Flow Builder is a feature of Zendesk that lets you build no-code custom bots and expand article suggestions. However, it requires you to switch from the legacy ‘live chat’ channel to the new messaging channel. With this change, you may lose some functionality and the workspace appearance you are used to. Here, we’ll highlight some of the Flow Builder benefits for Answer Bot and what changes to expect by swapping widgets. If you are currently utilizing live chat and not sure if you want to switch or are a new Suite customer deciding which is right for you, please read on!
Self-Service Options
Answer Bot provides self-serve answers to common chat widget inquiries by suggesting Zendesk Guide articles prior to connecting visitors to a live agent. Flow Builder provides Answer Bot with additional response paths to customers such as quick replies (providing options to move forward) and conversational shortcuts (providing answers based on text visitor enters up front. Flow Builder also gives you the option to create additional bot paths beyond Answer Bot.
Customer Experience Customization
In the classic widget, you are only able to edit the colors and basic appearance of the widget based on your theme settings. The text output is editable, but only by a developer with coding knowledge. In the new messaging widget, you can edit colors, change the shape of the widget, and customize the information requested from visitors (names, email, other custom fields). Additionally, Flow Builder lets you have different messages for during/outside of business hours.
Agent Workspace
Your workspace and how data is collected changes when switching from Legacy Chat to Messaging. For instance, chat stats such as ‘missed chats’ essentially disappear. There is no ‘queue’ tracking because the concept of queues doesn’t exist within messaging. Instead, the workspace transforms any customer contact into a new message within a single, ongoing conversation. The unified interface allows for seamless support across channels. This is especially helpful with multi-touch tickets since agents won’t need to repeatedly ask for details after initial ticket creation.
Ultimately, your answer bot effectiveness on its own depends heavily on it’s configuration. Be sure you have well-written knowledge base articles that can answer questions most asked by customers without a live agent.
While there are features of legacy chat that messaging does not yet offer, they will be available in the future. Zendesk will eventually encourage all existing live chat customers to adopt messaging. You may find that messaging produces similar results to legacy chat, but in a different way. With Flow Builder properly set up, Answer Bot used within Messaging helps to set proper client expectations, configure business hours, and more.
