Apple Messages for Business

Channel	Type	Set Up & Details	What Agents can Do
Apple Messages for Business	Messaging	Application process required. Upon approval, your Digital Experience team configures this channel with assistance from your Apple Messages for Business administrator. No support for proactive outbound messages. You need to select a default Studio script and a default skill for each channel you create. To configure this for existing channels go to ACD> DFO > Points of Contact Digital.	Receive and reply to direct messages using text, images, or both. Send messages with or without attachments. Use Apple plug-ins. Create and use interactive message templates for things like scheduling appointments and making payments.

 

Apple Messages for Business channels allow your agents to interact with customers who use Apple Messages for Business. After you configure the channel, you can create message templates. Message templates make it easy for agents to send messages to contacts. Your agents may send the same type of message, like appointment confirmations, many times every day. With message templates, you can ensure that your agents all send messages the same way.

You can also set up rich messages to create rich links, quick replies, forms, and lists of time slots and items that customers can pick from. You can create one type of rich message and assign it to multiple channels in one place. When you create a message template, the template only applies to the channel you created it for. Creating rich messages is simpler than creating message templates.

Supported rich content for Apple Messages for Business:

• Rich links

• Form messages

• Quick replies

• List picker

• Time picker

Apple Messages for Business Channel Requirements

To set up an Apple Messages for Business channel, your organization must have: 

• An Apple ID account that uses your organization's email address.
• An Apple Messages for Business account. This account must be approved by Apple.
• Your organization's logo. The image must be a minimum of 1024 x 1024 pixels.
• An Apple Pay account, if you want to accept Apple Pay payments through your Apple Messages for Business channel.

Add an Apple Messages for Business Channel

Much of the work to add an Apple Messages for Business channel takes place on the Apple website in your Apple Messages for Business account. Once you have created your Apple Messages for Business account, you must contact your NICE CXone account representative to help you create a channel in CXone. They can help you configure Apple Messages for Business channels in CXone, but they cannot provide any support for Apple account creation or management.

During the setup process you will need to define Digital Experience as the Messaging Service Provider. Refer to the Apple Messages for Business documentation on the Apple website for more information about the setup process.

Configure Permissions

You need to add this channel A way for contacts to interact with agents or bots. A channel can be voice, email, chat, social media, and so on. to each role that will use the channel. When you add a channel to a role, you need to configure permissions. These determine what users assigned to the role can do when interacting with the channel.

You can add this channel to existing roles or create a role in the CXone Admin application specifically for this channel. Digital Experience users can only have one role.

If you create a new role for this channel, be sure to include any necessary permissions from the Digital Engagement list on the Permissions tab in the CXone Admin application. When you save the new role, it appears in the ACD > DFO > Roles list, where you can add channels and permissions, as well as assign the role to digital agents An agent who handles digital interactions, such as those on email, chat, social, messaging, and SMS channels. . Agents using CXone Agent need to have the Digital Engagement attribute enabled and be assigned to a digital skill to handle digital interactions. Agents using MAX can handle digital interactions if they have either the Digital Engagement attribute or a digital skill assigned to them.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to DFO > Roles.

3. Click the Edit icon for the role you want to use.
4. In the Channels section, locate the channel you want to configure permissions for and click Edit permissions.

5. Select the checkboxes in the channel's row for each permission you want to add to the selected role.

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   Learn more about channel permissions

   Depending on how Digital Experience is configured, some permissions may not be available.

   Permission	Details
   Reply	When selected, users can write replies that are published Posting directly to a social media wall, feed, or account. on behalf of the channel. Users without this permission can write drafts of messages. The drafts must be approved before they can be sent or published.
   Deleting from original platform	When selected, users can delete a message or post A social media thread stems from one original post. A post can result in multiple threads from various contacts. from its original platform (for example, from Facebook or Twitter).
   Hide from original platform	When selected, users can hide a message or post on its original platform (for example, Facebook or Twitter).
   Can approve	When selected, users can approve drafts of replies written by other users.
   Ability to assign/re-assign	When selected, users can assign or re-assign any conversation to themselves or other users.
   Ability to unassign	When selected, users can unassign a conversation from themselves or other users.

6. Click Save. Continue adding permissions for other channels, as needed.

Configure Routing Queues

You need to define how Digital Experience routes messages that come in through this channel A way for contacts to interact with agents or bots. A channel can be voice, email, chat, social media, and so on.. You can modify the filters for existing routing queues The system uses routing queues to determine which agents to route cases to. Your system administrator creates routing queues so that certain cases are routed to agents with expertise in that type of case. to also route for this channel.  Routing queues in Digital Experience are similar to skills Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge in ACD.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to DFO > Routing Queues.

