January 2023 Updates: Google Business Messages, Webhook Events and New Workflow Templates

On July 31, 2024, Google will deprecate Google Business Messages (GBM), ending the ability to send or receive messages.  At respond.io, we’re committed to keeping you connected with your customers. With GBM being phased out, now is the perfect time to transition to alternative channels like the WhatsApp Business Platform (API) to keep your customer conversations going. Learn more about making the switch here.  

Gong xi fa cai! 🎆 Respond.io leaps into the Year of the Rabbit with three phenomenal releases. Check out the new Google Business Messages channel, webhook events for real-time information about respond.io events and 5 new Workflow templates as a shortcut to building automation.

Enable Seamless Chats with Google Business Messages

Google Business Messages is now a supported messaging channel on respond.io. 🥳 As Google Search is the most popular search engine in the world, its native business messaging feature is an important channel for customer communication.

Previously, customers who looked up your business on Google Search had to take a few steps to start chatting with you. They had to click on your website and fill out an inquiry form or open your Facebook or Instagram Page to send you a message.

Google Business Messages removes this friction so customers can reach you seamlessly through entry points like Google Search, Google Ads and Google Maps. Now, they can chat with you directly from the Google touchpoints they land on to inquire about product availability, check opening hours, make reservations and more. 💪

To get started, create a Google Business Profile. Then, connect your Google Business Profile to respond.io to start receiving and responding to messages in your respond.io inbox. You can even add Google Business Messages as a standalone widget or as a channel in the multichannel widget on your website through respond.io.

Other supported functionalities for Google Business Messages include Workflows automation, Dialogflow, Zapier and API 2.0 to automate messages, streamline business processes and integrate with external applications.

Feel free to contact our support team if you have questions about using Google Business Messages on respond.io.

Stay Up to Date with Webhook Events

Get real-time information on critical events happening on respond.io with the new webhook events feature. This allows you to use webhooks to trigger notifications or share information about specified events with other applications.

The list of supported events includes:

• New incoming or outgoing message

• Conversation opened or closed

• New Contact is added

• Existing Contact is updated

• Contact tag is updated

• Contact assignee is updated

• New comment is added for a Contact

For instance, you can sync all messages on respond.io with your internal database by setting up webhooks to send all incoming and outgoing messages on respond.io to a desired destination.

To get started, go to Settings > Integration > Webhooks and configure your webhooks. You'll be able to specify which events you'd like to receive notifications for and provide the URL (endpoint) where you'd like to receive these notifications. Learn more about webhooks and how to use them here.

The new Webhook feature is only available for Business Plan users and above. If you have any questions, please contact our support team.

Build Automation Quickly with New Workflow Templates

Respond.io’s Workflows Module is designed for flexible no-code automation. Now, 5 new Workflow templates make building automation easier than ever.

The new templates comprise:

• Chat Menu

• Shift Transfer

• Issue Escalation

• Send CSAT and save data to Google Sheets

• Send CSAT and save data to Data Warehouse

This way, you can quickly automate and implement crucial business processes. Keep an eye out for more templates to come that will support an even wider variety of use cases.