step conversational assistant tutorial, see Tutorial: Build a conversational assistant.In this articleUnderstand the editorAdd a new dialogUse intents with a conversational assistantUnderstand the editorThe dialog editor is the main area of the conversational assistant editor. A new conversational assistant will always have two default dialogs: the Welcome dialog and the Complete Assistant dialog, as seen in the sidebar. You can edit both of these default dialogs in the main area of the editor. The Welcome dialog is always the first dialog in your conversational flow.In the dialog editor, you can:Edit the dialog name (if applicable)View and go to the previous dialog in the conversational flow (if applicable)Add and edit multiple interactions without redirectsAdd and edit the end interaction that links and redirects the dialog in the flowThe sidebar displays previews of the dialogs available for your assistant. Select a dialog in the sidebar to edit the dialog. You can also view the link status of the end interaction in each dialog:Green anchors indicate that the dialog is linked in the conversational flow. Hover over the green anchor to view the dialog linked as the redirect.Red anchors with a strikethrough indicate that the dialog is not linked in the conversational flow. Select an end interaction for these dialogs.Add a new dialogThe first step in creating a conversation path for your assistant is to create a new dialog:From the Dialogs sidebar, select Add Dialog.Enter a descriptive name for the dialog to easily identify the dialog in the Dialogs sidebar and other parts of the dialog editor.Select Add Interaction to add interactions without redirects. Optionally, determine if the dialog starts once customer intent is detected. For more information, see Create an intent.Select Add End Interaction to add an interaction with a redirect that links the dialog to another dialog in the flow or to an action that ends the assistant (for example, transfers the customer to an agent). For more information on each specific type of available interaction, see Conversational assistant interactions.Note: While you can add multiple interactions to a dialog, each dialog can only have one end interaction.Use intents with a conversational assistantWith intents, a conversational assistant can understand when customers enter specific words or groups of words in the conversation and redirect them to a specific dialog so that they can get the correct answer to their original query. You can create up to 30 intents. For more information, see Detect intent with a conversational assistant.

Optimize your organization's support experience with Customer Assist, our virtual conversational assistant (chatbot). You can add conversational assistants to your chat, SMS, WhatsApp, and Kustomer Voice experiences to promote customer self-service, boost agent productivity, and speed up response times.Design and apply custom rules, or flows, for conversations to accomplish the following with conversational assistants:Collect information from customers before they connect with agentsUse AI to respond to customer inquiries using information found in your knowledge baseAutomatically connect customers to the team they want to reachEquip agents with valuable information before they connect with customersRoute Kustomer Voice calls to the right teamReduce repetitive interactions for both customers and agentsProvide the customer with support articles related to their issueIf a customer wants to connect with an agent after interacting with the conversational assistant, the entire conversation history is sent to Kustomer for agents to view in the customer timeline.Once a customer completes their conversation with the conversational assistant, it will submit the conversation to Kustomer. Like any other interaction, your agents will see the entire conversation thread within the timeline. If the customer abandons their conversation with the conversational assistant before interacting with it (sending a message or clicking a button), nothing will be sent to Kustomer for agents to work on.Who can access this feature?User typesAdmins can access the Customer Assist page.Conversational assistants are available for Chat, SMS, WhatsApp, and Kustomer Voice. In this article, we'll explore how conversational assistants work in Kustomer and introduce you to the main concepts you need to know to understand and build conversational assistants in your organization. For a step-by-step conversational assistant tutorial, see Tutorial: Build a conversational assistant.For information on how to set up an IVR for Kustomer Voice, see this article.In this articleDialogsInteractionsFlows (or conversational flows)Volume controlCustomer Assist pageDialogsDialogs are the main building blocks for conversational assistants. Each conversational assistant has two dialogs by default: a Welcome dialog and a Complete Assistant dialog. These default dialogs cover the first and last conversational exchange your customer has with the assistant before the customer connects with an agent.Each dialog is a distinct unit of conversational exchange between the assistant and the customer. You can use the dialog editor to define each dialog's interactions and end interactions.You link dialogs together into a linear or branched flow for each conversational assistant.To learn more about dialogs and how to use the editor, see Conversational assistant dialogs.Interactions You can use interactions to gather information about your customers and guide them through the conversation path. There are two types of interactions you can use:Interactions without redirectsInteractions without redirects are the main building blocks for each dialog. An interaction is a message or question for the customer within a dialog. Interactions allow you to collect information from the customer and help you personalize the support experience.Some interactions allow the customer to reply with