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WeChat

The integration allows you to handle inquiries from customers who message your company's official WeChat account.

What Is a WeChat Service Account?

A WeChat Service Account is an official company account on WeChat. Customers can find it, follow it, and send messages just as they would through a live chat on a website. The integration does not support messaging customers from a personal WeChat account. All communication takes place on behalf of the company through its Service Account.

How It Works

  • A customer sends a message to your Service Account.
  • Planfix automatically creates a contact card and a task for the new conversation.
  • An employee replies by adding a comment to the task and selecting the customer in the comment notifications.
  • The customer receives the reply in WeChat from your company's account.
  • The conversation can then continue, subject to WeChat's restrictions (see below).

Employees handle conversations in a single Planfix interface, while customers continue using WeChat.

What You Need to Know Before Connecting

WeChat places strict limits on communication between businesses and users:

  • You cannot initiate a conversation with a customer. The customer must send the first message to your Service Account.
  • You can send no more than 5 replies for each incoming customer message.
  • The reply window is limited to 48 hours after the customer's most recent message. Replies sent after this period will not be delivered.
  • Files other than images are sent as links. Images are delivered as images, while customers receive other attachments as links to files.

If the message limit is reached or the 48-hour window expires, your reply will not be delivered to the customer.

Who Is It For?

  • Customer support teams handling inquiries through the company's official WeChat account.
  • Teams answering questions about products and services.
  • Businesses managing incoming WeChat inquiries alongside other communication channels in a shared pipeline.

What You Need to Connect the Integration

  • Administrator permissions in your Planfix account.
  • Access to the WeChat Developer Platform with permission to manage the required Service Account.
  • The "AppID" and "AppSecret" for your WeChat Service Account.
  • A "Token" and "EncodingAESKey", which you configure during setup (see the steps below).
  • Task and contact templates that Planfix will use to create tasks for new customer conversations and contact cards.

Step 1. Get Your AppID and AppSecret in WeChat

The AppID and AppSecret are your Service Account's identifier and secret key. Planfix uses them to connect to WeChat:

  • Open the WeChat Developer Platform and sign in using WeChat.
  • Click "Go to Console".
  • Go to "My Business" — "Service Account".
  • Open the Service Account you want to connect.
  • Copy the "AppID" and "AppSecret" from the account details.

Important: WeChat does not store or display your previous AppSecret. If you lose it, you will need to reset the key. Once reset, the old AppSecret will stop working. Update it immediately in Planfix and any other systems where it is used.

Step 2. Create a Connection in Planfix

  • In Planfix, go to Account management — Integrations — Chats — WeChat.
  • Click "Add account".
  • Copy the value from the "Request URL" field. This is the webhook URL where WeChat will send messages and events. You will need it in Step 3.
  • Fill in the remaining fields:
    • Name — Enter any name for the connection (for example, "WeChat — Support").
    • AppId — Enter the AppID from WeChat.
    • AppSecret — Enter the AppSecret from WeChat.
    • Token — Create a string of Latin letters and numbers (up to 32 characters). You must enter the exact same value in WeChat in Step 3.
    • EncodingAESKey — The message encryption key. Enter your own key or generate one in WeChat in Step 3 and paste it here. The values in Planfix and WeChat must match.
  • Save the integration.

Important: Save the integration in Planfix before verifying the URL in WeChat. Otherwise, WeChat's verification will fail.

Step 3. Configure Incoming Messages in WeChat

Next, specify where WeChat should send messages:

  • Open your Service Account in the WeChat Developer Platform.
  • Go to the domain and push notification settings.
  • Click "Enable" next to Push Notifications.
  • In the "URL" field, paste the "Request URL" you copied from Planfix in Step 2.
  • In the "Token" field, enter the same Token you configured in Planfix.
  • In the "EncodingAESKey" field, enter the same key you configured in Planfix (or generate a random key here and copy it to Planfix).
  • Select "XML" as the data format.
  • Select "Secure Mode" as the encryption mode.
  • Save the settings.

When you save the settings, WeChat sends a verification request to the Planfix URL. Planfix verifies the signature using the Token and returns a confirmation. If verification succeeds, WeChat will start sending messages and events to Planfix.

Test the Connection

To make sure everything is working:

  • Send a message to the connected Service Account from a regular WeChat user account.
  • A new task for the conversation should appear in Planfix.
  • A new contact card should be created, or an existing contact should be linked to the task.
  • Add a comment to the task and select the customer in the comment notifications.
  • The customer should receive your reply in WeChat.

If the Connection Is Not Working

Check the following:

  • The integration was saved in Planfix before you verified the URL in WeChat.
  • The URL was copied in full and begins with https://.
  • The Token values in Planfix and WeChat match, with no extra spaces.
  • The EncodingAESKey values in Planfix and WeChat match.
  • XML is selected as the data format.
  • The AppID and AppSecret belong to the same Service Account.
  • The AppSecret has not been reset or frozen in WeChat.
  • If an API IP whitelist is enabled in WeChat, make sure it is not blocking access from Planfix.

Limitations

The following WeChat rules apply when using the integration:

  • You cannot initiate a conversation with a user. Only the customer can start the conversation.
  • Messages can only be sent on behalf of the company's Service Account. Personal WeChat accounts are not supported.
  • You can send no more than 5 replies after each incoming customer message.
  • You can only reply within 48 hours of the customer's most recent message.
  • Images are sent as images; other files are sent as links.
  • Only XML messages are supported.
  • Messages sent from Planfix are subject to WeChat Customer Service Messages rules.

Go To

Retrieved from "https://planfix.com/help/WeChat"