How to Manage Conversation AI Bot Channels and Routing
Understanding Conversation AI Channel Management
Conversation AI Channel Management gives you control over how your AI bots respond to incoming messages. Instead of relying on a single bot for all interactions, you can assign specific bots to specific channels and audiences. This system allows you to define exactly which bot answers, on which platform, and for which contacts, all without needing to build a separate workflow just to activate the bot.
Benefits of Using Channel Management
This approach simplifies how you deploy and manage multiple bots within your CRM. You can assign bots directly to channels from their settings, create precise routing based on contact tags and connected assets (like pages or numbers), and segment your audience—for example, directing premium customers and regular customers to different bots. It also helps avoid conflicts by ensuring that no two bots are set up to respond to the same combination of channel, destination, and tags.
Supported Channels
You can deploy Conversation AI bots across several messaging platforms, including SMS, email, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Live Chat, and Chat Widgets. The specific options within each channel (such as selecting a phone number or a connected page) depend on how that channel is set up in your CRM.
How Bot Routing Works
When a message comes in, the CRM evaluates which bot should respond by checking direct assignments first, then looking at channel and tag-based rules. A bot’s deployment can be configured to include the messaging channel, a connected destination (like a specific phone number or widget), and conditions based on tags the contact has or does not have. This allows, for instance, two different bots to use the same chat widget but serve contacts with different tags.
Direct Bot Assignments Take Priority
If a contact has been directly assigned to a bot—whether manually, through a workflow action, or via a bot transfer—that assignment overrides any channel or tag-based routing. This ensures that intentional handoffs between bots are preserved until the assignment is changed.
Configuring Deployment Settings
Each bot has a Deploy tab where you can enable or disable channels and specify routing details. For each channel, you can turn on the bot’s response capability and, where applicable, select specific destinations (like numbers or pages) and set tag conditions. The tag conditions include options to require that contacts have certain tags (using AND or OR logic) or do not have certain tags.
Avoiding Routing Conflicts
The CRM prevents two bots from having identical routing configurations—meaning the same channel, same connected destination, and same tag conditions. This helps ensure that only one bot is eligible to respond to a given message, avoiding confusion and overlapping responses.
How to Enable and Configure
To set up channel management for a bot, navigate to the Conversation AI section in your CRM, open the Agents List, and select the bot you want to configure. Then, go to its Deploy tab to adjust channel settings, add destinations, and define tag-based routing rules as needed.