Table of Contents
- Connecting Viber
- Channel Configuration
- Broadcast Capabilities
- FAQ and Troubleshooting
- Can I connect to a personal Viber account?
- How much does a Viber Bot cost?
- Are there any restrictions to the type of Messages that I can send to my Contacts?
- Can I start a conversation with a Viber Contact?
- How do I share my Viber link?
- Alternative/workaround to the 'Get Started' button
- Why do I get this "Failed to send the message as the contact is not subscribed anymore" error message?
Viber
- Connecting Viber
- Channel Configuration
- Broadcast Capabilities
- FAQ and Troubleshooting
- Can I connect to a personal Viber account?
- How much does a Viber Bot cost?
- Are there any restrictions to the type of Messages that I can send to my Contacts?
- Can I start a conversation with a Viber Contact?
- How do I share my Viber link?
- Alternative/workaround to the 'Get Started' button
- Why do I get this "Failed to send the message as the contact is not subscribed anymore" error message?
Viber is a cross-platform instant messaging and voice-over IP application operated by Japanese multinational company Rakuten. As of December 2018, it has over a billion users, with its popularity stemming mainly from Europe and Asia. This Viber Bot integration lets you respond to messages directly from our platform.
Connecting Viber
Step 1: Navigate to Channel Settings
From Settings module, navigate to the menu item, Channels.
Step 2: Add Channel
Click Add Channel and choose Viber. The Connecting Viber dialog should open up.
Step 3: Sign in to Viber Admin Panel
Using your sign-in credential, sign in to Viber Admin Panel.
Step 4: Select a Bot to connect
After you have signed in, select a Bot you wish to connect to respond.io. If you don't have a Bot, create a Bot account.
Step 5: Locate the Token
On the Bot Info page, locate the Token and add it to the corresponding field on the respond.io platform.
Step 6: Complete the setup at respond.io
Click Done to complete the setup.
Channel Configuration
- Channel name
Step 1: Navigate to Channel Settings
From Settings module, navigate to the menu item, Channels.
Step 2: Locate the Viber channel
Once you've located the Viber channel, click Configure.
Step 3: Make the necessary configuration
You can configure the following:
- Channel Name - Name used internally to identify the account.
Step 4: Update the configuration
Click Done to update the channel configuration.
Broadcast Capabilities
Viber has no restrictions on broadcast message content; however, only 10,000 chatbot-initiated messages per month are free, and broadcast messages fall into this category.
Broadcast messages exceeding the 10,000 limit will fail to send. To send more than 10,000 chatbot-initiated messages in a month, the business will need to agree to the Viber Chatbot Commercial Terms and pay per message.
FAQ and Troubleshooting
Can I connect to a personal Viber account?
To connect a Viber channel a Viber bot Account is required. You can create a Viber bot here.
How much does a Viber Bot cost?
Viber Bots are free to create, and businesses can send up to 10,000 free chatbot-initiated messages per month. To send more than 10,000 chatbot-initiated messages in a month, the business will need to agree to the Viber Chatbot Commercial Terms and pay per message.
Under the terms, the business must pay a deposit, and messaging charges will be deducted from that. Per message costs vary by destination country.
Replies to customer-initiated messages within 24 hours of receiving the message are considered Session Messages, and these are always free.
Are there any restrictions to the type of Messages that I can send to my Contacts?
A message sent by the bot is considered an Chatbot-initiated Message when the user has been inactive in the bot for more than 24 hours. These messages will typically (but are not restricted to) promote and push for user interactions within the bot, and will be charged only in the event that the user has not been active in the bot for the previous 24 hours.
From the moment the bot subscriber replies to a bot outbound message, or is proactively interacting with the bot, a session starts. All the messages exchanged during a session are free of charge. A session is considered finished when the user has been inactive in the bot for a 24 hours period.
Can I start a conversation with a Viber Contact?
Viber bot rules say contacts must message you first before you can message them back. You can share your QR code or Viber link with your Audience.
How do I share my Viber link?
By default, a Viber bot will not have an active landing page under viber.com after creation, likewise, after creating your bot it will not appear in search results in Viber.
You can set up a link to open a private chat with your bot. However, this is only if the user has Viber installed on their device. Here's how you can generate a Viber link.
Alternative/workaround to the 'Get Started' button
Use respond.io's Pre-Filled Text feature to populate the message box with a default message when Contacts open a chat window with your business.
This saves Contacts' time from needing to think about what to write and just click send, encouraging Contacts to send the first message.
Here's how to add pre-filled text to your Viber link and QR codes.
- On the respond.io platform, click Settings > Growth Widgets > + Add Widget.
- Select QR Code option and click Create Widget.
- Create the QR Code.
- Select “Viber” as the QR code type.
- Select the connected Viber channel that you want to create the QR code for.
- Add pre-filled text that will automatically appear in the message field when the QR code is scanned.
- Click Generate Widget button to create your QR code with the pre-filled text.
- Click Download and select the size of the QR code you want to save or follow the instructions here to get your Viber chat link.
- When Contacts scan your QR code or click on your Viber link, they should automatically have the pre-filled text in the message box.
Why do I get this "Failed to send the message as the contact is not subscribed anymore" error message?
If you received this error message, this means the Contact has already unsubscribed from your business Viber bot.
Unsubscribing is a way for a Contact to stop receiving messages from a business. Spamming is one of the main reasons why a Contact unsubscribes whereby the Contact feels the business is constantly sending promotional messages or other unsolicited messages.
Once the Contact unsubscribes, business can't send any messages, which include broadcast messages, 1-to-1 messages or any other messages initiated by the business to the Contact anymore unless the Contact reaches out to business again.