3. In the table, locate the routing queue you want to work on and click Filters.
4. Locate the filter you want to use and click Conditions. You can also add a new filter.
5. Click Add condition.
6. Use the drop-down to select Included channels rule, then click Create condition for selected type.
7. Click Add for each channel you want in the routing queue. Review the Selected Channels section when you're done, then click Back. Changes are saved automatically.
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Create a Digital Skill

Required permissions: Skills Create and Skills Edit

Agents using CXone Agent need to have the Digital Engagement attribute enabled and be assigned to a digital skill to handle digital interactions. Agents using MAX can handle digital interactions if they have either the Digital Engagement attribute or a digital skill assigned to them.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

3. Click Create New > Single Skill.

4. Set the Media Type to Digital. Digital Any channel, contact, or skill associated with Digital Experience. skills will always be Inbound unless you are using Personal Connection or BYOC.
5. Enter a Skill Name.
6. Select the Campaign you want the skill to be part of.
7. To use rich content in your outbound message, select a Message Template.
8. To add a sub-skill to this skill, select the checkbox. This only applies if you use digital routing queues for contact skill assignment. This is not the recommended routing method. Using Studio scripts is the recommended method to manage contacts and assign skills.

9. Configure the remaining optional fields in the Skill Information section as needed.

   Learn more about fields in this step

   Field	Details
   Agentless	Don't select for agent dialing. When this is selected, Workforce Intelligence Minimum Agents and Workforce Intelligence Minimum Available Agents are not available.
   Sub-Skill	Allows you to add a sub-skill to a skill. This lets you apply additional filters to match a skill if you use digital routing queues for contact skill assignment. However, using Studio scripts is the recommended method to manage contacts and assign skills. Sub-skill is not compatible with Studio, so it's not recommended to be used.

10. If you want to use screen pops A configurable pop-up window with information about the contact. It appears on an agent's screen after a certain event, usually when the agent connects to a contact. for this skill, use the POPURL action in Studio. This capability is only supported for the CXone Agent suite.

11. If your organization uses dynamic delivery, use the Routing Configuration section to customize the routing experience for this skill. To do so, select an Evaluation Criteria and configure any related settings.

    Content in this section is for a product or feature in controlled release (CR). If you are not part of the CR group and would like more information, contact your CXone Account Representative.

    • Skill Proficiency: This is the default setting. Routing decisions prioritize the agent with the highest configured proficiency level for the skill.

    • Preferred Agent: Routing decisions prioritize the agent who last handled the same case or contact. If you select this option, you must configure these settings: 

      • Focus Metric: Specifies which agent is the preferred agent. Choose between: 

        • Per Case: The agent who most recently handled an interaction linked to the customer case.
        • Per Customer: The agent who most recently worked on the interaction with the contact The person interacting with an agent, IVR, or bot in your contact center..

      • Focus Lock: Specifies what happens when the preferred agent is unavailable. Choose between:

        • When Offline: The interaction waits in queue until the preferred agent becomes available or the Fallback Time is exceeded. When the Fallback Time is exceeded, the interaction routes to another agent based on skill proficiency. The receiving agent becomes the new preferred agent for the case or contact.

        • When Available: An agent may be in an available state, but still not be immediately available. For example, they may have an available status, but be handling ACW State that allows an agent to complete work requirements after finishing an interaction, responding to a message from another contact, or otherwise busy. In this case, you must also configure Fallback Time to determine how long to wait for the preferred agent. When the Fallback Time is exceeded, the interaction routes to another agent based on skill proficiency. The receiving agent becomes the new preferred agent for the case or contact.

      • Fallback Time: The number of seconds to wait for the preferred agent to become available. For example, if you enter 900 seconds, the system will wait 15 minutes before routing the contact to another agent. If you choose to use Preferred Agent to route contacts, you must enter a value between 1 and 5,256,000. If you leave this field blank, you receive an error message.

      Any interaction that enters the queue without an applicable contact or interaction history routes to an available agent based on skill proficiency.

12. If you want to change the default service level settings for this skill, modify the fields in the Service Level section. This only appears if you are configuring an Inbound skill.

    Learn more about fields in this step

    Field	Details
    Service Level Threshold	The number of seconds agents have to respond to meet an SLA Commitment between a service provider and a customer with a defined service level threshold, including quality, availability, and responsibilities. For example, if your SLA for this skill is to respond to 80% of contacts within 20 seconds, enter a value of 20.
    Service Level Goal	The percentage of contacts agents must respond to by the Service Level Threshold to meet the SLA. For example, if the SLA for this skill is to respond to 80% of contacts within 20 seconds, enter a value of 80

13. To require agents to manually accept or reject interactions for this skill, select the Accept / Reject checkbox. If an agent rejects an interaction, it returns to the queue. This capability is only supported in Agent. This skill setting is related to a feature in controlled release (CR). If you are not part of the CR group and would like more information, contact your CXone Account Representative.

14. To enable a countdown timer for agent responses, go to Agent Response section. This capability is only supported in Agent. You can also do this later.

    Learn more about fields in this step

    Field	Details
    Enabled	Check the box to make the timer appear in the agent console. Clear the box to hide it.
    Agent First Response	Enter how long you want to set the timer for. The countdown timer starts when a contact is assigned to the agent. The countdown ends when the agent sends the first message.
    Follow on Response	Enter how long you want to set the timer for. The countdown timer starts again when a customer responds to the agent. It ends when the agent sends a reply.