text or a response button. In your Kustomer organization, you can set customer button responses to be saved as text, a selected data attribute, or Klass.Interactions without redirects continue to the next interaction within the dialog.End Interactions (interactions with redirects)End Interactions are interactions with redirects. Based on their response, these end interactions direct the customer to another dialog in the flow or end the assistant for the customer (for example, to connect the customer with an agent).End interactions help you link dialogs together to create your conversational flow.For more information on each specific type of available interaction, see Conversational assistant interactions.FlowsFlows refer to the linear or branched conversational flows you can create for each conversational assistant.You link dialogs together with end interactions to create conversational flows.Flows reflect the order of the dialogs you want the customer to experience in their conversational exchange with the assistant.Volume controlVolume control settings allow you to automate the assistant's response to abandoned conversations and missed customer messages sent outside your normal messaging hours. You can offer customers options to submit support requests through an alternate channel.Volume control settings are available in the Assistant settings for your conversational assistant.For more information, please see Conversational assistant volume control settings.Customer Assist pageThe Customer Assist page allows you to create, view, and manage the conversational assistants available for your Kustomer organization.You can access this page by going to Settings> Kustomer IQ > Customer Assist. See Add a conversational assistant to learn how to add a conversational assistant.You can do the following from this page:Add a new assistant by selecting Add Assistant.Duplicate an assistant by going to More Options> Duplicate.Delete an assistant by going to More Options> Delete.Open an assistant's dialog editor and assistant settings by selecting the conversational assistant or the edit icon .Search for existing assistants.Copy the conversational assistant id.Filter through assistants based on status (Draft or Active).Conversational assistant IDThe Customer Assist page displays the name and unique id of each conversational assistant available for your organization.You can use the assistant id to customize Chat SDK settings for each brand. Select the copy iconnext to the assistant id to copy and paste the id.

With Customer Assist, conversational assistants can help you collect information from customers before they connect with an agent to speed up response times and close conversations more quickly.In this article, we’ll learn how to build a conversational assistant that prompts the customer for basic information (for example, the customer’s name and the team they want to reach) and then, based on the collected information, connects the customer to an agent from the appropriate support team.Who can access this feature?User typesAdmins can access the Customer Assist page.In this articlePrerequisites Tutorial overview Add a new conversational assistant Create and edit dialogs Link dialogs into a flow Save, publish, and manage versionsPrerequisitesIf you are new to conversational assistants in Kustomer, see Introduction to Customer Assist before you begin this tutorial.Tutorial overviewYou can build conversational assistants to use across your brands with Customer Assist.Follow along with the tutorial below to learn how to set up a basic assistant with the following sections:Add a new conversational assistantCreate and edit dialogs and dialog interactionsLink dialogs into a flowSave, publish, and manage conversational assistant versionsThrough this tutorial, we will build a sample conversational assistant that asks the customer for their name and the team they'd like to reach before the assistant transfers the customer to an agent from the selected team. Add a new conversational assistantFirst, we’ll create a new conversational assistant from the Customer Assist page.To add a new conversational assistant:Go to Settings > Kustomer IQ > Customer Assist.On the Customer Assist page, select Add Assistant to create a new conversational assistant.In the Add Assistant box, enter an Internal Name, Description, and Public Name for the assistant:Internal Name: Required. Appears as the name listed for the assistant on the Customer Assist page in Kustomer. Use a short descriptive name that will help you manage your conversational assistants.Description: Optional. A brief description of the assistant that appears in your Kustomer app.Public Name: Recommended. The display name of your conversational assistant to appear for customers in the chat widget.Note: You can update the Internal Name, Description, and Public Name later under Assistant Settings in the assistant editor.Select Create to open the editor for the assistant.Create and edit dialogsNow that we have a new conversational assistant, we’ll use the dialog editor to create and add new dialogs for the assistant and also edit the default Welcome and Complete Assistant dialogs.Step 1: Edit the Welcome dialogThe editor automatically displays the Welcome dialog when you select or create an assistant on the Customer Assist page.By default, the Welcome dialog includes a Send a Message interaction with a default message and redirects the customer to the default Complete Assistant dialog.Let’s edit the welcome message to let the customer know that we’ll ask them some questions to help them connect with the right agent.To edit the Welcome dialog, select Welcome from the Dialogs sidebar to open the dialog editor. Edit the text in the Send a Message interaction.Select Save Draft in the dialog editor to save any updates to the conversational assistant.Step 2: Create and add new dialogsThe editor includes two default dialogs for each assistant, a Welcome dialog