Question 1

Contact Variables

Accepted Answer

Contact Variables

@contact - references the contact receiving the message. This is the active contact - the person whose responses are being handled by the workflow. When using the Send a Message to Someone Else action, @contact refers to the contact or group of contacts to which the message is being sent. Each extension, e.g. @contact.name or @contact.fields.fieldname_, references a specific contact field.

@contact - The full name of the contact if one is set, otherwise their phone number if not set, e.g. "Ben Haggerty"

@contact.name - Also the full name of the contact if one is set, e.g. "Ben Haggerty"

@contact.first_name - The first name of the contact if one is set, e.g. "Ben"

@contact.groups - The groups in which the contact has been placed.

@contact.uuid - The universally unique identifier assigned to each contact.

@contact.display - The name or URN of the contact.

@contact.language - The language iso code for the contact.

@contact.created_on - The creation date of the contact.

@contact.channel - The preferred channel of the contact.

@contact.fields.field_name - any contact fields you've created for your contacts, e.g. _@contact.age_

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Question 2

Setting a Contact's Preferred Channel

Accepted Answer

Default Behavior

By default, we will match contacts with channels using the following criteria:

If you have multiple channels of the same type connected to your account, the channel that the contact last initiated contact with will be prioritized. Contacts can be locked-in to a relationship with a specific channel (they'll only receive messages from this channel) under these conditions:

You have multiple channels of the same type connected to your account.
The contact's address type priority corresponds with the channel type (e.g. phone number) that possess multiple channels (e.g. multiple phone numbers).
The contact initiates contact through an incoming message.
If the contact has never interacted with a channel linked to your account, we will prioritize the channel whose number has the largest prefix overlap.

For example, if your channels are +12505661212 and +2505551212, and you are sending an SMS to or calling +2505661231, we will use the +2505661212 channel because it overlaps the most.

In most cases, we are able to discern the carrier associated with a contact's phone number and prioritize channels based on carrier, though this depends on carrier behavior.

Custom Behavior

By using the Update the Contact action and choosing the Channel v

Question 3

Introduction to Channels

Accepted Answer

Channels allow you to send and receive messages or phone calls through your account. You can connect as many channels to your account as you want.

Channel Types

Available channel types include Aggregators (SMS & Voice), Android Phone (SMS), Facebook Messenger, the Nyaruka Surveyor Android apps, Telegram and Twitter. We're always looking to add channels, so feel free to recommend one to support@textit.com.

Aggregator (SMS & Voice)

Aggregators are services that process messages across multiple carriers with exceptional speed and efficiency. They provide virtual mobile numbers and short codes that are easily connected to your account through an API integration.

Examples of aggregators include, but are certainly not limited to:

Throughput

Throughput is the speed of the messages sent by your channel, measured in messages/second. For example, with toll-free Twilio numbers, throughput is 3 text messages/second, whereas standard virtual numbers send 1 message/second

Question 4

Configuring a Webhook with Airtable

Accepted Answer

Airtable enables you to build and organize databases for just about any project you could imagine. The basic version is totally free to use and allows for real time collaboration with team members, making it an ideal data organization tool.

In the example below, we're using the Call Webhook action in a flow to look up sales agents by zip code as stored in an Airtable database that we've created.

Build your Airtable Database

In order to pull data into your flow using a Webhook, you'll first need to create an Airtable account and build your database.

Below is our simple PID lookup database, which includes fields (equivalent to spreadsheet columns) for the contact's name and PID.

Build your Flow

After you've created a database in Airtable, you're ready to build your flow. In our example below, we first asked the contact to send their name to look up their PID. By using the Call Webhook action, we will send a request to Airtable to pull in the data from our database.

*Note that look-ups in Airtable are case-sensitive.

Setting up your Call Webhook Action

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Question 5

Expression Syntax

Accepted Answer

All expressions begin with an "@" symbol and an open parenthesis, e.g. "@(now()" or "@(timefromparts()" Once entered, "@(" will trigger a completion dialogue that lists and explains each function:

Simple Syntax

This is used to embed single values, e.g.

Hi @contact, you entered @results.age for age. Is this correct?

An expression can also be a function call, e.g.

Hello @(upper(contact.first_name))

Function names are not case-sensitive so UPPER is equivalent to upper. We support a subset of the functions available in Excel and these are listed below.

Advanced Syntax

This is used to build more complex expressions using similar syntax to Excel formulae, e.g.

Hi, you are @(format_date(now() "YYYY") - results.year_born)years old

Expressions can also include arithmetic with the add (+), subtract (-), multiply (*), divide (/) and exponent (^) operators:

Result is @(1 + (2 - 3) * 4 / 5 ^ 6) units

Note that the expression is enclosed in parentheses to tell us where it ends.

You can also join strings with the concatenate (join) operator (&):

Hello @("contact.first_name" & " " & "contact.last_name")

Take a look at our full expression reference here.

Question 6

Adding and Updating a Contact Field

Accepted Answer

When a contact field is created, the default value is null unless the field is imported with a pre-existing value. To change the value of a recently-created contact field, you can update it using this action or by editing a contact field value via the "Contacts" tab.

For example, when a new phone number sends a message to a channel connected to your account, a new contact will be created with a null "Name" value and null values for every contact field you've added. The new contact will only be identifiable by their phone number until their other field values are updated.

Use the Update the contact action to update the value of an existing contact field for each contact that reaches this node.

Using Variables & Expressions

Contact fields can be updated with a fixed value, expressions, or variables:

@results - the variable assigned to the result of each Split Action node. May also include .value (e.g. @results.[variablename].value, the value of the incoming message sent by the contact), .category (e.g. @results.[variablename].category, the category through which the incoming message sent by the contact passed) or .createdon (e.g. @results.[variablename].created_on, the time at which the incoming message was received from the contact).
@urns- the addresses for the contact (@urns.tel, @urns.facebook, @urns.mailto).
@input - the last m

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