15. To unassign contacts after a timer expires, go to the Customer Response section. This capability is only supported in Agent. You can also do this later.

    Learn more about fields in this step

    Field	Details
    Enabled	Check the box to unassign contacts when the timer expires. Clear the box to have no idle time limit.
    Customer Idle Time	The countdown timer starts when the agent sends the first message to the customer. The contact will automatically unassign the contact from the agent when the timer expires.
    Time Extension	Check the box to let an agent give the customer more time to respond. This enables a button the agent can click to reset the customer idle timer.

16. Click Create. Complete additional configurations to customize or manage your skills.

Configure Default Skill and Studio Script

You need to select a default Studio script and a default skill for each channel you create. To configure this for existing channels go to ACD> DFO > Points of Contact Digital.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to DFO > Points of Contact Digital.

3. Select the channel you would like to configure and click Edit.

4. Select a Studio script from the drop-down.

5. Select a default skill from the drop-down.

6. Click Save.

Configure Service Level Agreement (SLA) 

SLAs help you track how effective your agents are in managing their cases The full conversation with an agent through a channel. For example, an interaction can be a voice call, email, chat, or social media conversation.. Digital Experience lets you configure SLAs globally and per channel. The speed of communication can vary widely from channel to channel, so you might want different SLAs for channels with slower communication speed. For example, a live chat Agents and contacts interact on a real-time basis takes place in real time, but an email or SMS conversation may take days of back-and-forth between the agent and the customer.

SLAs are only calculated during your configured business hours.

Agents can see the current SLAs for a case display when they click in the reply field.

If you want to configure an SLA for this channel, complete this task. Otherwise, you can skip it.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to DFO > SLA.

3. Locate the channel you want to configure and click Edit.
4. Set the toggle to YES if you want the channel to follow the global SLA or to NO, DIFFERENT to configure a specific SLA for this channel.

5. Use the drop-downs to set the number of days, hours, and minutes to set the First Response Time and Solution Time for this channel.

   Learn more about these metrics

   Field	Details
   First Response Time (FRT)	FRT starts counting the second a contact The person interacting with an agent, IVR, or bot in your contact center. creates a request (for example, sends you a message or comments on a post) and runs until an agent replies.
   Solution Time (ST)	ST is the total amount of time it takes to resolve a case. It starts at the same time as FRT, and runs until the case is marked Resolved by an agent. In reports, ST is sometimes referred to as RT Resolution time, sometimes called solution time.

6. Click Save.

Set Default Image for Link Preview

Agents can paste links directly into the reply field in Apple Messages for Business. These links automatically display a preview including a title, image, and shortened version of the URL for the link. If the message includes more than one link, the link preview does not appear for any of the links. If the message includes text and a link, any text is sent as a separate message from the link preview. You can choose a default image to display if an image for the relevant page is not available. You can change the default image once you have set one. You can also restore the default image you have previously set. If you don't set a default image, the image predefined as a default in CXone will appear if necessary.

You can also use message templates to create rich links that you send to customers often.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to DFO > Points of Contact Digital.

3. Open Apple Messages for Business.

4. In the Link Preview column, click Set Default Image next to the channel you would like to configure.

5. Choose a file to upload for your default image. The ideal image size is 240px by 240px. You cannot select an image larger than 200 KB.

6. Click Save.

Message Templates

You need to create message templates for agents to use when sending messages to contacts through the Apple Messages for Business channel. Message templates allow you to set up various types of messages that agents frequently send to contacts, such as payment requests or appointment time selectors. Digital Experience offers many types of messages templates you can create for the Apple Messages for Business channel.

Create a Custom Component

A custom component connects a channel to the message templates you create for it. Message templates allow you to set up various types of messages that agents can send to contacts, such as payment requests or appointment time selectors. All templates that you create for Apple Messages for Business appear in every channel you select for the custom component. You cannot exclude a template from certain channels.

Before you create the custom component, you need to copy the template settings URL from the Apple Messages for Business > Message Templates page. You need this URL to create the custom component.

1. Click the app selector and select Digital. This opens the Digital Experience portal.
2. Click Settings > Custom Components.
3. Click Add frontend custom component.
4. Paste the URL you copied from the Message Templates page into the Url field. At the end of the URL, add %s.
5. Enter the Height for the component. The recommended height is 280 px.
6. Under Channels, select the checkbox for the channel you're creating the custom component for. If you don't select a channel, it displays for all channels.
7. Click Save.

Create Apple Messages for Business Custom Fields

After you create a custom component for your Apple Messages for Business channel, you can create custom fields. These fields store data from Apple Messages for Business customers. The fields are optional and you only need to create them if you want to store the data.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to DFO > Points of Contact Digital.

3. Open Apple Messages for Business.

4. Click Case Custom Fields next to the Apple Messages for Business channel you want to add the fields to.

5. For each field, select if you want data from customers to be stored.

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6. Click Save.