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Engage Digital | Configuring channels

When adding a channel, you’ll need to configure the access to the source account. For each channel that you configure, you can specify both general settings and the specific settings for that channel. Adding channels requires the Create a channel permission. If your default administrator role does not have this permission, work with your account representative or customer support to modify your role.

When you are ready to add a channel, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Channels > Channels via the left-hand navigation bar

2. Click New Channel at far right to reveal a dropdown menu

3. Select the channel you want to add to the platform

4. Configure the appropriate settings for the channel

5. Click Save

6. See the Channels table and verify if messages appear in the Messages column for the channel

Channel connection settings

Let’s review the settings that appear on the channel configuration page.

General settings

General settings are those settings that are common to all channels.

Active: Sets the channel as active. This will allow the platform to import messages from this channel
Hide the channel from statistics: Avoids displaying any metrics from this channel in Analytics
Name: Names the channel. It is recommended the name include the channel type — such as Facebook, Twitter, or Engage Chat
Community: Sets the community the channel belongs to. Set by default when there is only one community configured that can support the channel
Icon color: Sets the channel icon color. This color assists with the categorization of different, similar channels together
Business hours: Sets the business hours that apply for this channel , if business hours are defined on the platform. Each channel can be assigned its own business hours profile
Sender name: Defines the variables that will display an agent’s name when messaging a customer using this channel . The tooltip in the user interface shows the variables you can use

Message settings

Let’s review settings that are used to manage messaging.

Default categories: Categorizes all messages from this channel with default categories
Default categories (agent messages): Categorizes all messages from agents for this channel with default categories
Ignore contents older than: Automatically ignores new messages that are older than the time frame set. The delay is calculated in calendar days
Time for thread inclusion: Sets the aggregation interval for private messages. If left empty, each new message from the same client on the same source will result in the creation of a new thread

Signatures

Automatic messages signatures include message content that agents may want to include in every message.

Let’s review settings for automatic message signatures used when agents reply to messages from a source.

Language: Sets the language of the signature
Signature: Defines the signature message. You can use variables in the signature to provide additional personalization within the signature message

Automatic Messages

Automatic messages are messages that are generated by the platform to customers that are awaiting a response. These are very similar to comfort messages on an inbound contact center queueing system. A comfort message is a message that you have configured to play after a certain amount of time has elapsed since the caller has entered a queue. For example, ‘Thank you for continuing to hold, the next available agent will be with you shortly.’ Many different automatic messages can be created and used at the same time.

Let’s review the settings for configuring automatic messages.

Language: Sets the language of the signature
Context: Set the type of automatic reply to the customer. There are two options:
- First message: Automatically sends the message when the message is received by the platform
- Message out of office hours: Automatically sends the message when a message is imported after business hours
Message: Specifies the content of the message that is sent to the customer
Enable answers to first messages: Enables replies to first message automatic messages
Enable answers to messages outside business hours: Enables replies to out of office / after business hours automatic messages
Time between two messages (First message): Sets the delay for the sending of an automatic reply based on the time between two messages
Time between two messages (Message out of office hours): Sets the delay for the sending of a second message for automatic messages that are sent after business hours

Language settings

Let’s review settings for the languages used within the platform for the channel.

Default content language: Sets the default language for the channel if the original message’s language cannot be determined or was not set by the customer
Auto-detect content language: Auto-detects the language for the message. In Routing mode, messages can be assigned to agents with that language skill. In Inbox view, folders can be created based on the support languages for your center
Languages to detect: Specifies each of the languages that you want to detect when Auto-detect content language is enabled

Routing settings

In the Routing mode, digital interactions are tasks that are distributed directly to agents using routing. Routing delivers (or pushes) messages to agents in the Routing mode, based on the prioritization settings that you configure.

Let’s review settings used in the Routing mode for routing for the channel

Default priority for interactions: Manually sets the channel priority when pushing messages to agents. A channel with a higher number has greater priority with message routing than a channel with a lower number
SLA: Defines the Service Level Agreement (SLA) as a targeted response time for the channel. To manage task priority, an SLA score is assigned and varies between 0 and 10
- 0: SLA when the message is imported to the platform
- 10: SLA when the service level goal is achieved
SLA expired strategy: Resets the message priority when the SLA has been exceeded, messages can be set to different priorities:
- Capped at max (10): The message remains at full priority, and will be addressed in the order received unless other channels have greater priority
- Half Value (5): Resets the priority of the message to 5. Other messages that have higher priority can be addressed ahead of this message
- Back to base priority (0): Resets to the priority that existed when the message was imported. Other messages that have higher priority will be addressed ahead of this message
Priority boost of messages with case: Increases the priority of messages within a thread that have had a previous response and customer reply. This priority boost allows the message to be routed to an agent with higher priority than other messages
Priority boost of transferred interactions: Sets a higher priority factor for messages that are transferred. This priority boost allows the messages that are transferred to be routed to a receiving agent with higher priority than other messages

Email channel connection settings

An Email channel that you configure in the platform can send and receive Emails in several modes of configuration, such as Postmark, IMAP/SMTP, or a hybrid configuration. Your organization will select from these modes based on your operational needs, technical constraints, and desired rapidity of implementation. Depending on your selection, you may configure different sections when enabling an Email channel.

