LiveChat + Google’s Business Messages Installation Tutorial
Thanks for installing Google’s Business Messages Application.
In this guide, you will find all the steps to complete the integration. Integration requires an approval from Google, so please make sure to follow all the steps.
Prerequisites
In order to use this application, you need to have a verified Google Business Profile account. For example, if your company has a listing in Google Maps, it means that you already have one.
An example of a verified Google Business Profile account on https://business.google.com
Note the status: “Verified”
Check out Google Business Profile website for more info: https://www.google.com/business/
LiveChat Authentication
After you install the app, navigate to the application settings page. If you get forwarded to a LiveChat permissions page, approve, and you will be redirected back to the settings page. You can also be authenticated automatically.
Google’s Business Messages Partner
We, as Google My Business Messages LiveChat Application, are part of Google’s program for Business Messages. We have the ability to connect brand and company Google Business accounts via APIs. In order for us to integrate your Google Business account into LiveChat, Google needs to approve this representation relationship.
Verification Process
We create a brand and an agent on the Google’s Business Messages console for your Google Business account.
After we do that, we ask Google to verify this brand and agent, and give us the representation access.
Google sends an email to you to confirm this integration and once you approve, you can start using the integration.
Integration Form
In order for us to apply to Google for integration verification, we need some information from your side. You can find more about the verification process on the Google’s Business Messages documentation website: https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/how-to/verify?method=console
In order to get the information easier, we created a form to fill out. After you fill the form out, we can get a verification from Google and go live with LiveChat Google’s Business Messages integration.
Please find a through guide about the form at Integration Application Form Guide below.
Please find the form here in the application’s settings page:
https://my.livechatinc.com/settings/applications/google-business-messages
Please click "+ Connect Google Business Profile" button to go to the form to start the application process.
Integration Application Form Guide
We are aware that the integration form contains a lot of fields and it could be confusing to follow and understand each and every one of them. That’s why we use our company as an example to help you understand what each field means. If you get stuck anywhere in the process, please feel free to contact support@octochat.io anytime. We would be happy to help!
Example company: https://octochat.io
Brand Information
Brand name
Name of the brand that you represent. This would be the name of your company, the way it is represented on your website. For instance, if we take our company as an example, the brand name would be OctoChat. It is important to give the correct name of the company/brand as this will be validated by Google by checking the name on your company/brand website.
Website of your brand
The URL of your website. It starts with “https://”. For the case of our example company, the website URL is: https://octochat.io or https://www.octochat.io .
Brand Contact Person
Contact name
Name of a person in your company that Google can reach out for verification purposes.
Contact email
An email address that Google can send the verification email to. It is crucial that the email shares the same domain with your company website. For our example the email address is: hello@octochat.io. Note that our website is https://octochat.io hence both the email address and website share “octochat.io”.
Google DOES NOT verify brands/companies with generic emails such as gmail, yahoo etc.
Agent Information
In Google’s Business Messages, an “Agent” is the representative of your brand/company. When your customers start chatting with you, they will see that they are chatting with the agent whose information is given here.
Agent Name
The name of the agent that you want your customers to see when they chat with you. The name you give to your agent must be contained in your brand name. Say that your brand name is “OctoChat Software Communications Inc.” then your agent name could be one of the following
OctoChat
OctoChat Software
OctoChat Communications
OctoChat Inc
But CANNOT be:
Chat Software
Communications Software
etc.
you get the idea.
Agent Logo
Logo of the agent that is shown in the conversation screen when the agent chats with your customers. The logo MUST MATCH the logo on your website. See the logo on our example website: https://octochat.io and the one that is shown in the conversation screen below.
See how the Agent logo and Agent name is shown to customers.
Welcome Message
Welcome message is the first message that is automatically posted by the agent when the user first enters the conversation. As you might see in the image of a conversation above, as the user enters the conversation screen, they are welcomed by “Welcome to OctoChat! How can I help you?” text by the OctoChat agent automatically.
You should enter a message that you would like your users to see when they enter the chat.
Default Locale
Locale is the information of language and the country. This means, what are the languages that your agents will be communicating in with the users?
If your agents communicate only in English, simply select “en (English)”. If there are multiple languages, select all of them.
Privacy Policy URL
If you have a privacy policy URL on your website, simply paste the URL here. If you do not have one you can create one using one of the free tools below.
https://www.privacypolicygenerator.info/
https://www.livechat.com/privacy-policy-generator/
Agent Messaging Availability
This part of the form describes the times at which your agents are available to communicate/message users.
Time Zone
Time zone of your agents. Simply select the city/country of your timezone. For example, since OctoChat is in Germany, we selected “Europe/Berlin”.
Start Day
The day of the week when your agents start to operate on. For example, if your agents work from Monday to Friday, you should select “Monday” here.
Start Time
The time of the day when your agents start to operate at. For example, if your agents start to work at 9:00AM in your local timezone, select “9:00AM”.
End Day
The day of the week on which your agents finish operating. For example, if your agents work from Monday to Friday, you should select “Friday” here.
End Time
The time of the day at which your agents finish operating. For example, if your agents finish working at 5:00PM in your local timezone, select “5:00PM”.
Local and Non-local Information
Google Maps Location
URL of the location of your company on Google Maps. For example this is the Google Maps URL of LiveChat Inc. : https://goo.gl/maps/3BzMfEtbxUNFSRPU7. You can find the URL of your Google Maps location by finding your location on Google Maps, clicking "Share" button. A share screen will pop up with the URL. Copy the URL and paste here! If you have multiple locations it is sufficient to enter one right now. We can register the rest after the verification.
Entry Points in Use
Entry points are surfaces where users can start conversations with Business Messages agents. Each entry point has a unique appearance and appears in a different place.
The Non-local entry point group encompasses all entry points that don't rely on locations.
For example, your website, your phone, your email are non-local entry locations where users can start a conversation without relying on your actual physical location.
Domains
The url of your company website that starts with “https://”. For example, “https://www.octochat.io”. If you have more than one website you can enter them with “,” (comma) between them. For example; “https://octochat.io, https://www.octochat.io ,
Phone Number
Phone number of your company.
Contact Us URL
If there is a specific section on your website that contains your contact information, paste the URL of this section here. For example;
https://www.livechat.com/contact/ . If you do not have such a section, simply paste the URL of your website.
Contact Options Available at the URL
Please select all the contact options you have listed on your website that your users can use to contact you. These could be;
Email
FAQs
Phone
Twitter
Web chat (A LiveChat widget on your website, for example)
Whatsapp
If you have any questions during the integrations or any of the steps, please feel free to contact our team at: support@octochat.io