Start a Messaging Session with a Customer (Web and Desktop App)

When you need to message a customer before they message you, such as sending an appointment reminder, a service notification, or a marketing campaign, you can open a messaging session yourself from the Cloud Voice App on web or desktop.

Note

You can begin a session over an SMS (Short Message Service, plain text messaging) channel or a WhatsApp channel.

Requirements

Before you start, confirm the following.

Ask your system administrator to verify the phone system:

• Runs version 84.23.0.24 or later.
• Has at least one SMS or WhatsApp messaging channel configured.
• Grants your account permission to create sessions in that channel.
• For WhatsApp, has the templates you want already synchronized. A WhatsApp session can only be opened with a WhatsApp-approved message template.

If you use the desktop app, it must be one of these versions:

• Windows: 1.7.3 or later.
• macOS: 1.7.3 or later.

Start a session over an SMS channel

1. In the Cloud Voice App (web or desktop), go to Chat > External Chat.

2. Click the add icon () to begin a new session.

   

3. In the dialog that opens, enter the session details:

   

   • Session Type: Select SMS.
   • Sender: Select the channel number the message will be sent from.
   • Recipient: Select a country/region code, then type the recipient’s number.

4. Click Create.

   Note

   If an active session with the same sender and recipient already exists, and the channel allows duplicate sessions, a confirmation dialog appears. Click OK to continue. You then take over the existing session and can see its full chat history.

   

The SMS session is created, and you can start messaging your customer.

Start a session over a WhatsApp channel

1. In the Cloud Voice App (web or desktop), go to Chat > External Chat.

2. Click the add icon () to begin a new session.

   

3. In the dialog that opens, enter the session details:

   

   • Session Type: Select WhatsApp.
   • Sender: Select the phone number associated with the channel.
   • Recipient: Select a country/region code, then type the recipient’s number.

4. Click Create.

   Note

   If an active session with the same sender and recipient already exists, and the channel allows duplicate sessions, a confirmation dialog appears. Click OK to continue. You then take over the existing session and can see its full chat history.

   

   The WhatsApp session is created. What happens next depends on the session:

   • If you took over an existing session that is still inside its 24-hour service window, you can message the customer right away.
   • If this is a brand-new session, or the 24-hour window of the session you took over has closed, you must send a message template first. Continue with Step 5.

   Caution

   The 24-hour service window is a WhatsApp rule: you can only send free-typed replies within 24 hours of the customer’s most recent message. Once that window has passed, you cannot restart the conversation with a plain message and must send an approved template first (Step 5).

5. Send a message template to open the conversation:

   1. Click WhatsApp Message Template, then search for and select the template you want.

      

   2. If the template contains media or variable placeholders, upload the required files and enter a value for every variable.

      

      Note

      • The right-hand panel shows a live preview of the finished message.

      • For a location variable, paste the Google Maps URL and the system fills in the name and coordinates for you. You still need to type the street address yourself for the {{Address}} variable.

        

   3. Click Send.