Digital Channels with imiconnect

Introduction

Today, people expect to reach businesses as easily as they reach friends and family. An increasingly digital world is transforming the way companies connect to their customers. Businesses must go beyond traditional channels, such as voice, email, and chat, to enable communications on popular digital channels and in-app communications.

The imiconnect-powered digital channels enable businesses to deliver customer experiences by incorporating contact center, AI, omnichannel communications, and programmability for customization.​  With this integration, Cisco HCS for CC customers can now quickly set up additional digital communication channels.

The imiconnect platform provides flow builder capabilities to automate customer interactions initiated for self-service and, when required, escalate the contacts to agents. Agent escalation from imiconnect to HCS for CC agents requires capability that is built into imiconnect through an ECE connector. The connector uses the published ECE messaging APIs to inject tasks into the ECE queues. ECE then sends the tasks to HCS for CC for routing to agents.

Integration with imiconnect supports the following digital channels:

  • Short Message Service (SMS)

  • Facebook Messenger


Note

HCS for CC continues to offer chat and email channels with ECE.

Agent Desktop

Agents receive chat messages from SMS and Facebook Messenger on the ECE chat gadget in the Cisco Finesse desktop. From the agent perspective, the messages from the new digital channels behave the same as live web chat sessions in the gadget.

Supervisors can monitor ongoing agent chat sessions in the ECE gadget and barge in to active sessions.

For more information about using the gadget in the Cisco Finesse desktop, see the Cisco Finesse Agent and Supervisor Desktop User Guide at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/finesse/products-user-guide-list.html.

imiconnect Capabilities

imiconnect is an Enterprise Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) that enables large enterprises to rapidly automate end-to-end customer interactions across digital channels.

imiconnect offers the following key capabilities as part of the base package:

  • APIs, SDKs, and Webhooks for sending and receiving communications across multiple channels.

  • Templates module for creating and managing rich messaging templates for various channels.

  • Out-of-the-box integrations with leading CRM, marketing, and contact center systems.

  • Flexible integrations with existing business systems using APIs, file drops, and more.

  • Visual Flow Builder with over 40 nodes to orchestrate and automate end-to-end customer interactions.

  • Flow Analytics and Sankey Charts for analyzing how to optimize your flows to optimize the customer experience.

  • Centralized dashboard for effectively managing customer interactions and journeys.

  • Rich visual reporting and insights to contextually analyze messaging and flow traffic.

  • Debug console for identifying and troubleshooting issues.

  • Tools to configure custom data feeds for downstream processing.

  • Enterprise-grade controls, such as Hierarchical Account Organization, Role-Based Access Control, and Audit Trail.

  • Event Scheduler to schedule message broadcasts.

  • Social Hours to allow you to specify the hours during which you can deliver messages.

  • Agent availability to provide information on agent status.

  • Bot Builder to configure, test, launch, and manage Q&A bots and task bots.

imiconnect offers the following capabilities as add-ons:


Note

These capabilities are not available in the base package with a premium agent license.

  • Natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU)

  • Proactive outbound (event-triggered or batch)

  • One-time password (OTP) generation and validation

  • Database

  • Registry

  • Profile

  • Cryptographic hash

  • Decryption

  • Encryption

  • All voice nodes

  • Rich communication service (RCS) capabilities

Digital Channel Feature Support

The following table lists imiconnect features and indicates whether they are supported for each digital channel. For a list of feature limitations, see Known Limitations.

imiconnect Feature

SMS

Facebook Messenger

Agent to Customer

Suggested Replies (Quick Replies)

Supported

Supported

Rich Links/Link Previews

Not supported

Supported1

Bidirectional

Stickers (Customer to Agent)

N/A

Supported (agent receives the sticker as an attachment in .png format)

Audio Messages (Customer to Agent)

Not supported

Supported (agent receives the audio message as an attachment)

Photo Sharing (Agent to Customer)

Not supported

Supported (agent can send a photo as an attachment)

Photo Sharing (Customer to Agent)

Not supported

Supported (agent receives the photo as an attachment)2

GIFs (Customer to Agent)