and a Complete Assistant dialog. The Welcome dialog is the first message the customer views when they start a chat. The Complete Assistant dialog is the last message the customer views before they connect with an agent.You can create and add dialogs for the customer to view after their first message and before their last message with the assistant.For each dialog, you can edit the name, interactions, and end interaction for the dialog.Let’s create and add two new dialogs to the conversational assistant. We’ll create one dialog to ask for the name of the customer and a second dialog to ask the customer for the support team they want to reach.Step 2a: Add new dialog: Ask Customer NameEach dialog contains a set of interactions. For this dialog, we’ll use a Customer Text Response interaction to ask the customer for their name.From the Dialogs sidebar, select Add Dialog to open the editor for the dialog. Enter a descriptive name for the dialog. For this example, we’ll use “Ask Customer Name” as the name for the dialog.From the dialog editor, select Add Interaction > Customer Text Response. Edit the message prompt in the interaction for the customer to enter their name.You can also save the customer’s reply as an attribute. In this case, to save the name as a customer attribute, select in the interaction the option to save the customer reply as an attribute in Customer (Klass) > Name (Field).Step 2b: Add new dialog: Ask for TeamEach dialog contains a set of interactions. For this dialog, we’ll use a Data Attribute Question interaction to ask the customer to select a team to connect with from the available options.From the Dialogs sidebar, select Add Dialog to open the editor for the dialog. Enter a descriptive name for the dialog. For this example, we’ll use “Ask for Team” as the name for the dialog.From the dialog editor, select Add Interaction > Data Attribute Question. Edit the message prompt in the interaction and select to display values from Conversation (Klass) > Assigned Teams (Field).For the Custom Values box, select the teams you want to provide as options for the customer. The customer will view these options as response buttons in the chat.Step 3: Edit the Complete Assistant dialogBy default, the Complete Assistant dialog doesn’t include any interactions and transfers the customer to an available agent.Let’s add a Send a Message interaction to the dialog to let the customer know that they will be connected with an agent from the selected team.To edit the Complete Assistant dialog, select Complete Assistant from the Dialogs sidebar to open the dialog editor. From the dialog editor, select Add Interaction > Customer Text Response. Edit the text in the Send a Message interaction to acknowledge the customer’s selection.Select Save Draft in the dialog editor to save any updates to the conversational assistant.Link dialogs into a flowNow that we have all of the dialogs we want for the conversational assistant, we’ll link the different dialogs into a flow to reflect the order you want the dialogs to appear for the customer.The available dialogs for the assistant appear in the Dialogs sidebar to the left of the dialog editor. The Dialogs sidebar displays the name, interactions, and end interaction for each dialog.Note: Red anchors with a strikethrough indicate unlinked dialogs. Green anchors indicate linked dialogs.Step 1: Review the dialog flowLet’s review the dialog order, or flow, we want for the dialogs in this conversational assistant example:Welcome → Ask Customer Name → Ask for Team → Complete AssistantWelcome dialog: The assistant sends the customer a welcome message.Ask Customer Name dialog: The assistant asks the customer for their name. The customer replies with their name.Ask for Team dialog: The assistant asks the customer for the name of the team they want to reach. The customer selects an option from the available response buttons.Complete Assistant dialog: The assistant acknowledges the customer’s selection and transfers the customer to an agent from the selected team.We’ll reference this flow to link the dialogs in order.Step 2: Link dialogs in orderTo link the dialogs in order, we’ll select and link the dialogs available in the Dialogs sidebar in order based on their position in the dialog flow:From Dialogs, select Welcome to open the dialog editor. Go to the Redirects to Dialog block in the editor and select the next dialog in the flow: Ask Customer Name.From Dialogs, select Ask Customer Name to open the dialog editor. Select Add End Interaction > Redirect to Dialog to redirect the customer to another dialog after their response. In the Redirects to Dialog block, select the next dialog in the flow: Ask for Team.From Dialogs select Ask for Team to open the dialog editor. Select Add End Interaction > Redirect to Dialog. We want the assistant to acknowledge the customer’s selection and transfer the customer to an agent. To reflect this, select the Complete Assistant dialog in the Redirects to Dialog block.Select Save Draft in the dialog editor to save any updates to the conversational assistant.All dialogs available in the Dialogs sidebar, except for the Complete Assistant dialog, should have green anchors next to the listed end interaction for the dialog.Save, publish, and manage assistant versionsLearn how to save, publish, and manage different versions of your conversational assistant.Save drafts of your conversational assistantSelect Save Draft in the dialog editor to save drafts of your progress at any time.Publish your conversational assistantPublish your conversational assistant when your edits are complete and you are ready to add the assistant to your chat widget.Select Save and Publish in the dialog editor to create a new version of the conversational assistant.Once you publish an assistant, you will be able to select and assign the assistant to your available brands.To select a default assistant for a brand, go to the Customer Assist page and