Conversation nodes determine when a flow should send out email and SMS, along with defining expected responses if a recipient responds back to an outbound SMS.
Quick links:
How to configure an outbound SMS node
How to configure an inbound SMS node
How to configure an outbound email node
How to configure an outbound SMS node
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Click and drag an outbound sms node from the toolbar onto the canvas
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Within the settings panel, you have the option of selecting an existing SMS template which shares the same related object as your flow by clicking on the Select SMS template dropdown. You can also edit this template, or simply enter free text to form the contents of your message
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Click on Insert merge field to load the merge field modal to search for and add additional merge fields
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When you are happy with the contents of your message, click Save
Adding an existing template to an outbound SMS node creates a copy of that template which is unique to the node.
This means any changes you make to the wording won't update your original template.
Conversely, if you make changes to the master template, these changes will not cascade through to your flow.
In this instance, you'll need to re-select the template to the node.
How to configure an inbound SMS node
This node cannot be used as a trigger to start the flow.
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Configure an outbound SMS node on the canvas (see steps above)
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Click and drag an inbound sms node from the toolbar onto the canvas and link it to the outbound SMS node
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Within the settings panel of your inbound sms node, select
specific reply
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Enter the keywords or phrases you would to define as expected responses, pressing the enter key after each one to save them within the Keywords field
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Select whether your expected responses are case sensitive (off by default)
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Click Save
By defining expected responses, you are configuring any matching inbound responses to follow the path of an inbound SMS node.
If you wish to segment recipients down different paths based on different responses, you will need to configure a separate inbound node relevant to each of these paths.
Any reply BETA
This is a beta feature designed to capture feedback from a survey flow. Please contact the Pendula Support team if you would like to have this feature enabled.
An inbound SMS node with any reply
selected can be used in conjunction with an update field node to capture the contents of the most recent response from the recipient's mobile phone number. Additional nodes can then be added to this path.
In order to use any reply
, you'll firstly want to consider which text field on the your related object will be populated with the contents of the inbound response.
To configure an inbound SMS node using any reply, please follow the steps below:
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Configure an outbound SMS node on the canvas (see steps above)
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Click and drag an inbound sms node from the toolbar onto the canvas and link it to the outbound SMS node
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Within the settings panel of the inbound sms node, select
any reply
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Click and drag an update field node from the toolbar onto the canvas and link it to the inbound sms node
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Within the settings panel of the update field node, select which field you would like to populate with the recipient's response and in the value field enter this formula:
$lastReply.message
Things to consider:
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An inbound SMS must be an exact match for one of the expected responses defined within an inbound SMS node. For example, if you have entered
yes
as a keyword and a recipient replies withyes thanks
it will not match. If you also haveyes thanks
as a keyword, it will match -
If you have a flow with an inbound SMS node with
any reply
selected, you can not have any other inbound flows active at the same time or use the console for ad-hoc messaging which share the same recipients as this flow. This is because if a contact replies to a different flow or SMS sent via the console, the any reply node will pick up this reply instead of the intended flow -
You can however, have multiple any reply nodes within a single flow. Or have any reply and specific reply nodes in a single flow
How to configure an outbound email node
Email is not available as a communication channel for all users. Contact the Pendula Support team if you would like to have this enabled.
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Click and drag an outbound email node from the toolbar onto the canvas
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Within the settings panel, select an existing template which shares the same related object as your flow from the Select email template dropdown. You can edit the existing template and add extra merge fields by clicking on Open template editor to access the email template builder
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If required, update the subject line in the Email subject field
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Click Save
Adding an existing template to an outbound email node creates a copy of that template which is unique to the node. This means any changes you make to the wording won't update your original template. Conversely, if you make changes to the master template, these changes will not cascade through to your flow. In this instance, you'll need to re-select the template to the node.
Attachments
There are two types of attachments which can be included on emails sent from Pendula:
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Shared attachments
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Linked files
Shared attachments are generic attachments which can be uploaded to an email node, in order to be included in the email sent to all recipients.
Linked files are attachments stored as Files against a record within Salesforce, and are therefore unique to the recipient.
Pendula can only access linked files which are stored against the related object of the flow. If the root object of your flow is the Contact object for example, any Files you wish to use as attachments must be stored against the Contact. A flow cannot trigger based on one object, but access and send Files based on another.
How to upload a shared attachment
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Double-click on an existing outbound email node on the canvas
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Within the settings panel, click on the Attachments tab
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Upload your shared attachments to the box beneath Upload shared attachment/s by either dragging and dropping files in, or by clicking on browse files
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Click Save
The maximum email size including attachments is 10MB
Most common file types such as .pdf, .jpg and .doc are supported. The full list of unsupported file types are available here.
How to add a path to a linked file
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Double-click on an existing outbound email node on the canvas
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Within the settings panel, click on the Attachments tab
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Under Add a path to a linked file, enter your path or syntax
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Click Save
The following can be entered to define which Salesforce Files should be included as attachments for a particular record:
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An exact filename match, e.g.
myattachment.pdf
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Use a
*
wildcard to match one or more charactersFor example, to select matches on any part of a filename, e.g.
my*.pdf
,*attachment.pdf
or*my*.pdf
or select all files on the record by simply specifying*
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Use a
?
wildcard to match exactly one characterFor example, if there is a one-character difference in file name, like with numeric or ascending character numbers: AttachmentA.jpg, AttachmentB.jpg, just use
Attachment?.jpg
as the format.
Things to consider:
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It is important that any Files you intend to use as attachments have the correct permissions enabled in order for Pendula successfully include them in an email.
For an attachment ( ContentDocument) to be picked up by Pendula, ensure that the file exists before the email node is triggered. It also needs to have the following permissions:
Visibility = "AllUsers"
ContentDocument.IsDeleted = false
ContentDocument.isArchived = false
ContentDocument.FileType != ‘LINK’
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Take care when using wildcard values such as * or ?, as these may also include Files which are internal facing or are not relevant to the context of the email. As always, test thoroughly!
Custom sender settings
Emails can be customised to send with different email sender name and reply to address settings, depending on the context of your flow or journey.
For example, you may want information packs to be sent from Welcome Team <example@email.com>
and invoices to be sent from Accounts Team <example@email.com>
.
How to configure custom sender settings
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Double-click on an existing outbound email node on the canvas
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Within the settings panel, click on the Custom sender tab
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Enter your preferred sender name in the Email sender name field
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Enter your preferred reply to email address in the Reply to address field
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Click Save
Additionally, you can also enter a from address in this section to mask emails from a particular email address that is part of your business' domain, however this must first be whitelisted with the Pendula Support team in order to function correctly.
Entering an email address that hasn't been whitelisted into the From address field will cause the email to fail, so ensure you have received confirmation the address has been successfully whitelisted before proceeding!
Things to consider:
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Email sender name and reply to address settings can be setup without any additional configuration, however the from address must first be whitelisted in order for the email to send successfully
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Entering custom sender settings at an email node level will override any default sender settings you have configured for your Pendula tenant
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It is recommend you keep the from address and reply to address values the same in order to maximise email reputation score, as emails with different from address and reply to addresses tend to score lower with different email clients and domains.