Overview

Steps make up a workflow definition. Each step has a unique id that identifies it within that workflow definition. This page aims to define each type of step and the properties that make up that step to better understand how they can be used as part of a workflow definition.

Steps allow you to create custom workflow definitions that can perform different actions within that workflow instance.

List of Steps

Step Name	Description	Example
SMS Message	SMS step allows you to send a message to a recipient as a SMS.	Send an SMS message to a customer.
ChatApps Message	ChatApps Message step allows you to send a message using 8x8 Chat Apps messaging API.	Send a ChatApps message to a customer.
Wait	Wait step allows you to make the workflow wait for a specified period of time before executing the next step.	Wait 2 hours to send a reminder message to a customer.
Branch	Allows you to create multiple paths in a workflow.	Use a Branch step to decide what message to send based on a customer's reply. If a customer replies with 1, send a reminder message. If they reply with 2, send a different message.
WaitForReply	The WaitForReply step type allows your workflow to pause till you receive a reply from an end user	Wait till a customer responds to a message. You can pair it with a branch step to decide what to do based on that response. For example you may want to send a message asking a user to check their email for an OTP, then use Wait for Reply to wait for the user to input the OTP before proceeding to the next step.
Voice Message	Send a Voice Call to a number	Play a voice message to a specified phone number with a reminder.
HTTP Request	Send an HTTP request to an endpoint. Useful for integrating with APIs.	This may be useful to query an HTTP endpoint and use the value returned as part of the flow. For example you can query the Google Calendar API for available meeting slots and use the slots as part of a message response for a user.
Jump To	Skip to another step in the workflow definition. This is often useful to better organise your workflow definition.	For example there may be a menu with many options and some of them refer to the same message such as: 1) Office Hours of Restaurant Location 1 2) Office Hours of Restaurant Location 2 3) Office Hours of Restaurant Location 3 If 1+2 are the same, you can use a Jump Step to point to a message that would contain the same message.
Send to Converse	Send the current conversation to Converse for an agent to take over.	As part of a menu, you can give the option for the user to escalate to a live agent.

Step Descriptions

SMS Message

SMS step allows you to send a message to a recipient as a SMS using the 8x8 SMS API.

Property	Description	Example Value
Step Name	Unique name that identifies a step.	send_sms123
Subaccount	The 8x8 Subaccount that the message will be sent from.	subaccount123
Sender ID	Either the SMS Sender ID or the Virtual Number that the message will be sent from and the user will see.	44703492340 (Number that is tied to the subaccount123)
Destination	The Phone Number that you would like to send the SMS to.	{{data.payload.source}} (If the workflow was triggered by an inbound message, this variable would refer to the sender of that inbound message).

ChatApps Message

ChatAppsMessage step allows you to send a message using 8x8 Chat Apps API.

Property	Description	Example Value
Step Name	Unique name that identifies a step.	send_sms123
Subaccount	The 8x8 Subaccount that the message will be sent from.	subaccount123
Destination	The Phone Number that you would like to send the SMS to.	{{data.payload.source}} (If the workflow was triggered by an inbound message, this variable would refer to the sender of that inbound message).
Select an exisiting template or compose a new message	If required, you should select an existing template for the ChatApps Platform you are using. For example WhatsApp requires templates for the first message sent to a customer.	N/A
Message	A Preview of the message that will be sent to a customer.	Hi {{1}}, good news, your package has been shipped!
Parameters	Variables that can be inputted into a message template that will replace the placeholders.	If the variable is {{1}} and the value is "Hello", {{1}} will be replaced by "Bob". Example Template: Hi {{1}}, good news, your package has been shipped! Replaced Message: Hi Bob, good news, your package has been shipped!

Wait

Wait step allows you to make the workflow wait for a specified period of time before executing the next step.

Step and Properties in UI
(Note: The duration is yet to be updated, that's why it shows 00:00:00 on the left)

Property	Description	Example Value
Step Name	Unique name that identifies a step.	wait_6686
Duration	Duration to wait before proceeding onto the next step	5 hours

Branch

Allows you to create multiple paths in a workflow.

The example below shows the next steps after and before the branch to illustrate it's use.

The Wait For Reply Step (waitforreply_8622) just before this is waiting for a input from a user
The Branch Step (branch_8338) checks the value returned in the Wait For Reply Step
- If 1, chatappsmessage_0501 step is executed, delivering the message "Please enter your email address:"
- If 2, chatappmessage_9836 step is executed, delivering the message "Goodbye".

Property	Description	Example Value
Step Name	Unique name that identifies a step.	branch_8338
Please select a condition	There are a few possibilities of values to check such as: 1) Check if a value contains a string 2) Check country code of a mobile number 3) Check if date falls within some time of day 4) Check the day of the week of a date 5) Custom Condition	Ii you select "Check if a value contains a string" that allows you to branch off of a user input provided in a previous step.
Value to check	This allows you to refer to a previous step in the workflow definition and the value it contains.	Use the value a user inputted in a Wait For Reply Step as part of the branch logic
Keywords to Compare	Fixed values to check the property "Value to Check" against.	You can add 1, 2, 3 as values to compare to create a menu such as the following: 1) Enter 1 to reserve a table 2) Enter 2 for restaurant hours 3) Enter 3 for location

Wait For Reply

The WaitForReply step type allows your workflow to pause till you receive a reply from an end user.

