Create Flows

A flow is a step-by-step process that helps you define the end-to-end customer experience for each communication channel.

You can create experience flows using the Flow Designer.

Flow Types

There are two types of Flows:

1. Start Flows: Most flows are classified as start flows, applicable to both voice and chat channels.
2. Exit Flows: Used when a call disconnects, applicable to voice channels.

The Start Flows

Start flows represent the most complex flow type, providing access to all node types. This flow type allows you to create experiences for inbound calls and chats.

Note

All fields of the default Start Flows can be edited except Channels. Learn more.

The Exit Flows

This flow type runs when a call gets disconnected and is useful in gathering customer data during post-call analytics, clean-up, or updates in other systems after a call ends. Conversational context can be passed from the main experience flow into the Exit Flows.

Note

Exit flows are currently configurable only for voice channels.

Create a Start Flow

Steps to create a Start Flow:

1. In the left navigation, go to Flows & Channels > FLOWS.

2. Click + New Start Flow.
   

3. In the New Start Flow window, provide inputs for the following fields:

   1. Start Flow Name: This name will help identify the flow.
   2. Description: Input text to describe what the experience flow does or its purpose.
   3. Attach a Channel: Select one of the following channels to integrate with this flow:

Voice

1. Selecting this option displays the list of phone numbers available within your account. Select a number to map to the start flow.

2. If you have not added any number to your account, click Purchase a phone number.
   

   • The Phone Number window is displayed as shown below. You can configure a custom local or toll-free number by clicking Get New Phone Number:
     

   • Select the Country.

   • Select either the Local or Toll-Free Number option.
   • Select the State.
   • Enter the Area Code.
   • Once the above fields are configured, the monthly fee and the operational charge per minute are displayed.
     

3. Configure an available number with the following steps:

   • Click the Get Number button.

   • Review the number on the Forward to Phone Number page, select whether the number will be used for Inbound, Outbound Calls, or both, and click Done. A success confirmation message is displayed, and the phone number is added.

   • You can now use this number for your Start Flow.

4. Select an ASR Speech Recognition Engine. You can choose from the following:

   • Google Cloud Speech-to-Text,
   • Microsoft Azure Speech Services,
   • Nuance,
   • AmiVoice,
   • NVIDIA Riva,
   • Deepgram, or
   • Gnani Speech-to-Text.

5. Select an English Dialect. This option is not available for AmiVoice.

6. Select a TTS Speech Recognition. You can choose from the following:

   • Microsoft Azure Speech Services,
   • Google Cloud Text-to-Speech,
   • AWS Amazon Polly,
   • Nuance,
   • ElevenLabs,
   • Whisper, or
   • NVIDIA RIVA Text-to-Speech
     

7. Select a Language for text-to-speech, then select a Voice.

8. Add text to the Voice Preview field. Click Sample Text, then click Play to hear a preview of the voice to be implemented into your flow.

Show Advanced Settings

Enter the Primary and Fallback TTS Configuration.

Bot No Input

To handle situations where there are delays in backend operations or unexpected system failures, administrators can configure Bot No Input to to provide users with appropriate responses or cues. This prevents users from experiencing dead air during such occurrences. The following configurations allow pre-programmed instructions for such scenarios.

• When enabled, the below configurations are applied.
• When disabled, the default give-up timeout is applied, causing the call to disconnect if the bot does not respond within 30 seconds.

Configuration Options

Bot No Input Timeout

• If the bot does not respond within this duration, an action based on the "Interaction Type" is triggered.
• This periodic message will repeat until the bot responds or until the "Bot No Input Give Up Timeout" is reached.
  

Interaction Type

The following options are available:

• Bot No Input Speech: Enter the text that the bot will say when triggered by the no input timeout.
• Bot No Input URL: Enter a valid audio URL. The bot will play the audio file from this URL when triggered by the no-input timeout.
  

Bot No Input Retries

• Specifies the number of times to perform the no input actions, with a "Bot No Input Timeout" duration between each retry.
  

Bot No Input Give Up Timeout

• The total duration (in seconds) to wait before performing the give-up action and stopping further no input retries. The following options are available:

  • End the Call: Ends the call after the "Bot No Input Give Up Timeout" is reached.

    • Enter a message that the bot will say before ending the call.
      

  • Transfer the Call: Transfers the call to a SIP phone number.

    • Text Message: The bot will say this message before transferring the call.
    • SIP Transfer Method: Select the desired SIP transfer method from the dropdown menu (SIP REFER).
    • Redirect URL: Enter the SIP redirect URL for transferring the call.
    • SIP Headers: Provide key-value pairs for SIP headers as needed.
      

Usage Scenarios

• Normal System Delays: If backend operations take longer than expected (for example, CRM updates or HTTP requests), users will receive periodic messages or audio cues, ensuring they remain informed.
• Unexpected Failures: In cases of backend crashes or offline services, this provides fallback actions to maintain a positive user experience.