select the Rules tab. Select the channel you want to set a default assistant for, and then select the desired brand and assistant from the drop-down menu.If a default conversational assistant is selected for a brand, the customer will chat with the assistant by default.For example, if we selected the sample conversational assistant we’ve built as the default assistant for a brand in Kustomer, the default customer chat would follow the assistant’s dialog flow:Manage conversational assistant versionsYou can save and manage multiple versions of your assistants to track changes and to switch between different versions easily.To create a new version of an existing conversational assistant, select Create New Draft from the dialog editor for the assistant. Select Save and Publish to publish the draft as the latest version.To manage the version of your assistant available for use in Kustomer, select More Options from the dialog editor. Select Delete Assistant to delete your conversational assistant. Select Latest Version to view and compare versions, edit a previous version, or select a new version to be available for use across your brands in Kustomer.

Volume control settings allow you to automate how a conversational assistant responds to abandoned conversations and missed customer messages sent outside your regular chat hours. In your volume control settings, you can configure how the assistant responds when the customer abandons the conversation and when the agent misses a customer message over chat, SMS, or WhatsApp.In this articleInactive customer reminderCustomer abandoned conversationAgent missed conversationTo access Volume Control settings, create a new assistant or select an existing one, go to the bottom of the Dialogs sidebar and select Assistant Settings > Volume Control.Inactive customer reminderTurn this setting on to prompt the customer to respond to the assistant's last message if they haven't responded in the specified time. After the reminder is sent, the assistant will resend the last message sent before the customer went inactive.You can configure the following:Remind customer to respond after: The amount of time (in minutes) for a customer to be inactive before the assistant sends the reminder message. The default amount of time is 5 minutes.Reminder message: The message to send to the customer to remind them to respond to the last message that was sent. For example, "Are you there?".If using Kustomer Voice, this setting will automatically route the call to an agent if the customer fails to respond after the specified number of prompts, which repeat every 10 seconds.Customer abandoned conversation (available for chat, WhatsApp, and SMS)Automatically end the conversation if a customer hasn’t responded after a set time. Tip: Turn on this setting to prevent agent routing for abandoned conversations.You can configure the following:Abandon conversation after: The amount of time (in minutes) to wait for a customer response before the assistant ends the conversation. If the customer does not respond to the conversation within the set time, the assistant sends the customer the set Abandon Conversation Message and ends the conversation. The default amount of time is 10 minutes.Note: If you have Inactive customer reminder also turned on, the timer for this setting must be higher than the time set for the reminder message.Abandon conversation message: The message to send to the customer when the conversation has been abandoned. For example, "This conversation has ended because you've been inactive for 10 minutes".Agent missed conversation (only available for chat)Automatically offer the customer an alternate support reply channel, or contact method, if an agent hasn’t been assigned to the conversation or first responded in the chat after a set amount of time. Choose which follow-up channels to offer to customers for missed messages.Note: This setting does not apply to chats after a human user responds first. It is also not supported by an SMS or WhatsApp assistant. Tip: You can create a search for missed chats from customers who select an alternate follow-up channel. To triage or search for missed chats from the assistant chat automation, set a filter with the following search criteria: Conversation (Type) > Assistant Status (Property) > is equal to (Operator) > Missed.You can configure the following:Missed conversation after: The amount of time (in minutes) to wait for an agent's response or for an agent to be assigned to the conversation before the assistant ends the chat. If the agent is not assigned to the chat or does not respond within the set time, the assistant sends the customer a request to select an alternate follow-up method and ends the chat. The default amount of time is 10 minutes.Missed conversation message: The message to send to the customer when an agent hasn’t been assigned or responded in the set amount of time. For example, "Sorry, it looks like no one has become available in the expected time. Please select an alternate contact method so we can follow up with you."Configure missed conversations follow-up channels: The available channels the customer can select for follow-up messages from an agent for missed chats. Selected channels will appear as options for the customer after the Missed conversation message.The follow-up channels available on this list depend on the channels installed in your organization. You can select and configure from the following:Email channelPhone channelSMS/Text Message channelWhatsApp channelNote: Phone, SMS, and WhatsApp numbers must include all country and regional codes. For example +19171234567I'll wait: Allow the customer to stay on the chat and wait for an agent to reply.Mark conversation done if a channel isn't selected after: Automatically mark the conversation done in Kustomer if the customer does not select a follow-up channel in the set amount of time (in seconds). The default amount of time is 30 seconds.

