Chat Trigger

What This Node Does The Chat Trigger node listens on a configured messaging channel for incoming messages that match your criteria. When a message arrives — from a customer on WhatsApp, an employee in a Slack channel, a Teams bot mention, or an SMS text — BizFirstAI starts the workflow immediately with the full message content and sender details as the starting data. An optional auto-reply can be sent back immediately to acknowledge the message, while the workflow processes asynchronously behind the scenes.

Supported Channels

Slack

Microsoft Teams

SMS (Twilio)

Key Capabilities

Multi-channel support: Connect to Slack workspaces, WhatsApp Business accounts, Microsoft Teams bots, or Twilio SMS numbers — configured per node with a dedicated credential.
Keyword filtering: Optionally restrict the trigger to messages that contain specific keywords or phrases. Only messages matching the filter start the workflow, preventing noise from unrelated channel activity.
Immediate auto-reply: Configure an optional instant response message sent back to the sender the moment the trigger fires. This acknowledges the request before the workflow completes its processing.
Thread context: The full thread or conversation ID is included in the output, allowing the workflow to reply back within the same thread rather than starting a new message.
Sender identity: The sender's user ID, display name, channel username, and any available profile information are provided for routing, personalization, and authorization decisions.
Media message support: For WhatsApp and SMS, the trigger captures media attachments (images, PDFs) sent alongside the text message, providing their URLs in the output data.
Regex pattern matching: Advanced filtering using regular expressions for complex command parsing, e.g., matching messages like "order status ORD-[0-9]+" to trigger an order inquiry workflow.

Business Benefits

Meet Customers Where They Are

Customers use WhatsApp and SMS daily. By triggering workflows from these channels, you handle support requests, order inquiries, and appointment bookings without forcing customers to visit a separate portal or download a new app.

Instant Automated Responses

The auto-reply feature ensures customers and employees receive an immediate acknowledgment. The bot reply sets expectations while the full automation processes in the background — improving perceived response time dramatically.

Internal Operations via Slack

Enable employees to trigger operations from Slack using natural commands. IT helpdesk tickets, approval requests, status checks, and data lookups can all be initiated from the tools your team already uses every day.

Conversational Data Collection

Chat messages carry rich context — the sender's identity, the channel they're using, and the timestamp are all captured. This data enriches your workflows and enables personalized, context-aware automated responses.

Use Cases

Customer Support Intake via WhatsApp

Customers message the company's WhatsApp Business number with a support issue. The Chat Trigger captures the message, creates a support ticket in Jira, and sends an immediate WhatsApp reply with the ticket reference and expected resolution time.

Employee IT Help Desk via Slack

An employee types "IT help" or "raise ticket" in the company's #it-helpdesk Slack channel. The Chat Trigger captures the message, creates an IT support ticket, assigns it to the on-call engineer, and replies in the thread with the ticket number and ETA.

Order Status Inquiry via WhatsApp

A customer texts "order status ORD-20240615-0042" to the company's WhatsApp number. The Chat Trigger matches the pattern, extracts the order number, queries the order management system, and replies with the current fulfillment status and estimated delivery date.

HR Question Bot via Teams

An employee messages the HR bot in Microsoft Teams asking about leave balance or company policy. The Chat Trigger captures the question and passes it to an AI knowledge-base query node, which returns a contextual answer and posts it back in the Teams conversation.

Automated FAQ Response via SMS

Customers text in common queries (office hours, pricing, location) to the company's SMS number. The Chat Trigger matches keywords against a FAQ library and sends an immediate SMS reply with the relevant information — zero human involvement required for common queries.