Integrating WhatsApp with Customer Service Management through Twilio

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Integrating WhatsApp with Customer Service Management through Twilio

    This integration enables ServiceNow customers to deliver a seamless WhatsApp chat experience for consumers and customer contacts by using the Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (powered by Twilio) application. Once configured by administrators, customers can initiate WhatsApp conversations with virtual agents or live agents, facilitating efficient issue resolution and customer engagement directly from the WhatsApp messaging app.

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    Key Features

    • Initiate WhatsApp chat conversations involving virtual agents, live agents, or customers.
    • Leverage chat capabilities to search community posts, knowledge articles, access service catalogs, or create customer service cases.
    • View WhatsApp chat conversation details in Agent Workspace linked to initiated work items.
    • Agents can indicate presence and manage WhatsApp conversations via the Agent Workspace Inbox using the WhatsApp service channel.
    • Make outbound WhatsApp chats to customers, with automatic capture of interaction details to streamline data entry.

    Example Workflows

    • Issue Resolution: A customer starts a WhatsApp chat with a virtual agent, browses product-related knowledge articles, then escalates to a live agent who creates a case and closes the conversation.
    • Customer Feedback: After purchase, a customer opts in for WhatsApp notifications, receives a welcome and later a feedback request; upon receiving negative feedback, an agent proactively engages to assist.

    User Roles and Permissions

    The following roles enable interaction with the WhatsApp integration:

    • agentworkspaceuser: Accept ongoing WhatsApp chat conversations through the WhatsApp service channel in Advanced Work Assignment.
    • sncustomerservicemanager: View WhatsApp chat conversation details via Messaging interaction records.
    • sncustomerservice.consumer and sncustomerservice.customer: Initiate WhatsApp chat conversations with virtual or live agents, perform knowledge searches, access service catalogs, and create cases.

    Deliver a pre-integrated chat conversation experience with the WhatsApp messaging app for consumers and customer contacts. Integrate WhatsApp by using the ServiceNow® Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (powered by Twilio) application.

    As an administrator, if you have configured the Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (powered by Twilio) application, then your customer contacts and consumers can initiate a WhatsApp chat conversation with a virtual agent or live agent. An agent can initiate a conversation or accept a conversation initiated from a WhatsApp chat conversation. For more information, see Configure Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (powered by Twilio).

    Note:
    As an administrator, you can also use any predefined Customer Service Virtual Agent conversations to capture information from customer contacts or consumers. For more information, see Customer Service Virtual Agent conversations.
    Key features of the integration include the following:
    • Initiate WhatsApp chat conversations with a virtual agent, live agent, or customer.
    • Use the chat to search for articles in community posts and knowledge articles, access service catalogs, or create a customer service case.
    • View the WhatsApp chat conversation details from which a work item was initiated in Agent Workspace.
    • Indicate your presence in the Agent Workspace Inbox with the WhatsApp service channel.
    • Make outbound chat conversations to connect with a customer's WhatsApp chat conversation, and automatically capture interaction details to simplify data entry.

    Example workflows

    The following example workflow shows the use of the Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (powered by Twilio) application in resolving a consumer issue:

    1. A customer has an issue with a product and initiates a WhatsApp chat conversation using the Virtual Agent bot.
    2. The Customer Service Management application identifies the customer and starts an interaction of type Messaging.
    3. The customer selects the product and views the knowledge articles associated with the product.
    4. The customer then selects to chat with a live agent.
    5. A live agent accepts the customer request. The Customer Service Management application starts another interaction of type Messaging.
    6. The live agent creates a case on the product, and then closes the conversation.

    The following example workflow shows the use of the Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (powered by Twilio) application in addressing customer feedback:

    1. A customer purchases a new product and opts in to receive notifications from your business on the WhatsApp app.
    2. The customer receives a welcome message from customer support.
    3. After two months, the customer receives another message asking for feedback on the product.
    4. The customer shares negative feedback.
    5. An agent reviews the feedback and starts a conversation with the customer to offer help and find out more about the customer’s experience with the product.

    End users and roles

    The users with the roles listed in the following table can use the Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (powered by Twilio) application.

    Table 1. Roles required for Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (powered by Twilio)
    Roles Tasks
    agent_workspace_user Accept an ongoing WhatsApp chat conversation with a customer through the WhatsApp service channel in Advanced Work Assignment.
    sn_customerservice_manager View details of a WhatsApp chat conversation by using interaction records of type Messaging and subtype WhatsApp.
    sn_customerservice.consumer, sn_customerservice.customer Initiate WhatsApp chat conversations with a virtual agent or live agent so that you can search for articles in Communities and Knowledge Management, access service catalogs, and create a customer service case.