The Ytel workflow is a way for customers to automate actions in the future. There are many different use cases, but this article will cover three:
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Setting up a workflow in response to Contact Center
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Setting up a workflow to send SMS messages in the future to a group of people
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Setting up a workflow to trigger off of an inbound keyword
Before you get started in creating your first workflow there are a couple of things you need to confirm on your account.
Once you have the above items set up you are going to navigate to app.ytel.com and log in. From there we will set up the basics of a workflow and move into our three use cases.
For workflows, you are going to use at least three of the Ytel apps.
Inbox is where you can send and receive messages manually using templates, variables, and custom text.
Contacts are where you will house all of your contacts. Contacts can be loaded into the area through manual creation, upload, or via API.
Workflow is where you will create the forward-moving actions you want a contact to take after they are sent into the start node.
To access workflow, click on the target and arrow icon. Click on create a workflow in the top right. From there you will select Advanced and create an advanced workflow.
When you click on create advanced workflow the workflow window will display with the start node in place.
Start Node
When you click on the start node you will see a place to enter in the tile of your workflow. This is a way for you to store and remember what your workflow is about.
Under the title, you will select the number set you want to use. If you don't have a number set you can build one using this information doc.
Lastly, you will select Timezone protection. timezone protection has three modes that you will select from depending on your use case.
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Recipient - Allows you to use the phone number to select the timezone
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Fixed - Allows you to pick the timezone you want to use for all numbers
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None - Allows you to not apply for any timezone protection
In someone's messages in for the recipient and fixed modes outside of the approved times, the message will be held until the timezone protection window opens back up.
Once you have your start node configured you will want to click the plus button to add an additional node.
Percentage Node
A percentage node chooses a path based upon the weights given to each path. Weights must be integers and for compatibility with the frontend are typically weighted in hundredths of a percent (ex: 2500, 4000, 3500 for 25%, 40%, and 35%) and will sum to 10,000.
Event Node
Event nodes are a combination of a condition node and a timeDelay node. Similar to a condition node it has multiple execution paths but will delay execution of conditions until an event happens or a timeout occurs. If at the initial time of execution the conditions are met, there will be no delay.
Within the timeoutData block, it mirrors the timeDelay node. Refer to the documentation of that node for how parameters work.
Condition Node
A condition node will evaluate the current status of contact with any additional workflow-specific extData. Conditions on the node are evaluated in order until a condition is matched. If no conditions are matched, the last child in the list of children will be executed. If there are multiple statements, all must be true for the associated path to be chosen.
MEME Node
The MEME node provides you with the ability to add text to an image for use with a future SMS node. This allows you to use an image that may have an empty page (such as a picture of someone holding a white piece of paper) and then adding a unique message to that image based on certain variables.
The name of the generated file will be stored in the provided variable name in the campaign context and can be used as the mediaUrl in an SMS template as %VARIABLE_NAME%.
Note: The file name must be provided by Ytel. Please reach out to a support representative to have your source file hosted.
Time Delay Node
A time delay node will wait for either a specified period of time or wait until a scheduled time. When set to wait the timeoutWaitNumber and timeoutWaitUnits are required. When set to schedule the timeoutScheduleDate is required; timeoutTimezoneType and timeoutTimezone are not yet supported.
Call Node
The Call node gives you the ability to make an outbound phone call using our InboundXML.
Workflow Node
A workflow node will trigger the start of a different workflow. Uses for this include doing initial messaging within one workflow to gather opt-in data and then switching to a different workflow on a different set of numbers once a positive opt-in has been recorded.
SMS Send Node
An SMS send node will send an SMS message using the specified SMS template. When doing variable replacement by using variables passed in with the workflow and falling back to variables stored on the contact. Reminder: You can add any custom variables you want to contact. In the event of a reply to an SMS message a variable called nodeX.reply will be populated on the workflow, where X is the id of the SMS send node. This variable can be used for conditions nodes or more commonly with event nodes.
Edit Contact Node
Edit Contact nodes allow for permanently modifying a contact during a workflow. There can be multiple changes per node. Supported changes are clearing a field from a contact, adding a fixed value to a contact, or adding a variable from the workflow to a contact.
Callback Node
The Callback node allows you to make requests and send data to external applications. For example, you can use this node to send data from Ytel over to a CRM using the CRM's API endpoints.
Stop Node
Also called the control node, is a no-op that will end the execution of a workflow. This node may not have any child nodes.
Now that we understand what all of the nodes do, lets put them into practice,
Setting up a workflow in response to Contact Center
Code can be added to your Contact Center system disposition URLs to trigger a contact to be created and a workflow to be triggered for that contact. The most common use cases for this type of workflow are related to the following workflow URLs.
No Agent URL - Trigger off a message to create a touchpoint to let people know you will be calling them back.
Dispo URL - Trigger a follow-up message off of a certain disposition to assist your agents in follow-up and to reroute calls inbound to your call center.
Setting up a workflow to send SMS messages in the future to a group of people
Setting up a workflow to send in the future can look like the above or you can begin to bring other nodes into play. The time node will allow you to select the exact time and date that you want your message sent out. You can also select a message to go out a few minutes to a few days from the time the contact ID was added to the start node.
Setting up a workflow to trigger off of an inbound keyword
This use case requires a little help from the Ytel team. We are here and available through intercom or SMS on our support line to help you set this up. Keywords can be created on shortcodes, toll-free, long code numbers, and on number sets. For example, if you want to enable the keyword support on all of your support lines to trigger a message you would do the following:
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Set up a workflow with a start node, SMS node, and stop node.
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Talk with Ytel team about setting up your keyword
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The Ytel team will ask you for your Number set ID, Workflow ID, and SID
With the information, the Ytel team can connect your keyword to the workflow you created.
Manually triggers workflow to a set of contacts
Navigate to Contacts -> Contacts
Click on a saved filter, create a filter of the selection of contacts you want to send to.
Click on Start workflow
Select you option on when and how you want to send.
Start immediately begins to enroll your contacts into the work at the rate selected.
Start manually sets up the workflow to be started later.
Scheduled start allows you to enroll the contacts into the workflow in the future.
Recurring workflow allows you to set up a workflow enrollment that happens on a recurring schedule.