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Troubleshooting when a Workflow doesn't trigger
Troubleshooting when a Workflow doesn't trigger

Troubleshooting advice and configurations that may prevent your Workflows from firing as expected.

Beth-Ann Sher avatar
Written by Beth-Ann Sher
Updated over a week ago

Messenger Settings

Inbound Conversation Settings

Control inbound conversation volume is a Messenger setting which can be configured to limit who has the ability to start a conversation. Because this can prevent customers from starting a conversation, Workflows with a conversation-based trigger (e.g. “Customer opens a new conversation in the Messenger”, “Customer sends their first message”, “Customer sends any message”) will never fire for these customers.

Disabled Messenger

Show the Messenger Launcher is a Messenger setting which can be configured to hide the Messenger from customers. If the Messenger is hidden from customers, any Workflow which involves an interaction with the Messenger (e.g. “When a customer visits your site”, “When a customer clicks on a website element”, “When a customer opens the Messenger”) will never fire for these customers.

Automation Basics

If you have conversation ratings turned on in your Basic settings for Leads and Users, this can get in the way of the inactivity trigger's working as they should. It can unintentionally get interrupted in a way that blocks other customer-facing Workflows from triggering.

Our team is still exploring a fix for this, but we do have a workaround in the meantime if you see these issues often.

Instead of sending the conversation rating via the basics settings, you should create a Workflow to send these ratings instead. This will prevent the issue going forward.


Audience Targeting

Audience targeting rules can influence who will be affected by a Workflow. If the customer does not match the specified audience criteria, the Workflow will not fire.

Person Data & Company Data

Your Workflow may have specific triggers based on personal or company data — these can be any of the standard or custom data attributes available in Intercom. You should check the criteria and conditions set for these triggers, and ensure that the data is correctly inputted and matches the set rules.


Frequency & Scheduling

Using frequency and scheduling, you can control when, and for how long, a Workflow is live. It can often be the case that a Workflow is not firing because the criteria for when the Workflow is scheduled is not met.

Custom date schedule

The Workflow may have a custom date schedule — for example, to only fire between Friday evening and Saturday morning. In this case, testing the Workflow outside of these hours will not trigger the Workflow — no matter which trigger is selected.

Office hours

You may have configured Office Hours for your Workflow to fire within — either During office hours or Outside office hours. Workflows only use the default office hours, not the custom office hours set for individual teams.

We recommend moving office hours rules inside your Workflows as conditional branches, rather than in the trigger settings for a Workflow.

Trigger settings are evaluated when your customer interacts with the Messenger, whereas branches are evaluated in real time during a conversation so are much better at handling time-based conditions.


Channels

Channel Specific Settings

If your Workflow is configured to specific channels like email, SMS, or social media, make sure that the channel is correctly connected and active. A disconnected channel might be the reason why a Workflow is not firing.

Page URL Settings

Ensure that the Workflow is correctly configured to fire on the right Page URLs or within the correct applications on iOS & Android devices. Misconfiguration in these settings may prevent the Workflow from triggering.

URL Targeting Best Practices

The Current page URL targeting can be added in the "Where to send" section or the main Audience targeting section within the Trigger rule settings. However, their functionality differs based on the section they are placed in:

  • Audience Targeting: URL configurations here target users based on the last page they visited. This data might not always be current, which may lead to inaccurate Workflows firing.

  • Where to send: Offers a more reliable targeting based on the actual page the user is currently on. This usually matches the desired outcome.

Using URL targeting in the Where to send section will disable the inbound bot on iOS & Android, as mobile apps don't recognize URLs. If URL targeting is crucial, create one bot specifically for web Messenger and another for iOS & Android without URL rules.

By checking these areas and confirming the proper setup, you can not only identify the potential cause for a Workflow not firing but also ensure it is configured correctly for future operations. 👌

If you still need help debugging your Workflow, reach out to our Support team through the Messenger.


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