Not supported

Supported (agent receives the GIF as an attachment)

File Sharing (Agent to Customer)

Supported

Supported

File Sharing (Customer to Agent)

Not supported

Supported

Location Sharing (Customer to Agent)

Not supported

Supported

Customer Experience

Business Profile

N/A

Supported
1 From the agent to customer, link previews do not work, but the links are shown as clickable links for the customer. For the agent, links are plain text. URLs are supported, but previews are not supported.
2 Supported filetypes: .png, .jpeg, .tiff, .bmp, .gif

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for integrating imiconnect with HCS for CC, and Enterprise Chat and Email (ECE) are as follows:

Important Considerations

Review the following considerations before configuring imiconnect with ECE and HCS for CC:

  • When you enable SSO in ECE, local login is disabled by default. Make sure to enable the setting in ECE to allow local login. This setting allows the non-SSO user to log in to use the APIs.

  • The email ID for the primary administrator must be unique and cannot be shared with another imiconnect tenant. The imiconnect tenant is initially configured with the primary administrator, who can then give access to other administrators.

  • This integration does not support customer departmentalization in ECE. Do not enable customer departmentalization. If you enable this setting, you cannot disable it without reinstalling ECE.

Known Limitations

Limitations with the ECE Chat and Email gadget for supported channel features are as follows:

  • Ensure that the value for IsRichTextMessagingSupported on the Start Conversation node in the imiconnect flow is false. By default, this value is false in the imiconnect flow templates for SMS and Facebook Messenger. Setting this value to true is not supported. When an agent sends a message to the customer using rich text (such as bold, italic, or underline), the customer receives the message in Facebook Messenger in plain text.

  • If an agent shares a hyperlink with a customer over SMS or Facebook Messenger, the customer receives the hyperlink as plain text.

  • If a customer sends an attachment before the chat is escalated to a live agent, the agent does not receive the attachment.

  • Quoted replies are not supported. If a customer uses quoted replies in Facebook Messenger, the agent receives the response but no reference to the quoted message.

Digital Channel Integration with imiconnect Task Flow

Perform the following tasks to enable imiconnect integration with ECE in your deployment.

Before you begin

  • Have a imiconnect tenant provisioned by a partner.

  • Use the imiconnect flow builder to create flows to provide self-service using Bot Builder. You can import the sample flows provided or create new ones. You can import the sample flows provided or create new ones. For more information, see the Flow Builder documentation available in the imiconnect Help Portal.


    Note

    When a new imi flow update with enhancement and bug fixes is available, customers should modify their existing flow with the latest updated nodes.

  • Both Skill Groups and Agents are configuration objects that belong to a certain Agent peripheral. One dummy Agent is required per ECE cluster that you want to integrate with imiconnect, and the dummy non-voice Skill Group should belong to the same Agent peripheral as the dummy agent itself.

    Configure a dummy agent in ECE to use for imiconnect flows to look up customer records in ECE. Map the agent to a dummy skill group. The skill group must not be used for other agents to avoid any accidental transfer of activities and should be part of the ECE MRDs. Import the agent into ECE. This agent must be a non-SSO user. If the Contact Center system is in SSO mode, put the system in Hybrid SSO mode to create this agent. After you create the agent, you can put the system back in SSO mode (if required). Create an agent for each ECE cluster that you integrate with imiconnect.

Procedure

Step 1

Register a Webhook Callback URL in ECE to receive the chat messages and events. See Task 1: Create an Inbound Webhook and Flow Within imiconnect.

Step 2

Set up imiconnect as an external application in each ECE cluster in your deployment and create the required custom attributes. For more information, see Task 2: Map ECE Clusters to the Tenant.

Step 3

Create a message adapter in ECE. For more information, see Task 3: Create a Message Adapter in ECE.

Step 4

Add a new authorization in imiconnect using the client ID and client secret. See Task 4: Add a New Authorization in imiconnect.

Step 5

Associate the client application with a chat entry point by creating a messaging adapter denoting which entry points can be invoked by the imiconnect tenant. See Task 5: Configure the Entrypoint ID in imiconnect.

