Slack: answer customers

Many software companies support their customers in Slack, in channels they share with them through Slack Connect. Others run their internal help desk there. Dazza can answer in both, with your published agent and its knowledge.

This is different from Slack alerts, which post handovers and approvals to one of your channels. You can use both.

Slack is on Growth and above.

How it works

• Mentions. Mention the app in any channel it’s in, and Dazza answers in a thread under that message.
• Direct messages. Anyone can message the app directly. Each person’s direct messages are one conversation.
• Channels that answer everything. Pick channels where Dazza answers every new message, without being mentioned.
• Threads are conversations. Once Dazza is in a thread, it answers replies there without another mention. Each thread shows in your inbox as its own conversation.
• Your team can take over in the thread. When someone from your team replies in the thread, Dazza steps back, as if they’d pressed Take over in the inbox. Their reply shows in the inbox, marked replied in Slack, and later messages wait for the team.
• Replies from the inbox go into the same thread, under your name.

Dazza’s replies use Slack’s formatting: bold, links and lists come through as they should. Photos and PDFs people send are kept and read, as on other channels.

Who counts as your team

When you connect, choose who Dazza answers:

• Customers in shared channels. People from other companies, in Slack Connect channels. Anyone from your own Slack workspace who replies in a thread takes over.
• Colleagues. An internal help desk. Whoever replies in a thread, other than the person who asked, takes over.

Under More options you can name a user group, such as @support. Then only its members take over; anyone else who writes in the thread is answered.

In a channel that answers everything, your team’s own new messages are left alone unless they mention Dazza. Your team is everyone from your Slack workspace (for customers in shared channels) or the user group you named.

Mentioning Dazza always asks it something, whoever does it, so you can try it out yourself.

Connect Slack

You need to be a workspace admin in Dazza, and allowed to create and install apps in Slack.

1. In Dazza, open Channels and choose Slack (answer customers).
2. Choose who Dazza answers. You can change it later.
3. Press Create the app in Slack. Slack opens its Create an app screen with Dazza’s manifest filled in. Pick your Slack workspace and create the app. (Or press Copy manifest, then in Slack choose Create New App → From a manifest and paste it.)
4. In your new app, open App Manifest. Next to the request URL, press Verify. It should match the Request URL Dazza shows.
5. Open Install App and press Install to Workspace, then Allow.
6. Copy the Bot User OAuth Token (it starts xoxb-) from OAuth & Permissions, and the Signing Secret from Basic Information → App Credentials.
7. Paste both into Dazza and press Connect Slack.
8. In Slack, invite the app to the channels where it should answer: open the channel and type /invite @your-app. For a Slack Connect channel, invite it from your side of the channel.

Dazza checks the token with Slack before saving it, and the token and secret are encrypted.

Choose where it answers

On the Slack connection, open Where Dazza answers:

• Switch a channel on to have Dazza answer every new message there.
• Change who Dazza answers, or name your support team’s user group under More options.

Only channels the app has been invited to are listed.

The manifest

Dazza fills in your app’s name and request URL for you. For reference, the manifest asks for:

{
  "display_information": { "name": "Dazza", "description": "Answers questions for your business, and hands over to the team." },
  "features": {
    "app_home": { "messages_tab_enabled": true, "messages_tab_read_only_enabled": false },
    "bot_user": { "display_name": "dazza", "always_online": true }
  },
  "oauth_config": {
    "scopes": {
      "bot": [
        "channels:history", "channels:read", "chat:write", "chat:write.customize", "files:read",
        "groups:history", "groups:read", "im:history", "mpim:history", "mpim:read",
        "usergroups:read", "users:read"
      ]
    }
  },
  "settings": {
    "event_subscriptions": {
      "request_url": "https://app.dazza.io/api/channels/slack/…",
      "bot_events": ["message.channels", "message.groups", "message.im", "message.mpim"]
    },
    "org_deploy_enabled": false,
    "socket_mode_enabled": false,
    "token_rotation_enabled": false
  }
}

What each permission is for:

Permission	Why
channels:history, groups:history	Read messages in the public and private channels the app is in.
im:history, mpim:history	Read direct messages and group DMs with the app.
chat:write	Answer.
chat:write.customize	Show your teammate’s name on replies sent from the Dazza inbox.
channels:read, groups:read, mpim:read	List the channels the app is in, so you can choose them.
users:read	Show people’s names, and tell your team from other companies.
usergroups:read	Let you name your support team’s user group.
files:read	Keep photos and PDFs people send.

Dazza only hears channels the app has been invited to. Events come over HTTP (Slack’s Events API), and every request is checked against your signing secret.

If something isn’t working

• Nothing arrives. Check that the request URL in your app’s App Manifest shows Verified, and that the app is in the channel.
• The app was already set up by hand. If your app doesn’t use Dazza’s manifest, Dazza shows Waiting for the platform with the request URL. Paste it under Event Subscriptions, turn them on and subscribe to the four bot events above.
• Replies stop. If the token is revoked or the app is removed, the connection shows Last reply failed with Slack’s reason. Reinstall the app and connect it again.
• Disconnecting in Dazza stops it answering. To remove the app from Slack too, open your app’s settings and choose Delete App, or remove it under Manage apps.