When you create a bot for your messaging channels, it comes with a simple, working flow for every active brand, along with automated response behaviors that are triggered by end user input. This behavior is fully-functional, and you can publish the bot to Web Widget and mobile SDKs without making any updates.
If you prefer, you can use Flow Builder to configure the bot to meet your needs by designing a flow that includes customizable bot behaviors. See Using flow builder to create bot flows for information.
This article discusses the following topics:
The out-of-the-box bot flow
The out-of-the-box bot flow consists of a simple greeting, a single quick reply option, an information request, and ends with a transfer to a live agent.
When an end user launches the Web Widget, they see the following:
The end user can then enter their question or click the Talk to a human option. If they choose the Talk to a human option (or if they type in “talk to a human”), they are then greeted with a request for basic contact information and handed off to an agent:
If they enter a message describing their support issue, the automated response behaviors are triggered. See The automated response behaviors for more information.
If you want to edit the bot, you can open it in Flow Builder. In Flow Builder, the out-of-the-box flow looks like this:
For more information on the step types shown above, see Understanding flow step types.
By default, this out-of-the-box flow appears in your account's default Support language, if that language is supported in Answer Bot; otherwise, it appears in English. You can also customize the language it appears in by selecting a flow language.
The automated response behaviors
In addition to the predefined bot flow described above, there are a number of non-configurable bot behaviors that are part of the out-of-the-box bot functionality. These are triggered by the customer entering a free-text message into the widget. The bot then assesses the content of the text entry and responds with one of the following behaviors:
These responses remain active in customized bot flows.
These automated messages appear in your selected flow language. See Managing languages in Flow Builder.
Conversational shortcuts
A conversational shortcut uses AI to assess any free-text message entered into the conversation by a customer and automatically jumps to the relevant part of the flow.
If no flow step matches the free-text entry, an article suggestion is triggered. If article suggestions are not available, the fallback flow is triggered.
Article suggestions
Article suggestions are only available if you have a publicly available help center, and are followed by the feedback flow. If no help center is available, the article suggestion behavior will not be triggered, and a fallback flow is triggered instead.
Feedback flow
After an article suggestion has been made, the feedback flow is triggered. This behavior asks the customer to indicate whether they self-solved their question or still need assistance.
If the customer selects Yes, problem solved, the bot leaves a parting message and gives your customer the option to start a new conversation.
If the customer selects No, I still need help, the fallback flow is triggered.
Fallback flow
The fallback flow is triggered when none of the abovementioned behaviors help the customer self-solve their support issue. The bot gives them the option to rephrase their question or start a new conversation.
14 Comments
I'd like to edit the fallback flow to allow transfer directly to an agent if the customer indicates "no, I still need help". Is this possible?
I would like to edit the language used in fallback and feedback flow. Is there a way, I can change the language to a non supported one.
Am I able to edit the Answer Bot name? I can't seem to find a way to edit that on Messaging.
Thank you for being active in our Help Center.
@Aashley
This is definitely a good feature to have. However, it is by design to have the "Start Over" button in order to give an opportunity for the customer to search for other related resource and for the Answer Bot itself to filter out basic customer concerns. Once the "Start Over" option has been chosen, the option to "Talk to Human" will be available again.
@Erkin
Answer bot can only be used in languages specified in Languages supported in Answer Bot.
Modifying the Answer Bot avatar and name can be done by the use of Zendesk Answer Bot API.
Have a great day guys!
Cheers,
Dane
Zendesk | Customer Advocate
Thanks Dane Adriano! I do believe that's only for the classic widget, right?
We're using Messaging, which that endpoint doesn't seem to cover.
Thank you for pointing that one out. Sorry, I missed it. Upon checking, renaming Answer bot is not available. However, we are already working for a similar feature on which the Answer Bot name will adapt the name of your brand. We don't have an actual date yet for its launch. Please always keep an eye for it by checking our Zendesk updates page.
Dane Adriano, since this is an intended feature, I'd like to make it clear there is a significant use case for my request, particularly customers who are having trouble navigating answer bot in the chat widget, so please make this a feature request.
Hi Talal Naboulsi
If you visit the bot setting page, there should be an option for you to update the bot name (see attached screenshot).

There isn't the ability to update the bot avatar today, this is something we are considering on our future roadmap.
Hi! Is there a way to duplicate a workflow and copy this into a new bot automation?
Hi Karla McCartney-Brown!
At the moment it's not possible yet to be able to duplicate & copy a flow. A feature request has already been created for it which you can check out: Ability to copy and backup bot flows and steps.
You can up-vote that original post and add your detailed use-case to the conversation. Threads with a high level of engagement ultimately get flagged for product managers to review when they go through roadmap planning.
Hey,
The feedback flow pops up automatically even though the customer is not feeding any input in the chatbot. I am attaching a screenshot for reference. I want the feedback to pop up only after any article recommendation or any question asked by the customer in the answer bot widget.
Hi Kinshuk Dey
This boils down to how you set up the Flow. Based on the screenshot you provided, you added several "send a message" steps in your Flow. That is why it's sending multiple messages. I also see that the "No I would like to drop my concern here" is a manually typed message and not a selection in your Flow, which explains why the bot clarified what your concern is.
I would suggest refining your current flow to check if they need assistance first before sending another message, and so on. This article would also be helpful in setting that up: Using Flow Builder to create bot flows
What messaging channels can a bot be connected to? Can you use a bot to respond to messages from social channels such as Facebook Messenger or Instagram DMs?
Hello Paul, thank you for your question!
As of now, this is not possible just yet. But we have plans of adding the Bot functionalities to social channels, as you mentioned. In fact, we have an Early Access Program (EAP) that you can be a part of by reviewing this article here: Flow Builder support for social messaging (Early Access Program).
We would love your feedback!
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