We will be winding down Google Business Messages on July 31, 2024. Read more
here.
Life of a message
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Users can send messages to agents, and agents can send messages to users, but
there's more to it than that. For each message, there can be many parties
involved:
- The user begins a conversation with an agent through entry
points
in Search, Maps, and brand-managed links and websites. Users must be signed
in to a Google account, but only the user's name is shared with the partner.
User messages are encrypted with TLS.
Business Messages acts as a layer between the user and the partner to
protect user privacy. This layer ensures the user's Google account
information isn't shared with the partner or live agents by decrypting and
re-encrypting each inbound and outbound message and mapping the user's
Google account to a conversation ID.
Google stores encrypted messages to ensure delivery and synchronization
between a user's devices. These stored messages can't be shared with any
third party. Access is only available with the user's Google ID.
The agent is a representation of a brand, as
created
and managed by a partner.
The partner manages the agent on behalf of a brand. Partners receive
inbound messages at a specified
webhook,
route inbound messages to automation or live agents to compose responses,
and send outbound messages to the Business Messages API.
Automation handles user messages without human engagement.
Live agents handle user messages that require human engagement.
Each party plays a part in sending and receiving messages within a conversation.
An end-to-end messaging flow starts with a user messaging an agent and ends
with the user receiving a response from the agent.
- A user starts a conversation and sends a message to a Business Messages agent.
- Business Messages assigns the conversation an ID. Conversation IDs are
persistent and unique to the user and the agent. If the same user contacted
a different agent, that conversation would have a different conversation ID.
- Business Messages sends the encrypted message to the partner's webhook. The
message contains the unique conversation ID, agent ID, message ID, and
context information for where the conversation originated.
- The partner receives the
message
and routes the message to automation or to a live agent.
- Automation automatically creates a response to the user message, or a live
agent who has access to the conversation sees the user message and creates a
response accordingly.
- The partner sends the
response to
the Business Messages API with the conversation ID as the recipient.
- Business Messages decrypts and re-encrypts messages, maps the conversation
ID with the user's Google account, and sends the message to the user.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2024-11-14 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2024-11-14 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eBusiness Messages enables conversations between users and agents (representing brands) while protecting user privacy.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle acts as an intermediary, ensuring secure message transmission and user anonymity by encrypting messages and using conversation IDs.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003ePartners manage agents and handle message routing to automation or live agents for response generation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe messaging flow involves users initiating conversations, Business Messages facilitating secure delivery, and partners orchestrating responses via automation or live agents.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Life of a message\n\nUsers can send messages to agents, and agents can send messages to users, but\nthere's more to it than that. For each message, there can be many parties\ninvolved:\n\n- **The user** begins a conversation with an agent through [entry\n points](/business-communications/business-messages/guides/concepts/entry-point) in Search, Maps, and brand-managed links and websites. Users must be signed in to a Google account, but only the user's name is shared with the partner. User messages are encrypted with TLS.\n- **Business Messages** acts as a layer between the user and the partner to\n protect user privacy. This layer ensures the user's Google account\n information isn't shared with the partner or live agents by decrypting and\n re-encrypting each inbound and outbound message and mapping the user's\n Google account to a conversation ID.\n\n Google stores encrypted messages to ensure delivery and synchronization\n between a user's devices. These stored messages can't be shared with any\n third party. Access is only available with the user's Google ID.\n- **The agent** is a representation of a brand, as\n [created](/business-communications/business-messages/guides/agent-lifecycle)\n and managed by a partner.\n\n- **The partner** manages the agent on behalf of a brand. Partners receive\n inbound messages at a [specified\n webhook](/business-communications/business-messages/guides/quickstarts/echo-agent#webhook),\n route inbound messages to automation or live agents to compose responses,\n and send outbound messages to the Business Messages API.\n\n- **Automation** handles user messages without human engagement.\n\n- **Live agents** handle user messages that require human engagement.\n\nEach party plays a part in sending and receiving messages within a conversation.\nAn end-to-end messaging flow starts with a user messaging an agent and ends\nwith the user receiving a response from the agent.\n\n1. A user starts a conversation and sends a message to a Business Messages agent.\n2. Business Messages assigns the conversation an ID. Conversation IDs are persistent and unique to the user and the agent. If the same user contacted a different agent, that conversation would have a different conversation ID.\n3. Business Messages sends the encrypted message to the partner's webhook. The message contains the unique conversation ID, agent ID, message ID, and context information for where the conversation originated.\n4. The partner [receives the\n message](/business-communications/business-messages/guides/how-to/message/receive) and routes the message to automation or to a live agent.\n5. Automation automatically creates a response to the user message, or a live agent who has access to the conversation sees the user message and creates a response accordingly.\n6. The partner [sends the\n response](/business-communications/business-messages/guides/how-to/message/send) to the Business Messages API with the conversation ID as the recipient.\n7. Business Messages decrypts and re-encrypts messages, maps the conversation ID with the user's Google account, and sends the message to the user."]]