Let’s review additional settings needed for enabling an Email channel.

Postmark settings

Postmark is a transactional email delivery service.

Configure these settings when enabling an Email channel in Postmark mode:

Enable: Enables sending and receiving email in Postmark mode
Email address: Specifies an email address for sending and receiving emails
API key: Specifies an API key generated in Postmark and provided to you by RingCentral
Enable open tracking: Enables a ‘Read’ indicator when an email has been read

IMAP/SMTP settings

Configure these settings when enabling an Email channel in IMAP/SMTP mode:

Email address: Specifies your email address associated with this account

IMAP settings

IMAP settings allow you to receive emails from your email service provider's server.

Configure these settings when enabling an Email channel in IMAP/SMTP mode:

Server host: Specifies the hostname or IP address of the IMAP receiving server
Server port: Specifies the port number used by the receiving server. The port numbers generally used for receiving emails via IMAP are 993 and 143
Use SSL/TLS: Indicates that your receiving server supports SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption
Use StartTLS: Indicates that your receiving server supports StartTLS (Opportunistic Transport Layer Security) encryption
Folders to synchronize: Specifies the names of directories to synchronize for importing emails. As soon as the first synchronization has been done, the list of folders is retrieved and you can choose the folders to synchronize by autocompletion. You cannot manually enter the folder names
Folder for ‘Sent Mail’: Specifies the names of the directory containing sent mail. As soon as the first synchronization has been done, the list of folders is retrieved and you can choose the folders to synchronize by autocompletion. You cannot manually enter the folder names
Username: Specifies your username for this account, for example "john.doe". Some email service providers require your full email address as the username
Password: Specifies a password that you use to sign in to your account
SSL verification mode: Specifies debugging a channel, when using StartTLS or SSL/TLS

SMTP settings

SMTP settings allow you to send emails to your email service provider's server.

Configure these settings when enabling an Email channel in IMAP/SMTP mode:

Server host: Specifies the hostname or IP address of the SMTP receiving server
Server port: Specifies the port number used by the receiving server. The port numbers generally used for receiving emails via SMTP are 465 and 587
Use SSL/TLS: Indicates that your receiving server supports SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption
Use StartTLS: Indicates that your receiving server supports StartTLS (Opportunistic Transport Layer Security) encryption
Username: Specifies your username for this account, for example ‘john.doe.’ Some email service providers require your full email address as the username
Password: Specifies a password that you use to sign in to your account
SSL verification mode: Specifies debugging a channel, when using StartTLS or SSL/TLS
Domain: Specifies a domain for an extended HELO command when connecting through Extended Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (ESMTP). This command has the server identify itself when connecting to another email server when sending an email. The default value is ‘localhost’

Advanced settings

Configure these advanced settings when enabling an Email channel:

Allow attachments of any kind: Enables attachments of any type. If unchecked, attachments that are outside recognized formats will be blocked
Threading heuristics: Requires the platform to check every new imported email for a matching email. If an already imported email has the same recipients and subject, the new email is added to the existing thread. You should not check this setting when implementing a form
Email parser (BBCode): Enables interpreting BBCode tags.

By default, all BBCode tags (even correctly interpreted) are displayed. To display only unrecognized tags, check the Display only unknown BBCode tags field, which you can configure by navigating to Account Settings from the Settings in the left-hand navigation bar.

Make sure to check this setting when implementing a form
Whitelisted emails: Specifies that emails imported from specified email addresses are treated with special rules. Each new email imported will create a new thread (no thread aggregation), and each new email will be associated with an anonymous identity, unless a ‘ReplyTo’ is specified in the email’s raw source.

Make sure to check this setting when implementing a form
Spam threshold: Applies the Apache SpamAssassin set of heuristic rules assigning a score to imported emails, based on the email’s content and characteristics. You can configure a spam detection threshold. There are three thresholds:
- Disabled: Disables using spam detection
- Relaxed: Detects spam with a score less than or equal to 10
- Strict: Detects spam with a score less than or equal to 5
  
  When the score of an email is greater than the chosen threshold, the message is archived. The stricter the threshold, the greater the risk of legitimate mail being archived. To learn more about how the rules assign a score to imported emails, see the Apache SpamAssassin documentation.
Exclude from TO/CC: Specifies email addresses excluded from receiving replies

Facebook Page channel connection settings

Let’s review additional settings needed for enabling a Facebook Page channel.

