Using Message Center
The Message Center is the portal for clients who have text messaging or chat enabled. This platform allows users to respond to texts or chats in real-time, all in one place.
To get to Message Center, make sure you have the correct permissions set up first. See Texting Activation for more info.
When permissions are enabled, you will see a new link on the left nav bar for “Message Center”
Clicking that link will take you to the Message Center dashboard. The dashboard will show any messages that come in for your specific “Team”, and the right pane will remain blank until a message is selected.
RECENT MESSAGES
Recent messages will have quick view that shows:
Customer: Number of person texting
Group: which group the conversation came in on
Location: which location the conversation came in on
Campaign Name: name of the number/campaign the person texted in on
Team: What team is the conversation assigned to
Agent: Which agent has claimed the call
Brief preview of the text
Date/time of the text
FILTERING
At the top of the page, you’ll be able to filter out messages by different categories:
Open: | Any conversations that has not been ‘closed’ (this is the default filter) |
Waiting: | Conversations where the Customer is waiting for a response |
Unassigned: | Conversations that have not been claimed by an agent |
Just Mine: | Only conversations claimed by the agent currently logged in |
Closed: | Conversations that have already been closed. (if a Customer texts again after a convo has been closed, a new one is created in ‘open’) |
NOTE: An agent can only see conversations associated with Teams they are assigned to (eg. Sales Team Agents won't see Service Team texts unless the text is transferre
ALERTING
Alerts are icons that let agents know when text messages are waiting to be responded to
There are three states for alerts on messages:
An exclamation point indicates messages that have not been claimed yet
The exclamation icon will flash if a message has sat unclaimed for longer than 5 minutes
An alarm clock will show a claim message where someone has waited more than 5 minutes for a response
NOTE: Messages that have any alerts will need attention
CONVERSATIONS
As new text messages come in, they will appear as conversations within message center. Clicking on any recent message will highlight the row and open the conversation in the right window pane
Multiple conversations can be viewed at once, they will open up as tabs in the conversation window, with the potential customer’s phone number as the tab name.
The full conversation and conversation history for each customer can be viewed in the conversation pane.
Scroll up to see additional messages.
The potential customer will be in gray, the agent handling the conversation will be in green.
The top of the conversation will also show the name of the campaign it came in on, and the agent who has claimed the message.
Consumer Details
Next to the conversation window is a section to show the details of the consumer window that is currently selected. These details can be entered during the conversation so that they can be referenced later.
Name: Name of the person you are talking to
Address: The address they provide (this is a type ahead field that will pull the exact address)
NOTE: This can be used for “Ideal Service Area”. We will compare the user’s address to your service area and let you know if it falls within the “Ideal” or “Max” areas that were identified under Edit Location
Email Address: Email if provided by the texter
Potential Lead: whether or not you believe this text conversation could end in a sale/conversion.
NOTE: If you click on "yes for potential lead, a few new options will appear
Existing Customer: Yes or No if they are already a customer of yours
Interested In: Sales or Service (what type of lead would they be)
Preferred Appointment Time: Morning, Afternoon, or Evening
Click save to update the consumer record with these changes.
SERVICE AREA INDICATORS
If you have entered the ideal Service Areas under your location settings, AND you have entered in the consumer’s address, a service area indicator will appear in the recent conversations page. This mileage will indicate if the texter’s address falls inside of the ideal or max service areas you have described.
Ideal Service Area: The Customer falls within the area the business indicated was their ideal area to service
Maximum Service Area: The Customer is outside of the ideal service area, but still falls in the area they are willing to service
Outside Service Area: The Customer does not exist in an area the business is willing to service
NOTE: The number of miles is indicated on the mile marker as well
CLAIMING
Before a text conversation can be initiated, an agent must claim the conversation. Claiming a conversation helps other agents see that the conversation is being handled.
Until a call is claimed, the conversation box at the bottom of the screen only allows for Internal messaging, so you may chat with an internal member, but no text messages can be sent.
Once the agent Claims the conversation, they can begin texting with the Customer.
NOTES
As an agent is conversing with a potential customer, they are able to make notes on a conversation.
An agent clicks the yellow note icon next to the Quick Replies text field and the free form field will turn YELLOW
The agent can enter a note and hit “Send”
The note will now be included in the text conversation history
To get the note field back to text messaging, select the chat icon (next to the note) and the screen will switch back.
TEXTING & QUICK REPLIES
Once a conversation has been claimed, the agent may begin sending messages to the potential customer.
The agent can either type free form text into the box, or they can select a ‘quick reply’ from the pull down menu for pre-entered text to send.
Free form: Type any message reply to the Customer. If a message is longer than 160 characters it will be sent via multiple messages
Quick Replies: These are set up at the group level. The quick replies can be selected for parts of the conversation where only canned text is needed. An example of this would be the final text message of “Thank you for contacting us. Please let us know if you need further assistance at 800-XXX-XXX” etc.
The agent may then choose ‘Close Conversation’ when they are completed, and the conversation will be moved to the Closed section.
TRANSFER & INTERNAL CHAT
INTERNAL CHAT WITHIN A CONVERSATION
Once a conversation has been claimed, the agent may begin sending messages to the potential customer.
An agent can transfer a conversation to another agent or team if the Customer has contacted them incorrectly.
There are 2 types of transfer within a conversation, warm transfer (speaking to an agent first), and cold transfer (transferring without notification).
Warm Transfer: Select a team member in the chat window and ask them if they are available to handle the text conversation. If so, transfer the text.
All chat conversations will be saved in the text message conversation history so they can be viewed later.
Cold Transfer: Select a team or agent to transfer the text to without having a prior conversation
Only
INTERNAL CHAT BETWEEN AGENTS
A chat can also be initiated between agents without having to be in a text conversation.
2. A modal will pop up and show all agents that are currently logged in. Select the agent you want and click “Go”
3. A new message window open in the conversation pane that indicates what agent you are chatting with. The window will be in BLUE, and the agent name will be on the top of the tab.
To clarify text vs internal chat:
A text conversation is one that happens between the Customer or Potential Customer and the Agent. A Customer will text a business number and have a conversation regarding products or services.
An internal chat is a conversation that happens between Agents at a business. It can be either within a text conversation or independently as its own chat conversation.
SECURE CHAT
If a potential customer would like to talk to an agent, but there are concerns about privacy, an agent can initiate a secure chat.
Secure chat encrypts the conversation and takes additional security measures that you would not find in a regular text conversation.
On the conversation pane, once a message has been claimed, and agent may click on the Secure Chat Invite link to send a link to the potential customer
An agent clicks on the secure chat link and a modal pops up asking them to confirm. If they click “OK” to move forward, a secure chat link is sent via text message to the potential customer.
Agent View
To respond to the client via secure chat, the agent must make sure the “Customer [Secure]” is selected from the “Chat with” drop down. Otherwise, the conversation will continue to go to the text message.
An agent knows a message was sent securely as it will be black
Customer view
The Secure Chat link will direct the potential customer to a browser window. The window will now take the place of the previous conversation
Stop
When a Customer texts STOP at any point in the conversation (or Stop, stop, or any variation), messages can no longer be sent to that phone number.
The conversation will be automatically closed and agents cannot text that person.
The only time a text can be resent to that number is if the Customer texts the business again and a new conversation is started.
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