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Nextiva NEXT - NEXT Studio - AI Employee Channel Enablement

Article 000004005 · Updated May 8, 2026 · 2,790 views

Live Chat Channel Enablement

Overview

Live Chat lets an AI Employee converse with customers through your website widget. When Live Chat is selected during onboarding, NEXT automatically links the channel to your AI Employee. No workflow or journey configuration is required.

Prerequisites

  • AI Employee is created and enabled for the Live Chat channel.

  • Live Chat is available for your tenant.

  • You can access Administration and NEXT Studio.

Configure the Live Chat Channel

  1. In Administration, open Channels, then open Live Chat.

  2. Select Add channel.

  3. Configure:

    • Channel name and branding.

    • Launcher position and visibility on desktop and mobile.

    • Greeting message that is short and action oriented.

    • Behavior such as inactivity timeout if available.

  4. Select Save.

  5. Copy the widget code and add it to your site or tag manager.

  6. If your site uses a Content Security Policy, allow the chat domain.

  7. Publish your site changes.

Connect to Your Journey and Workflow

Once you enable the Live Chat channel in Administration, NEXT automatically connects it to your AI Employee. No Journey or Workflow steps are required. After the widget is added to your site and saved, incoming chats are routed automatically.

Verify the Live Chat Experience

  • Opening the widget creates a ticket in Open.

  • Business Hours and First or Last routing determine whether AI or a human responds first.

  • The AI Employee sends the greeting when it handles the chat.

  • The ticket transcript does not update in real time while AI is active. Refresh to view new messages.

  • Outcomes. If the customer stops responding, the ticket resolves after one hour. If both parties end the chat, the journey view shows Closed. If AI escalates to an inbox, the ticket shows Forwarded and moves to In progress when a human accepts.

Known Behaviors and Gaps

  • A ticket is created when the widget opens and shows the greeting.

  • Assign to me cannot interrupt an active AI conversation.

  • Real time transcript is not available while AI is active.

  • A single global greeting is used. Per channel greetings are planned for a future update.

SMS Channel Enablement

Overview

SMS lets an AI Employee exchange text messages with customers. When SMS is selected during onboarding, NEXT automatically links the channel to your AI Employee. No workflow or journey configuration is required.

Prerequisites

  • AI Employee is created and enabled for the SMS channel.

  • Approved 10DLC brand and campaign when required.

  • You can access Administration and NEXT Studio.

Register and Verify 10DLC

  1. Complete brand and campaign registration.

  2. After approval, confirm the business number that will be used for SMS.

  3. If Voice is also enabled, verify the shared number assignment.

Configure the SMS Channel

  1. In Administration, open Channels, then open SMS.

  2. Select Add channel or open an existing channel.

  3. Select the approved business number.

  4. Set Responder to AI Employee.

  5. Verify compliance keywords such as STOP, HELP, and opt-in acknowledgments if your route requires them.

  6. Select Save.

Connect to SMS

Once you enable the SMS channel and assign it to your AI Employee, NEXT automatically connects it to the correct routing logic. No Journey or Workflow setup is required. Incoming messages are handled automatically based on the AI Employee's inbox and business hours configuration.

Test the SMS Experience

  • Send a text from a non-tenant number to the business number.

  • A ticket appears in Open in the assigned inbox.

  • The AI Employee sends the greeting and remains in scope unless the customer requests a human.

  • Outcomes. If the customer stops responding, the ticket resolves after twenty-four hours. If both parties end the conversation, the ticket resolves. If AI escalates to an inbox, the ticket shows Forwarded and moves to In progress when a human accepts.

SMS and 10DLC

SMS delivery for AI Employee requires completed 10DLC brand and campaign registration. If registration is not complete, the AI Employee cannot send SMS messages.

How SMS numbers work

New tenants use Nextiva's pool of 10DLC-registered numbers for outbound SMS until they complete their own 10DLC registration. Once a customer completes 10DLC registration, SMS moves to AI Employee numbers assigned specifically to that customer's account.

Complete 10DLC registration

To enable SMS for your AI Employee, complete brand and campaign registration first. For step-by-step instructions, click here. Once registration is approved, the AI Employee sends SMS automatically — no additional configuration is required.

