Integrations
Automation platforms
How the agent starts the automations your teams already run in Zapier or Make, so existing workflows carry on working.
On this page
Many teams have already linked their systems with an automation platform: a new lead copied to a spreadsheet, a booking change sent to a supplier, a form submission turned into a task. The agent works with those automations rather than around them. When a conversation reaches a point your team has chosen, the agent starts the automation with the details it has captured, and the workflow your team built carries on as it does today. Automation platform connections are configured during implementation.
What connecting an automation platform lets the agent do
| Ability | What it means for you | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Start an automation | The agent triggers an existing workflow at a defined point in the conversation, with the details captured | A confirmed group booking request starts the workflow that notifies the groups team and creates a quote draft |
| Reach systems the platform already connects to | Where your platform already links to a system, the agent can act on it through that link | A supplier's booking portal that your operations team already updates through an automation |
| Receive a result | Where the workflow returns a result, the agent uses it in the conversation | The workflow returns a quote reference, which the agent gives to the customer |
Integrations in this category
| Integration | What the connection covers |
|---|---|
| Zapier | Starting the Zaps (Zapier's name for an automated workflow) you choose, and receiving their results |
| Make | Starting the scenarios (Make's name for an automated workflow) you choose, and receiving their results |
Similar tools can be connected the same way, as a custom action. See Custom actions.
How the connection works
Your team chooses which of its existing workflows the agent may start, and at what point in a conversation. Each one is set up as an action the agent can take: its name, the details it needs, and what the agent tells the customer once it has run. The agent can start only the workflows you have chosen.
The workflow itself stays on your automation platform, owned by the team that built it. If your team changes it, the agent's side stays the same as long as the details it sends and receives do not change. If they do, the action is updated and tested again before it goes live. See How a system gets connected.
Anything a workflow does in another system happens under that workflow's own access, not the agent's. When you choose which workflows to connect, you are in effect choosing what the agent can cause to happen, so the same review applies as for any other permission.
The technical detail
The agent starts a workflow by calling a webhook (a unique address the platform provides, which starts the workflow when called) or the platform's API (application programming interface: the documented way other software exchanges data with it). Each call sends only the fields the workflow needs, over TLS (Transport Layer Security), version 1.2 or higher, from your deployment in your chosen region. Webhook addresses and credentials are stored encrypted with AES-256 in your deployment. Every call and its result are logged in the audit trail.
Permissions typical for this category
| Permission | Needed for | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Start named workflows | Triggering the automations you chose | Only the workflows you choose |
| Receive results from those workflows | Using the result in the conversation | Granted where the workflow returns one |
| Create, change or delete workflows | Not needed | Not granted |
The agent can only take actions your team has granted. Anything not granted cannot be invoked. See Permissions.
In practice
Nakhla Travel, a tour operator, handles group booking requests through an existing automation.
- The operations team already runs a workflow on Make that takes a group request, notifies the groups team and adds a line to the quote tracker.
- Telonic sets up that workflow as an action the agent can take once a group request has its dates, group size and destination.
- Ahmed emails asking for a quote for eighteen people to Salalah in the autumn. The agent asks for the missing dates, then starts the workflow.
- The workflow returns a quote reference. The agent gives it to Ahmed and tells him the groups team will send the quote.
What your team controls
- Which workflows the agent can start, and when.
- The workflows themselves, on your own platform.
- What each workflow is allowed to do in the systems it reaches.
Related
- Custom actionsIntegrations
- How integrations workIntegrations
- PermissionsIntegrations
- How a system gets connectedIntegrations
- Audit trail and decision recordsGovernance and control
Product names and logos are trademarks of their owners. Their mention shows systems Telonic connects to and does not imply partnership or endorsement.