Example Configuration

Scenario:

• Configuration:
  • Enabled: true
  • Bot No Input Timeout: 10 seconds
  • Bot No Input Speech: "Please wait while the bot responds."
  • Bot No Input Retries: 15
  • Bot No Input Give Up Timeout: 120 seconds
  • Give-Up Action: End Call (message: "Bot not responding ending the call")

Behavior:

• The bot will play the message "Please wait while the bot responds" every 10 seconds.
• This will continue until the bot responds, the retries (15) are exhausted, or the give-up timeout (120 seconds) is reached.
• After 120 seconds, if the bot still does not respond, the bot will say the configured end-call message "Bot not responding ending the call" and disconnect the call.

This configuration ensures that user interactions remain seamless and informative, even during unexpected system delays or failures.

• Select an Exit Flow (Optional): When the exit event is triggered, the published version of the selected flow will be executed. You can either select the default Exit Flow or one that you have created yourself.

• Select a No Agents Available Flow (Optional): The published version of the selected flow will be executed when an agent transfer is triggered, but no agents are available, or the conversation exceeds the maximum waiting time in the queue. You can either select the default No Agents Available Flow or one that you have created yourself.

• Select an Out-of-Hours Flow (Optional): The published version of the selected flow will be executed when an agent transfer is triggered outside the queue's working hours. You can either select the default Out-of-Hours Flow or one that you have created yourself.

  Note

  Only flows that have been published will be available for selection in the dropdowns.

Chat

Selecting chat will display all the chat channels configured in the channels section. The displayed values include:

1. All: Selecting it selects the Web/Mobile Client and any other services available within your account for the chat flow.

2. Web/Mobile Client: The web client is the front-end component of any conversational AI system or application that communicates with a server and is accessed by the end-user on a desktop or mobile device.
   

3. Under Advanced Settings, you can enable Prompt Overrides at Input Nodes. When this feature is enabled, unprocessed user inputs will be passed to the first input node encountered in the flow without returning the actual prompt stored against the input node. This is useful for scenarios where a conversation ends and is then restarted by the user. For example, the user will not see the first “Welcome Message” again, as they would when starting a new conversation. Instead, they will receive a relevant reply to the utterance.

4. Select a No Agents Available Flow (Optional): The published version of the selected flow will be executed when an agent transfer is triggered, but no agents are available, or the conversation exceeds the maximum waiting time in the queue.

5. Select an Out-of-Hours Flow (Optional): The published version of the selected flow will be executed when an agent transfer is triggered outside the queue's working hours.

   Note

   Only flows that have been published will be available for selection in the dropdowns.

6. Click Update & Continue to Flow Design, you are taken to the Flow Designer, where you can work on the Flow itself.

SMS

Selecting SMS will display all the phone numbers configured in the channels section.

1. Select a phone number to map to the start flow.
   

2. Select a No Agents Available Flow (Optional): The published version of the selected flow will be executed when an agent transfer is triggered, but no agents are available, or the conversation exceeds the maximum waiting time in the queue.

3. Select an Out-of-Hours Flow (Optional): The published version of the selected flow will be executed when an agent transfer is triggered outside the queue's working hours.

   Note

   Only flows that have been published will be available for selection in the dropdowns.

Edit a Start Flow

Steps to edit a start flow:

1. Click the Ellipsis (⋮) beside the Description and click Update.

2. Make the changes and click Update.

Delete a Start Flow

Steps to delete a start flow:

1. Click the Ellipsis (⋮) beside the Description and click Delete.

2. A confirmation is displayed. Click Delete.

   Note

   You cannot delete default start flows.

Create an Exit Flow

Steps to create an Exit Flow:

1. In the left navigation, go to Flows & Channels > FLOWS.

2. Click + New Exit Flow.

3. In the New Exit Flow window, provide inputs for the following fields:

   1. Exit Flow Name: This name will help identify the flow.
   2. Description: Input text to describe what the experience flow does or its purpose.
   3. Attach a Channel: Select either voice or chat to integrate with this flow.

4. Click Update & Continue to Flow Design, you are taken to the Flow Designer, where you can work on the flow.

Edit an Exit Flow

Steps to edit an exit flow:

1. Click the Ellipsis (⋮) beside the Description and click Update.

2. Make the changes and click Update.

Delete an Exit Flow

Steps to delete an exit flow:

1. Click the Ellipsis (⋮) beside the Description and click Delete.

2. A confirmation is displayed. Click Delete.

Navigate the Flow Designer

Once you reach the Flow Designer, you can create your flow using the canvas and nodes. The visual guide below gives you an overview of the tools you will be working with.

For a detailed navigation guide, please see Navigate the Flow Designer.

Publish a Flow

When the Flow is published, it becomes available to end-users. Learn more.