STOP and START opt-out/opt-in handling

The AI Employee automatically handles customer opt-out and opt-in requests in compliance with carrier requirements.

  • STOP — When a customer replies STOP to any SMS sent by the AI Employee, they are automatically opted out of future messages. The platform sends an automatic confirmation message to the customer, and all future campaign messages to that caller are blocked across the campaign. This applies to both individual and group messaging conversations.

  • START — When a customer replies START after previously opting out, they are automatically opted back in and the AI Employee can resume sending SMS to that number. Opt-in through START is honored consistently across both individual and group messaging scenarios.

These keywords are handled at the system level and do not need to be configured in your AI Employee's skill instructions.

Note: Opt-out blocking applies at the campaign level — when a caller opts out, they are blocked from all messages within that campaign, not just from a single number.

View the opt-out list

You can see which callers have opted out of SMS from the opt-out list in NEXT.

  1. In the left navigation, select More options.

  2. Locate the Opt-out list to view all callers who have replied STOP.

SMS compliance and prohibited content

The AI Employee checks outbound SMS messages against 10DLC carrier guidelines before sending. Messages that contain content prohibited under 10DLC rules are blocked and not delivered.

Note: Review your skill instructions and knowledge base content to ensure they do not include 10DLC prohibited topics. If an SMS is blocked, the customer will not receive a notification that the message failed.

Enter Queue with AI Employee Component

Overview

The Enter Queue with AI Employee component controls how interactions are routed when customers engage through Voice, Live Chat, or SMS. It decides whether the AI Employee greets first or only responds when agents are unavailable. The component evaluates queue assignment, business hours, and agent availability to ensure every request follows the correct path.

When used in a workflow, this component acts as a routing checkpoint between the AI Employee and the assigned queue.

Prerequisites

  • An AI Employee is already added to a workflow.

  • Queues are created and active for your tenant.

  • Business Hours are defined for your company.

  • You can edit workflows in NEXT Studio.

Configure the Component

  1. Select Administration in the left navigation.

  2. Under NEXT Studio, select Workflows.

  3. Open the workflow.

  4. Select Enter Queue with AI Employee from the component list.

  5. Place it after the Transfer to AI Employee node in the flow.

  6. Select the component to open the configuration window.

  7. Enter or choose values for each required field.

  8. Select Save when finished.

Note: This component is optional and only needed when building custom workflows. Standard AI Employee routing does not require workflow configuration.

Field Descriptions

 

Field

Description

Example / Notes

Queue ID

The unique identifier of the queue where interactions will be routed when the AI Employee transfers the conversation.

For example, "Support Tier 1" or "Sales Queue".

Business Hours

Determines when the queue is active. The component evaluates whether the current time is within business hours before routing.

"Weekdays 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM".

In-Hours Behavior

Defines how AI participates during active hours. Options: AI First or AI If No Agents Available.

"AI First" lets AI greet and handle first; "AI If No Agents Available" only engages when no live agents are online.

Out-of-Hours Behavior

Defines what happens when outside business hours. Options are the same as In-Hours Behavior.

Can route directly to AI or play a business-hours message.

Voice Channel Number

The phone number assigned to handle voice calls.

Typically shared with SMS when both channels are enabled.

SMS Channel Number

The number assigned for text messages.

Used for routing text-based interactions.

Live Chat Channel ID

The identifier of the Live Chat channel.

Used to direct web chat sessions to AI or queue.

     

Verify the Configuration

  • Trigger a test interaction through each active channel.

  • Confirm routing changes based on Business Hours and selected behaviors.

  • During active hours, verify that:

    • AI First allows AI to greet and assist before routing to agents.

    • AI If No Agents Available sends interactions to AI only when no agent is online.

  • Outside business hours, confirm that routing follows the Out-of-Hours Behavior setting.

  • Review tickets to ensure they appear in the correct queue and the AI transcript is attached.

Known Behaviors and Gaps

  • The component supports routing for Voice, SMS, and Live Chat only.

  • AI Employee cannot override existing queue limits or user assignment rules.

  • If Business Hours are misconfigured or not linked, routing defaults to AI First behavior.

  • Queue capacity and escalation limits are determined by tenant settings, not by this component.

  • Global greeting is used for all channels in this release; per-channel greetings are planned for a later version.

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