Assistant rules provide a way for your customer experience team to engage website visitors with targeted messages. With rules, you can specify which dialog in your assistant launches when a customer starts a conversation based on a multitude of factors such as the current page they are viewing or their VIP status. You can also proactively initiate a conversation with a customer using this criteria instead of waiting for them to reach out to you. This helps you engage with your visitors and build a stronger customer relationship with them.Who can access this feature?User typesAdmins can access the Customer Assist page.In this articleCreate a ruleDefine your audienceStart a proactive chatSet up a rule for a specific SMS or WhatsApp phone numberOrder of assistant rulesBefore you create a rule, please note the following:An assistant can only belong to one channel at a time and cannot be used across multiple different channels.An assistant can have more than 1 rule.Each rule can only be used in 1 assistant.Create a ruleYou can create up to 200 rules for your chat, WhatsApp, and SMS assistants. For this example, we created an assistant that welcomes users with a different message depending on whether they are new or existing customers. The rule we create will start a conversation if the user is a new visitor. The following image shows where this dialog is along the conversation path.To create an assistant rule:Go to Settings> Kustomer IQ > Customer Assist.Select the Rules tab and then select Add Assistant Rule.Enter a name for the rule.Select the channel that has the assistant you want to define an audience for from the Channel drop-down menu. If creating a rule for the SMS or a WhatsApp channel, you can set up a rule that launches when it detects a specific phone number.Select the assistant you are creating the rule for and then select the dialog you want the assistant to start with if the rule matches. By default, the assistant will start with the Welcome dialog. The Preview pane on the right shows the dialog you selected.Note: You can only add a rule to a published assistant.Next, determine what criteria the rule must to start on that dialog or assistant. We are going to launch this dialog if the customer's email address isn't set, indicating they are a first-time visitor, and they've been on the current page for longer than 15 seconds.Optionally, select the Use proactive chat check box if you want to automatically start the conversation. For more information, see Start a proactive chat.Note: Proactive chat is only available for web.Select Save Changes. Please note that it may take up to 10 minutes to see your rules reflected in your assistant.As you can see, since the criteria are met, the assistant is skipping the other dialogs in the path and welcoming a new visitor.Define your audienceWith rules, you can use filters to narrow down the exact audience for your assistants. Depending on the channel you're creating the rule for, you can filter down by Company, Conversation, Customer, or Message attributes. Note: If you create a chat rule that filters your audience by customer, users must be authenticated so that we can identify them and match them to the rule. If you are creating a rule for a chat assistant, you can also filter down by Session type. The following fields are available:Current Page is the page the user is currently on. This field is only supported on web.Language is the language the browser is set to.Previous Page is the page that the user was on before landing on the current page. This field is only supported on web.Time on Page (seconds) is how long the website visitor has been on the current page (in seconds). This field is only supported on web.User Agent is information that identifies the user agent your customer is on, such as the browser, its version number, and the host operating system.For more information on creating filters and the available operators, see Understand filter operators.Start a proactive chatYou can proactively invite your website visitors to start a chat conversation instead of waiting for them to initiate one using our proactive chat feature. This provides a way for you to engage with your visitors and offer assistance in the proper context. You can use proactive chat in a variety of scenarios. For example, you can use this feature to:Prevent cart abandonment by offering help when you notice a visitor is on the order page for a certain period.Greet your returning customers and offer a personal experience that develops a customer relationship with them.Promote an offer that is occurring during a short period, such as a holiday sale.Announce a new feature while they are viewing your product page.Let's create a proactive chat for our cart abandonment example. Here, we want to initiate a conversation if the customer has been on the order page for longer than a minute and ask them if they have any questions before submitting their order.First, select the Chat channel and then the assistant you want