Here's a list of all the available steps in the Bot Editor for sending various message formats to your customers via the Apple Messages for Business channel.

First Conversation

This steps serves as the primary entry point to your Apple Messages account. It is triggered when a customer sends their first message, making it to an ideal place for your bot to deliver a warm welcome.

For each subsequent conversation after the first one that triggered the "First Conversation" step, the "Subsequent Conversations" step will be triggered: so it's just as important to write a good welcome message in this case!

For every conversation that follows this initial interaction, the "Subsequent Conversations" step will be triggered instead. Therefore, crafting an effective welcome message is equally important.

Following conversations

This step dictates your bot's behavior for subsequent conversations with a customer, distinguishing them from their very first interaction on the channel. It triggers when a customer, who has a prior conversation history recorded within Alcmeon, sends a new message (in the Alcmeon sense) that initiates a new conversation thread.

Note: If all of a customer's previous messages have been "anonymized" (for GDPR compliance, for example), this "Following Conversations" step will also trigger if that customer sends a new message.

Unexpected text

This step is designed to intercept messages typed by a customer in the middle of the decision tree, when a bot was expecting them to click a button instead. It triggers when ALL of the following conditions are met:

• The customer has sent a message.
• This message is not a click on a button or on another scenario element; it is a text typed by the customer.
• In the same conversation as this message from the customer, there is a message immediately preceding this customer message which is a message sent by the bot as part of this specific scenario.
• That preceding bot message does not have a "free message entry" or "default response" output. If it did, the scenario would follow that designated path, which takes precedence over "Unexpected Text."

Message with menu

This step allows you to send a text message accompanied by a series of "quick replies." These are interactive buttons that customers can click. Once a customer clicks a button, the entire set of quick replies disappears. The label of the clicked button becomes the message effectively "sent" by the customer.

Within the Alcmeon bot editor, you can connect each button to a different step, allowing the scenario to branch dynamically based on the customer's choice.

The text message sent can also support various media elements, including emojis, images, videos, audio files, or other attachments, depending on the specific channel.

List Picker

This step delivers a button to the customer. When clicked, this button reveals a list of selectable options. These options can be organized into sections and can be presented as simple text or text accompanied by an icon. The customer can choose one or more items from the list, which will then be included in their response.

In the Alcmeon bot editor, each option can be connected to another step, so the customer can continue the conversational experience after making their choice.

Within the Alcmeon bot editor, each option can be linked to another step, allowing the customer to continue the conversational experience after making their choice.

Rich Link

This step allows you to send a visually enhanced link to the customer. Based on the URL you configure, the customer will receive a preview. This preview can display an image, video, or a map, along with a title. By clicking this message bubble, the customer can access the URL in their preferred web browser, with a clear understanding of the content they will find.

Advanced Messages

The following message formats are fully available within Alcmeon. However, due to their intricate configuration, please contact our support team to have them added to your scenario:

• Time Picker
• Apple Pay
• App Clips rich links
• iMessage App
• Authentication
• Forms

Message with Choice

This step sends a message to the customer and then waits for a specific response, typically in the form of "1", "2", "3", and so on.

The list of possible choices is automatically appended to the message body, so you do not need to include them in your text.

While this step has largely been superseded by Apple's "Messages with Menus," it remains useful if you need to ask the customer an open-ended question requiring a free-text answer, such as their name, email address, or postal code. In such cases, the step will offer an "other response" output, which functions as the equivalent of a "free typing" message option.