Each ECE queue internally targets a set of agents belonging to a skill group or precision queue in HCS for CC. When you integrate the new channel capabilities, you can either use the same Media Routing Domain (MRD) that you use for live web chats or you can create a new MRD for each new channel. If you want to create a new MRD for each channel, you must also create new skill groups and precision queues. You must associate agents with the new skill groups and set up DNs and routing scripts to target the newly created skill groups and precision queues.

For more information about setting up MRDs, skill groups, and precision queues, see the Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/unified-contact-center-enterprise/products-maintenance-guides-list.html.

Step 6

Create an end-to-end chat session using the sample template flow imported into the imiconnect tenant. Use this to verify whether the the Facebook and SMS channel message is getting through to the ECE and if it is allocated to an available Agent.

For sample template flows for Contact Center Enterprise (CCE) and imiconnect integration specific to imiconnect deployment regions, see https://github.com/CiscoDevNet/ece-sample-code/tree/main/imi-cce-US-flows

  • Authenticate Client Application

  • Get Entry Point Configuration

  • Start Conversation

  • Send Chat Message

For more information, see the Integration Using Chat Messaging APIs section in the Enterprise Chat and Email Administrator's Guide to Chat and Collaboration Resources at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/cisco-enterprise-chat-email/products-maintenance-guides-list.html.

Task 1: Create an Inbound Webhook and Flow Within imiconnect

Create a webhook URL in imiconnect to use in mapping the ECE cluster to the imiconnect tenant.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to the imiconnect tenant. Use the URL provided during the tenant provisioning process.

Step 2

Create a service and create a flow by importing the Process ECE Events flow.

  1. Click the service and navigate to the Service Dashboard.

  2. Click the Flows tab.

  3. Click Create Flow.

  4. Enter a flow name.

  5. From the Method drop-down list, select Upload a flow and then click Create.

Step 3

For the Trigger Category, select Webhook.

Step 4

The webhook URL is generated automatically. Configure the webhook details. Provide a name for the webhook and then click Save. Copy the webhook URL.

Step 5

Double-click the Evaluate node on the flow canvas. In the node configuration window, update the Tenant Identifier value to the subdomain of your imiconnect tenant and click Save.

Step 6

Double-click the Process ECE Event node and configure the $(jsonOut) parameter in the Event Payload field. jsonObj.message[i].conversation["client"] = "<TENANT_IDENTIFIER>";

Step 7

Click Save and publish the flow.

Step 8

Proceed with Callback URL configuration in the Cisco Enterprise Chat and Email (ECE) Partition administration console. Use the Webhook URL from Step 3 for configuring the Callback URL.

Task 2: Map ECE Clusters to the Tenant

Register the imiconnect application and create custom attributes in the Cisco Enterprise Chat & Email Administration Console to receive the chat messages and events.

Messages from the customer to agent messages are from the imiconnect application to the ECE. Messages from the agent to the customer are from the ECE to the the imiconnect application as asynchronous webhook notifications. Registering the imiconnect application and creating the required custom attributes are a pre-requisite before chat messages can be sent and received from agents logged into the ECE on Facebook Messenger or SMS.

Before you begin

  • Create an inbound Webhook URL.

  • Create flows in imiconnect.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to the Cisco Enterprise Chat & Email Administration Console.

Step 2

Navigate to Administration > Partition: default > Integration > Applications > Register Applications.

Step 3

Click New Application.

Step 4

On the General tab, provide the following details:

  • Enter a Name and Description for the application.

  • For Application Type, select Chat.

Step 5

Click the Callback URL tab and provide the following details:

  • Enter the Callback URL that you obtained from the inbound webhook of the imiconnect flow.

  • For the Callback Format, select JSON.

  • Enter a Callback Error Notification Email Address.

Step 6

Click Save.

The client key and client secret are generated automatically.
Note 

If you must regenerate the client key and client secret, click Regenerate Client Secret.

Step 7

Navigate to Tools > Partition: default > Business Objects > Attribute Settings > System.

Step 8

Click New.

