Write one message that greets every customer by name
Merge fields are short placeholders you type into a message. When the message goes out, each one is swapped for the real value, so a single line of text can address every person correctly.
This is for anyone writing text that will be sent more than once: a welcome message, an automated message, a chatbot reply or an email notification. Rather than writing something vague, you write a placeholder and let it fill itself in.
Step by step
Decide what the message should say back
Work out which real detail belongs in the sentence: the person's name, their email address, the agent handling them, or the agent's email. Those four details map to the fields {user_name}, {user_email}, {agent_name} and {agent_email}.
Type the field into your message
Write the field where the value should appear, with the curly brackets exactly as shown. A line reading Hello {user_name}, thanks for getting in touch will arrive with the person's own name in place of the placeholder.
Reuse the same fields in automated and chatbot messages
{user_name}, {user_email}, {agent_name} and {agent_email} work in any message, any automated message and any chatbot message, so the same wording carries across all of them.
Reach for the email-only fields when writing notifications
Email notifications have their own set: {recipient_name}, {sender_name}, {sender_profile_image}, {message}, {attachments}, {conversation_link} and {conversation_id}. These belong in email notifications rather than in chat text.
Settings reference
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| {user_name} | Replaced with the name of the person you are talking to. |
| {user_email} | Replaced with that person's email address. |
| {agent_name} | Replaced with the name of the agent involved. |
| {agent_email} | Replaced with the agent's email address. |
| {recipient_name} | Email notifications only: the name of the person receiving the email. |
| {sender_name} | Email notifications only: the name of whoever sent the message. |
| {sender_profile_image} | Email notifications only: the profile image of the sender. |
| {message} | Email notifications only: the text of the message itself. |
| {attachments} | Email notifications only: the files attached to the message. |
| {conversation_link} | Email notifications only: a link through to the conversation. |
| {conversation_id} | Email notifications only: the ID number of the conversation. |
| {position} and {minutes} | Supported in queue messages. |
Good to know
Email fields stay in emails
{recipient_name}, {sender_name}, {sender_profile_image}, {message}, {attachments}, {conversation_link} and {conversation_id} are for email notifications only. They are not part of the general set you can use in any message.
Queue messages have their own pair
{position} and {minutes} are supported in queue messages. Keep them for that wording rather than dropping them into ordinary text.
Two separate language fields
Language detection supports {language_name}. The chatbot Q&A set data option supports {language}.
Spelling matters
Type each field exactly as written here, in lowercase, with underscores and curly brackets and nothing else inside them.
Start with the four general fields
{user_name}, {user_email}, {agent_name} and {agent_email} are the ones worth learning first, because they cover ordinary messages, automated messages and chatbot messages alike.
Common questions
Which merge fields can I use in a chatbot message?
Can I put {conversation_link} in a chat message?
What are {position} and {minutes} for?
Is there a merge field for the language?
Do merge fields work in automated messages as well as ones I type myself?
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