For example you may want to send a message asking a user to check their email for an OTP, then use Wait for Reply to wait for the user to input the OTP before proceeding to the next step.

Property	Description	Example
Step Name	Unique name that identifies a step.	waitforreply_8622
From	Define which phone number or channel source to wait for a reply from.	{{data.payload.user.channelUserId}}

Voice Message

The Voice message has 3 possible actions which will change the properties available. There are also generic properties that are required by all 3 possible actions.

Voice Message Step and Generic Properties Image

Example of Step

Example of Step Properties for — Example of Steps

Example of required properties
for all actions

Generic Properties required for all actions

Property	Description	Example Value
Step Name	Unique name that identifies a step.	voicemessage_5246
Please Select a Voice Subaccount	Choose the subaccount to use for the voice call. It should have a 8x8 Phone Number configured	subaccount123
Action	Choose what type of voice message to play to a user: 1) Message with DTMF 2) Text to Speech 3) Play an Audio File	"Message with DTMF"
Source	The Phone Number to place the call from	+6512345678
Destination	The Phone Number to call	A Phone Number such as +6512345678. Or a variable such as {{data.PhoneNumber}} if the workflow is triggered by a HTTP trigger for exmaple.

"Text to Speech" Action Properties Image

"Text to Speech" Action-specific Properties

Property	Description	Example Value
Language	The Language of the message	en-US for English (US)
Voice Profile	A customized and unique synthesis of vocal characteristics, pitch, and intonation created for a specific user, providing a personalized and natural-sounding audio experience.	en-US en-US-AriaRUS for a Female English speaker
Speed	How fast to playback the message	1 for default speed, 2 for 200% speed.
Repetition	How many times to play the message	1 for playing the message once.

"Play an Audio File" Action Image

Example of Properties for Play an Audio File

"Play an Audio File" Action Properties

Property	Description	Example Value
Repetition	How many times to play the message	"1" to play the message once
Audio URL	Publicly accessible URL of the audio file to play	https://filestorage.com/file1.mp3

"Message with DTMF" Properties Image

"Message with DTMF" Action Properties

Property	Description	Example Value
Message	The message to play using text to speech	"Hello, this is ABC Restaurants"
Language	The Language of the message	en-US for English (US)
Voice Profile	A customized and unique synthesis of vocal characteristics, pitch, and intonation created for a specific user, providing a personalized and natural-sounding audio experience.	en-US en-US-AriaRUSfor a Female English speaker
Speed	How fast to playback the message	"1" for default speed, "2" for 200% speed.
Repetition	How many times to play the message	"1" for playing the message once.
Minimum Digit	Minimum amount of digits of input to accept	"1" for needing to accept 1 digit of input
Maximum Digit	Maximum amount of digits of input to accept	"2", so it will only accept at maximum 2 digits
DTMF Timeout (ms)	How long in milliseconds to wait for a DTMF response	"5000" would make the step wait for 5 seconds / 5000 milliseconds
Call Timeout (ms)	How long in milliseconds to wait for an answer to a call	"5000" for making the step wait 5 seconds for an answered call.
Complete on Hash	Whether to complete the message on a hash	"Yes" to require a hash to input a DTMF, "No" to accept DTMF input with just the digit
Number of Tries	How many times to try to collect input	"2" for making the step try twice to collect a DTMF
End Message	Message to play after collecting a DTMF input	"Thank you for your response" to play that message at the end of DTMF collection.
DTMF Inputs	Branching paths based on DTMF input. You can create multiple inputs for as many paths as you would like to support.	Paths: 1 for office hours 2 for office location

HTTP Request

Send an HTTP request to an endpoint. Useful for integrating with APIs.

Property	Description	Example Value
Step Name	Unique name that identifies a step	httprequest_1255
URL	URL and Method to send an HTTP request to	https://sheets.googleapi.com/v4/spreadsheets and GET to send a GET request to that URL
Header	HTTP Headers to attach to the request	"content-type" and "application/json" to send this key value pair as a part of the HTTP header in the request.
Query	HTTP Query to attach to the request.	"userInput" and "1" to send this key value pair as part of the HTTP request.
Output	Save outputs from the response of the HTTP request for use in either this step or subsequent steps.	"status" and "step.responseCode" to save the status property for use later in the workflow. It can be referred as a variable by using {{data.status}}. You can use this value to take a different action depending on the response code in a branch step for example.
Request Body	The request body to send as part of the request. The format should match the Content-Type header that you supply as part of the request.	For example if the endpoint you are sending expects JSON, you should specific the content type appropriately in the header and then send JSON in the request body such as: { "values": [ [ "{{data.PhoneNumber}}", "{{data.Name}}" ] ] }
Timeout	Timeout for the HTTP request	"30 seconds" to wait 30 seconds before timing out

Property	Description	Example value
Select a step	This should refer to a step within the same workflow definition that you would like to execute after this jump step.	"chatappsmessage_6359"

Send to Converse

Send the current conversation to Converse for an agent to take over.

Property	Description	Example Value
Step Name	Unique name that identifies a step	"sendtoconverse_6641"