What Triggers the Chatbot in Mumble

Summary

A chatbot in Mumble doesn’t start running on its own. It only starts running when something attaches it to a customer’s conversation. This article explains the seven main ways a chatbot enters a conversation: a keyword, assignment by list, sending it as a bot campaign, a step in an automatic campaign, an automation action, a Dolores AI action, and manual activation from the chat. Each method has a different use case, and there’s a priority order for when several methods apply to the same customer at the same time.

Background: what “activating a bot” means

A bot in Mumble isn’t a piece of software that runs in the background on the whole account; it’s a conversation flow that’s activated specifically on a particular customer in a particular conversation. Once a bot is “activated” on a conversation, it manages that conversation according to the flow you built on the canvas. Once it’s “turned off,” the conversation continues as usual. The triggers this article explains are the ways a bot enters the active state.

Keywords

On each bot’s settings screen there’s a “Bot keyword” field where you define a word (or more) that activates the bot. When the customer sends a message containing that word, the bot starts running on their conversation, beginning from the main message on the canvas.

When to use it. When you want the customer to be able to start a process on their own, simply by typing a word. Customer service, booking an appointment, order tracking.
How to set it up. The bot’s settings screen, the “Bot keyword” area, type the word. You can add several synonyms by clicking +.
How customers learn the word. Usually by promoting it in a link (adding ?text= to the WhatsApp URL), in a QR code, in a website widget, or in a Quick Reply button on a message template.

Assignment to all customers, to a list, or to a specific customer

On the bot’s settings screen there’s a “Chatbot assignment” area where you define which customers the bot will run on. Three options:

All customers. The bot will be activated on every message that comes into the account. This is the classic setup for a main entry bot that decides where the conversation goes next. Only one bot can be set this way at any given moment, otherwise there would be a conflict.
Customers in a list. The bot will run only on customers assigned to one or more lists you select. Useful when you want different bots for different audiences, for example a sales bot for the “Website leads” list and a service bot for the “Existing customers” list.
Specific customers. The bot will run only on individual customer names you select via search. Useful for testing, pilots, or handling a single VIP customer.

How to set it up. The bot’s settings screen, the “Chatbot assignment” area, choose the option you want.
Timing. The assignment takes effect at the moment you set it and applies to messages that arrive afterward. It doesn’t activate the bot retroactively on conversations that were already open.

Sending as a bot campaign

In the campaign send form there’s a “Send as a bot campaign” option where you choose a chatbot that will be attached to every customer who receives the campaign. When the customer replies to the campaign message, the bot will pick up the response and run.

When to use it. In a campaign whose goal is to open an automatic, multi-step conversation. An invitation to a workshop with a registration process, gauging interest in a product with lead qualification, or a preferences survey after a purchase.
How to set it up. In the campaign form, the “Send as a bot campaign” area, choose the bot from the list. Send the campaign as usual.
Availability. Pro plan and up. On the Standard plan, the option won’t appear in the form.

A step in an automatic campaign or in an automation

Within an automatic campaign (drip) flow and within automation rules, you can define an action called “Chatbot assignment” that activates a bot on the customer as part of the flow.

When to use it. When activating the bot is part of a larger process, and not the main trigger. An example in an automatic campaign: step 1 sends an onboarding greeting, step 2 (after 24 hours) attaches a bot that checks whether the customer has started using the product. An example in an automation: every time a customer moves into the “Appointment scheduled” status, attach the “Appointment reminder” bot.
How to set it up. In an automatic campaign, in the step’s actions area, choose “Chatbot assignment” and select the bot. In automations, in the rule’s Then area, the same action.

A Dolores AI action

If Dolores AI is active and working on the conversation, you can configure an automatic action for it called “Activate chatbot” that fires when it detects that the conversation has reached a certain state. Unlike a keyword, Dolores understands the intent even when the wording is different.

When to use it. In free-form conversations where the customer doesn’t arrive with an exact keyword. Example: Dolores answers by default, but the moment it understands that the customer wants to book an appointment, it attaches the “Appointment booking” bot that handles the schedule.
How to set it up. In Dolores settings, in the “Actions” tab, “+ Add integration.” In the “When should Dolores do this?” field, describe the situation in free language (“when the customer wants to book an appointment”). For the action, choose “Activate chatbot” and select a bot.
Availability. Dolores AI is a Pro plan and up feature. Every Dolores action consumes an AI credit.