User Token: Specifies the access token used by the platform to access the Facebook data. When granting access to the platform using the Get your User Token and Page ID button, this information will be provided. Copy and paste the information into the User Token field
Page ID: Specifies a Page ID which is used with the User Token to grant access to the Facebook API and data. Each unique page on Facebook has a Page ID. When granting access to the platform using the Get your User Token and Page ID button, this information will be provided. Copy and paste the information into the Page ID field
Get your User Token and Page ID: Specifies opening a new tab allowing you to grant access to your Facebook data for the platform as well as allow you to copy the User Token and Page ID information. The administrator of the Facebook account needs to be signed in
Synchronize public posts: Enables the platform to import wall posts for the Facebook account. These posts are public and may not always apply to customer issues
Synchronize dark posts: Enables the platform to import wall posts that are invisible, targeted ads on Facebook. These posts do not appear on the account timeline, and are also known as unpublished posts
Manage identity assignment manually: Prevents the platform from automatically using the default identity for the channel when agents are responding. Each responding agent will need to have an identity to respond when not using the default identity for the channel

Facebook Messenger channel connection settings

Let’s review additional settings needed for enabling a Facebook Messenger channel.

User Token: Updates the access token to access the Facebook data
Page ID: Grants access to the Facebook API and data, in conjunction with the User Token. When granting access to the platform, this information will be provided. Copy and paste the information into the Page ID field
Get your User Token and Page ID: Specifies opening a new tab allowing you to grant access to your Facebook data for the platform as well as allow you to copy the User Token and Page ID information. The administrator of the Facebook account needs to be signed in

Twitter channel settings

To retrieve the information needed to configure the Twitter channel connection settings, you should access the Twitter account for your organization. After selecting Get your OAuth token & OAuth token secret in the platform’s Twitter channel connection settings, click Continue with Twitter in your Twitter session. In the page that opens, click Authorize Application. A setup page opens with the values for OAuth Token, OAuth Token Secret, and the Twitter ID.

Optionally, you can access this data through the Twitter API here.

Twitter channel connection settings

Let’s review additional settings needed for enabling a Twitter channel.

OAuth token: Allows you to specify the OAuth token from the Authorize Application page. Paste the token to access the Twitter data using the API
OAuth token secret: Allows you to specify the OAuth secret token from the Authorize Application page. Paste the token to access the Twitter data user the API
Get your OAuth token secret: Specifies opening a new tab allowing you to grant access to your Twitter data for the platform as well as allow you to copy the OAuth Tokens and ID information. The administrator of the Twitter account needs to be signed in
Whitelisted usernames: Creates a new thread when a message from one of these accounts is received on Twitter. The new message will not be included in an existing thread for better visibility for agents. This feature is useful if your brand has additional Twitter accounts that are not connected to the platform
Synchronize DMs: Enables importing direct messages sent to the Twitter account
Synchronize mentions: Enables importing public messages that include @mentions to the Twitter handle
Disable public replies from this account: Disables the public reply button to force private replies on all received messages
Manage identity assignment manually: Prevents the platform from automatically using the default identity for the channel when agents are responding. Each responding agent will need to have an identity to respond when not using the default identity for the channel

Follow-me messages settings

If agents try to send a private message to Twitter users that block direct messages or who are not following the brand, you can send an automated public message asking the customer to follow your account. The private message will be sent automatically when the user follows the brand.

Let’s review additional settings needed for enabling Follow me on Twitter.

Twitter advanced settings

Let’s review advanced settings needed when connecting to a customer’s developer account.

App name: Specifies the name of an application in Twitter
Consumer key: Specifies a Twitter consumer key
Consumer secret: Specifies a Twitter consumer secret key

Follow-me messages settings

Let’s review additional settings needed for enabling Follow me on Twitter.

Language: Sets the language of the follow-up message
Created from: Sets the follow-up message sender.
- Survey: Specifies the message originated from a survey
- Interface: Specifies the message did not originate from a survey
Message: Defines the follow-up message

Click the Add button to configure additional follow-me messages.

Instagram channel connection settings

The platform will connect to the Instagram API. To enable the Instagram API, the Instagram account needs to be an Instagram Business account type. If you need to switch your account to a business account, refer to Set up a Professional Account on Instagram.

Let’s review additional settings needed for enabling an Instagram channel.

Instagram business account: Sets the account login information needed for the platform to access the Instagram data. Copy this information from your Instagram account
User token: Sets the user token needed for the platform to access the Instagram data. Copy this information from your Instagram account
Get your credentials: Specifies opening a new tab allowing you to grant access to your Facebook data for the platform as well as allow you to copy the User Token information. The administrator of the Instagram account needs to be signed in