Configure the chatbot delivery channel, recipients, and triggers that customers use to start the automation.

Delivery channel

Select the delivery channel and automation recipients in the Delivery step. Chatbot automations support the following channels:

For channel-selection details, see Delivery.

Define recipients and triggers

Select SMS or WhatsApp using the channel radio buttons.
For SMS, select a sender number. For WhatsApp, the WhatsApp account is selected by default.
Select a trigger:
- API Endpoint for SMS
- Keyword for SMS or WhatsApp
- Auto-Reply
If you selected Keyword, enter the keyword or keywords that start the automation.
Select Next.

For SMS, the available recipient options appear below.

Both SMS and WhatsApp support keyword triggers. Enter your keywords in the Keyword section.

Each keyword can contain up to 29 characters. You can define up to 30 keywords to invoke the service.

Selecting API Endpoint for SMS removes the need to define keywords in this step. Keywords remain the method used to invoke the chatbot in all other cases.

Optional: Enable Auto-Reply

Enable Auto-Reply when you do not want to require a keyword. When a contact sends a keyword that is not defined in any automation, the chatbot sends the Welcome Message configured in the Interactions section.

Turn on the Auto-Reply toggle. Before enabling it, check the following restrictions:

Another automation already uses Auto-Reply. You cannot enable Auto-Reply when another automation uses it with the same sender number and channel type. Disable Auto-Reply in the existing automation first. When you try to turn on the toggle, a pop-up identifies the automation by name and ID.
The sender number uses Auto-Reply Message. You cannot enable Auto-Reply when the sender number has the Auto-Reply Message function enabled. Disable Auto-Reply Message by editing the sender number in Preferences > Channel Management > Sender Number Configuration. When you try to turn on the toggle, a pop-up identifies the sender number.

Keyword configuration considerations

When planning multiple chatbot automations using the same sender ID and channel type, consider how keywords are configured for each automation:

Auto-Reply and keyword conflicts: Enabling the "Auto-Reply" feature causes any incoming message or keyword to trigger the chatbot. This means "Auto-Reply" is not available in a second automation using the same channel and sender ID.
Specifying keywords for activation: Instead of "Auto-Reply," you define specific keywords that trigger the chatbot. End users initiate communication with the chatbot by sending one of these specific keywords.
Auto-Reply vs. keyword activation: The "Auto-Reply" feature allows any keyword to trigger the chatbot. If this option is already used by another chatbot automation, you define specific keywords to trigger the chatbot. If the end user enters a keyword other than those specified, they are redirected to the chatbot that has the "Auto-Reply" option enabled.

In this example, three chatbot automations — named "Audio," "Sales," and "Computers" — are configured with the same sender ID ("12345") and channel type (WhatsApp).

Audio automation: This automation is configured with two specific keywords: "Speakers" and "Amplifiers". When the end user enters any of these keywords, the chatbot associated with this automation is triggered.
Computers automation: This automation is linked to three specific keywords: "Cables", "Monitors", and "Mouses". When the end user enters any of these keywords, the chatbot associated with this automation is triggered.
Sales automation: This automation uses the "Auto-Reply" option. Any keyword not matched with the other two automations triggers this chatbot.

The diagram shows the interaction process. Depending on the keyword entered, the end user is directed to the corresponding chatbot. If an end user types a keyword other than "Speakers", "Amplifiers", "Cables", "Monitors", or "Mouses", they are redirected to the "Sales" automation. This setup ensures each chatbot automation captures only its targeted keywords, while all other inputs default to "Sales" through its "Auto-Reply" setting.