Manual activation and deactivation from the chat

Within the chat, an agent can at any moment activate a bot on the current conversation or turn off a bot that’s already running. This isn’t an automatic trigger, but it’s the way to take manual control when the automation doesn’t fit the situation.

When to use it. When the agent realizes they want to give the customer an automatic process that didn’t activate on its own, or when they want to stop a bot that’s performing poorly in a specific conversation.
How to set it up. In the customer card in the chat, the “Chatbot assignment” area, choose the bot. To turn it off, the same area, an x.

What happens when two methods apply at the same time

Say a customer is in a list that assigns the “Customer service bot” to them. At the same time, they receive a campaign with “Send as a bot campaign” that activates the “Promotions bot.” Which one wins?

A bot campaign overrides an existing assignment. The moment a bot campaign is sent to the customer, the new bot is attached and takes the place of the previous bot in the conversation. The previous bot won’t receive the responses until the bot campaign ends or is turned off.
A regular campaign cancels an existing bot. Sending a campaign without choosing “Send as a bot campaign” stops a bot that was running on the customer. The customer’s replies will go to the chat and not to the bot.
A manual action always wins. Turning a bot off manually from the chat beats any automatic trigger. Manually activating a bot replaces any bot that’s already running.
Activation via Dolores comes in mid-conversation. If Dolores attaches a bot in the middle of a conversation, it replaces the previous bot if there was one.

Examples

An entry bot via a keyword on the website

Setup: Bot keyword = “menu.”
Activation flow: on the website, there’s a WhatsApp button that leads to a link with ?text=menu. When the customer clicks it, WhatsApp opens with the word “menu” already in the box. They click Send, and the bot enters immediately.

An order-tracking bot via an automation

Setup: an automation with the condition “when a customer moves to the Order Shipped status,” action “Activate chatbot: Tracking bot.”
Activation flow: the moment you update the customer’s status in Mumble (manually, via the API, or via another action), the automation attaches the bot to them. When the customer writes a message, the bot will start.

Lead qualification after a marketing campaign

Setup: a marketing campaign on a “Deal of the week” message template, with “Send as a bot campaign” set to the “Lead qualification bot.”
Activation flow: the campaign goes out to 3,000 customers. Whoever clicks “I’m interested” lands in the bot that qualifies the interest, collects their name and basic information, and passes them to the Sales Team. Whoever doesn’t reply will keep the bot attached, but nothing will happen until they write.

Troubleshooting common issues

I set a keyword but the bot isn’t activated when it’s typed

Possible reasons: the bot itself isn’t active (a red icon in the bottom bar of the canvas), the customer is outside the bot’s assignment scope (if assignment was set to a specific list, it applies only to that list), or another bot is already active on the conversation. Solution: check that the bot is active, and that customers you want to reach it via a keyword aren’t pre-assigned to another, narrower assignment list.

I set up “Send as a bot campaign” but the bot didn’t join

Possible reasons: you saved the campaign without choosing a bot, or the bot itself isn’t active. Solution: make sure in the campaign form that you chose a bot in the “Send as a bot campaign” field. Check that the bot is marked as active.

Two bots are trying to run at the same time

Reason: this can’t happen. Only one bot is attached to a conversation at any given moment. What can happen is that one replaces the other. Solution: follow the order. See the “What happens when two methods apply” section.

Dolores isn’t activating the bot even when the conversation is in the right state

Reason: the description in the “When should Dolores do this?” field isn’t specific enough, or Dolores didn’t pick up on the situation. Solution: rewrite the description more clearly. Instead of “when the customer is interested,” write “when the customer clearly asks to book an appointment, or asks when they can come in, or requests a specific time.” The more concrete the description, the better Dolores recognizes the situation.

The bottom line

A bot enters a conversation via a keyword, assignment to a list, a bot campaign, a step in an automation or an automatic campaign, a Dolores action, or manual activation. The choice between the methods doesn’t depend only on what the bot does, but mainly on how the customer reaches it and at what moment.

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Mumble Team