You can see the system labels of the business objects: Activity Data, Contact Person Data, and Customer Data.
Step 9

Create the following custom attributes under the specified labels.

Custom Attribute

Data Type

Length

Label

connecttransid

String

50

Activity Data

facebookpsid

String

16

Contact Person Data

Customer Data

facebookececonversationid

String

36

Contact Person Data

Customer Data

facebookclusterid

String

10

Contact Person Data

Customer Data

smsececonversationid

String

36

Contact Person Data

Customer Data

smsclusterid

String

10

Contact Person Data

Customer Data

For more information about creating custom attributes, see the Creating Custom Attributes section in the Enterprise Chat and Email Administrator's Guide to Tools Console for Unified Contact Center Enterprise at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/cisco-enterprise-chat-email/products-maintenance-guides-list.html.

Step 10

Repeat these steps for each ECE cluster that you want to map to this imiconnect tenant. Use the same webhook URL for each cluster.

Task 3: Create a Message Adapter in ECE

Create a message adapter to map the client application to a chat entry point.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to the Cisco Enterprise Chat & Email Administration Console.
Step 2

Navigate to Administration > Departments > Department_Name > Chat > Messaging Adapters.

Step 3

Click New.

Step 4

On the General tab, provide the following details:

  • Enter a Name and Description of the adapter.

  • Set the Type to External.

  • Select a Registered Application from the drop-down list.

  • From the Chat Entry Point drop-down list, select the chat entry points to use for integration with imiconnect.

  • Select an option for Chat Messages. Select Default to use the default system-generated messages for the adapter. Select Custom to configure and provide system messages for the adapter.

  • If you select Custom, you must download the system-generated messages. You can use these messages as a template for your custom messages. Make the necessary changes and then upload the custom messages.

Step 5

Click Save.

Task 4: Add a New Authorization in imiconnect

Add a new authorization in imiconnect using the client ID and client secret obtained from ECE.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to the imiconnect tenant.

Step 2

Import the representative flows into imiconnect.

  1. Within the service, go to the Flows tab.

  2. Click Create Flow and provide a name for the flow.

  3. In the Attachment section, from the Method drop-down list, select Upload a flow.

  4. Click Create.

Step 3

Double-click the required node to open the configuration window.
Step 4

Select the Method Name as per your requirement.

Step 5

From the Node Runtime Authorization drop-down list, select Add New Authorization.

Step 6

In the Add new authorization pop-up, enter the following details:

  • Authorization Name: a name for the authorization that appears in the Node Runtime Authorization drop-down list.

  • Client ID and Client Secret: use the values that you obtained when you registered the application in ECE.

  • Access Token URL and Refresh Token URL: use the absolute URLs.

    For example: https://<loadbalancer of ECE or WebServer of ECE> /system/ws/v19/clientapplications/authentication/oauth2/token?forceLogin=yes

  • Host Name

  • User Name
Step 7

Click Authorize.

Step 8

Configure the channel details and click Save.

Step 9

Depending on how many clusters you have mapped, there will be an ECE node for each cluster in the flow. Repeat steps 3 to 8 on each ECE node in the flow.

Task 5: Configure the Entrypoint ID in imiconnect

Procedure

Step 1

Open the required SMS or Facebook Messenger flow.

Step 2

Double-click the Entrypoint Config node.

Step 3

Select the Method Name as per your requirement.

Step 4

Select or add an authorization in the Node Runtime Authorization drop-down list.

Step 5

Provide the Entrypoint ID that you obtained from ECE.

For more information about entrypoints, see the Enterprise Chat and Email Administrator's Guide to Chat and Collaboration Resources at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/cisco-enterprise-chat-email/products-maintenance-guides-list.html.

Reporting

You can get a wide range of reports related to agents and queues from Cisco Unified Intelligence Center stock reports. You can get reports related to digital channel information from reports from within the imiconnect tenant. You can view and download the following reports from imiconnect:

  • Count of inbound messages at a channel level

  • Count of outbound messages to customers at a channel level

  • Flow execution counts

  • Other standard dashboard reports