Messages

This help page is for Desktop Studio. This information is also available for Studio.

Delivers a message to one or more agents in the agent application. The message can contain text only. Links and pictures are not supported. Messages is typically used to send a message to a single agent when they answer a contact.

Note: You can use the Agent Messaging page in ACD to customize a message to agents in the agent application.

Supported Script Types

The icon for a Generic script type - a rectangle with < and > symbols inside it.

The icon for the Email script type - a large @ symbol in a diamond.

The icon for the Chat script type - a chat bubble with an ellipsis inside (...), in a diamond shape.

The icon for the Phone script type - an old-style phone handset with curved lines indicating sound coming out of it.

The icon for the Voicemail script type - a symbol that looks like a cassette tape - two circles sitting on a horizontal line.

The icon for the Work Item script type-a piece of paper with one corner folded down and a bullet list on it.

The icon for the SMS script type - a smart phone with a chat bubble coming out of it.

The icon for the Digital script type - a computer monitor with a smartphone next to it.

Generic

 Email Chat Phone Voicemail Work Item SMS Digital

Input Properties

These properties define data that the action uses when executing.

Property

Description
Caption

Enter a short phrase that uniquely identifies this action in the script. The caption appears on the script canvas under the action icon. The default is the action name.

TargetType Select the recipient type from the drop-down: Agent, Team, Station, Skill, Everyone.
TargetIDs The ID of the target, such as an agent ID or a skill ID. This is not used if Target Type is Everyone. This field is required if Target Type is set to any of the other options. To send a message to the agent who answered the call, use the {agentId} variable.
MessageText The text of the message you want to send. You can use a variable for this field.
DurationMin

For MAX:

Messages display as pop-ups in MAX for five seconds. After that time, they're available in the MAX message inbox. Configure DurationMin with the amount of time in minutes that you want messages to stay in the message inbox. The actual amount of time that messages stay in the MAX message inbox is determined by combining DurationMin and ExpireDateTime. There are four possible combinations: 

  1. DurationMin = null and ExpireDateTime > now

    The message remains in the MAX messages inbox until ExpireDateTime.

  2. DurationMin > 0 and ExpireDateTime > now

    The message remains in the MAX messages inbox until ExpireDateTime + DurationMin.

  3. DurationMin = null and ExpireDateTime = null

    The message appears in the MAX messages box for five seconds.

  4. DurationMin > 0 and ExpireDateTime = null

    The message stays in the MAX messages inbox for DurationMin.

For Agent Suite applications:

For Agent Suite applications, this is the amount of time in minutes you want the message to remain in the notification panel after the agent logs in. For example, if you enter 3 for DurationMin, the message remains in the notification panel for three minutes. In the Agent Suite, all messages automatically display as pop-ups for five seconds.
Persistent Not used.
ExpireDateTime Determines a date and time when the message disappears from the messages inbox. For MAX, this value is added to DurationMin to determine how long the message remains in the inbox.

Result Branch Conditions

Result branch conditions allow you to create branches in your script to handle different outcomes when an action executes.

Condition

Description

Default

Path taken unless the script meets a condition that requires it to take one of the other branches. It is also taken if the action's other branches are not defined.

OnError

Path taken when the action fails to execute properly. For example, when there is an unexpected problem such as poor connectivity, syntax errors, and so on. The _ERR variable, with a single underscore character, should be populated with a condensed explanation of the problem.

Text Formatting

You can format the message text to emphasize or customize words or phrases. The text formatting is similar to HTML code. To change the color, typeface (font), or size of a section of text, surround the text with a FONT tag and add the attributes to the tag. Each attribute within the font tag must be separated by a single space. Do not enter a space between the attribute name or value - for example, <FONT color=red> is correct, and <FONT color= red> is incorrect. The table below lists all formatting options.

Formatting: 

Beowulf,<b>great</b> hero of the <FONT face=times size=+1> Geats</FONT>, I beg you to display your 
prowess by defending my hall,<FONT face=times>Heorot</FONT>, From the monster <FONT color=red 
size=+2><i>Grendel</i></FONT>!

Output:
Beowulf, great hero of the Geats, I beg you to display your prowess by defending my hall, Heorot, from the monster Grendel!


Additional options when formatting text:

  • Font attributes can be embedded: <FONT face=times>And thus, Beowulf slayed <FONT color=red size=+2>Grendel</FONT> and his monster mother.</FONT> The color and size attributes did not disturb the face attribute.
  • Multiple font attributes may be specified in a single tag: All hail, Beowulf, <FONT size=+2 color=$000080 face=times>king of the Geats</FONT>! The one tag contains size, face, and color attributes.
  • Bold and italic format changes are added outside of the font tag; for example: <FONT color=$FFD700><b>Beowulf</b></FONT> would generate "Beowulf".

The following table displays possible text formatting attributes and the availability within the Agent applications:

Attributes

Description

color={colorvalue}

 The color attribute can contain the following values:
aquablackblue
dkgray
(dark gray)		fuchsiagray
greenlimeltgray (light gray)
maroonnavyolive
purpleredsilver
tealwhiteyellow
{decimal color}
(for example,
color=10990679

${hexcolor}
(for example, color=$31B94D)

 

size=[+/-]{pointsize}

Point size is relative or absolute; -9 is normal. For example, size=+2.

face={fontname}

 The face attribute can contain the following font types:
arialtimes (or times new roman)courier
verdanaimpactgeorgia
garamondsystemtahoma

<b>

Html bold styling.

<i>

Html italic styling.
<br> Creates a line break.