to use.Note: Proactive messaging is only available for the Chat channel.Next, select the dialog that will proactively pop up. We want to start the conversation while the visitor is viewing their shopping cart, so we are using one named Shopping cart.Note: Proactive chat only supports certain dialogs. Please review how the dialog appears in the Preview section to verify its support.Enter the criteria that will trigger the chat to start. Select Session Time On Page (seconds) Is Equal To 60. Finally, select the Use proactive chat to start the dialog check box.Select Save Changes.Now, if a visitor is on your order page for a minute, the chat will automatically open asking them if they have questions and directing them to an agent.They can select a button or respond to free text from directly within the pop-up, or dismiss the message by hovering over it and closing it out.Set up a rule for a specific SMS or WhatsApp phone numberIf you have assistants for SMS or your WhatsApp integration, you may want to set up a rule that launches when it detects a specific phone number. To do so, select SMS or WhatsApp from the Channel drop-down menu and then select the phone number from the available list. You can also manually enter the number. If you do not select a specific phone number, the rule will launch whenever your audience contacts you via SMS or WhatsApp channels.Twilio for WhatsAppIf using Twilio for WhatsApp, enter the number in the Phone box in the +19191234567 format.MessageBirdIf using MessageBird, you need to enter the WhatsApp ID in the Phone box.To find your WhatsApp ID, log in to your MessageBird account, go to WhatsApp, and then select Install channel. Copy the ID for the WhatsApp channel you are using with Kustomer.Order of assistant rulesThe order of your rules will have an impact on which assistant launches when the criteria are met. The first rule that matches the set criteria is the assistant that will launch. There may be instances where you want an assistant to run before another so you'll want to reflect that in your sort order.If none of your rules match an incoming conversation, the default assistant will run. If you don't want the default assistant to run if none of the rules are matched, select None from the Assistant drop-down menu.Note: Existing iOS and Android chat implementations may use the default assistant. If you want to maintain backward compatibility, we recommend you do not set this to None.

Conversational assistants can help you collect customer information before they connect with an agent, speeding up response times and closing conversations more quickly.Who can access this feature?User typesAdmins can access the Customer Assist page.In this articleAdd a new assistantPreview an assistantTurn on a conversational assistantAdd a new assistantTo add a new assistant, go to Settings > KIQ > Customer Assist and select Add Assistant. Here, you can choose to create a Lite or Premium assistant. When you create a new assistant, you’ll need to provide the following:Internal Name is the name listed for the assistant on the Customer Assist page in your Kustomer organization.Description is a brief description of the assistant that appears in your Kustomer organization.Public Name is the display name of your conversational assistant that will appear for customers in the chat widget.Channel is the channel that the assistant will be on. Available options are Chat, SMS, WhatsApp, and Kustomer Voice.In the assistant editor, you can update the Internal Name, Description, and Public Name under Assistant Settings.After you create an assistant, the editor page for the assistant opens. Here, you can add dialogs and interactions to build the different conversation paths the assistant will take. Once you are done, select Save and Publish and then turn on the assistant to use it in Kustomer.For a step-by-step conversational assistant tutorial, see Tutorial: Build a conversational assistant.Note: You can create and manage multiple conversational assistants (chatbots) and assign them to multiple brands under our organization with Multi-brand Chat features.Preview an assistantYou can preview your conversational assistant and interact with it to test it before making it available. To do so, select Preview in the editor. You will be directed to a new page. Here, you can interact with your assistant as a customer and test the flow you set up. You can also select Advanced settings and test other features, such as browser notifications, push notifications, browser language, and icon position and size.Turn on a conversational assistantSelect Save and Publish in your conversational assistant draft to make your assistant active in Kustomer. In Chat Management: Settings, you can assign a default conversational assistant for each brand from a list of your active assistants. Note: When you turn on an assistant for a brand, the assistant will start each newly created conversation with your customer unless you override the settings in the Chat SDK.