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WeChat Service Account Integration

The integration lets you handle inquiries from customers who message your company’s official WeChat page.

What is a WeChat Service Account

A WeChat Service Account is your company’s official page in WeChat. Customers can find it, follow it, and send messages just as they would in a website chat. The integration does not support messaging customers from a personal WeChat account. Communication always takes place on behalf of the company and only through a Service Account.

How it works

  • The customer sends a message to your Service Account.
  • The system automatically creates a contact card and a communication task.
  • An employee replies by adding a comment to the task and includes the customer in the comment notifications.
  • The customer receives the reply in WeChat on behalf of the company.
  • The conversation can then continue within WeChat limitations (see below).

Employees work in a single system interface, while customers continue using WeChat as usual.

What you should know before connecting

WeChat places strict limits on communication between companies and users:

  • You cannot message a customer first. The customer must always start the conversation by messaging your page.
  • No more than 5 replies can be sent for each incoming customer message.
  • The reply window is 48 hours from the customer’s most recent message. Replies sent later will not be delivered.
  • Files other than images are sent as links. Images are sent as images, while all other attachments are delivered to the customer as file links.

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

Who this integration is for

  • Customer support for users who contact your company through its official WeChat page.
  • Product and service inquiries.
  • Processing incoming inquiries from WeChat alongside other channels in a shared pipeline.

What you need to connect the integration

  • Planfix account administrator permissions.
  • Access to the WeChat Developer Platform with permission to manage the required Service Account.
  • The "AppID" and "AppSecret" for your WeChat Service Account.
  • The "Token" and "EncodingAESKey" — you configure these yourself during setup (see the steps below).
  • Task and contact templates that Planfix will use to create inquiries and customer contact cards.

Step 1. Get the AppID and AppSecret in WeChat

AppID and AppSecret are the identifier and secret key for your Service Account. Planfix uses them to connect to WeChat:

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

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

Step 2. Create a connection in Planfix

  • In Planfix, go to Account management — Integrations — Messengers — WeChat.
  • Click "Add account."
  • Copy the value from the "Address for accepting requests" field. This is the webhook address WeChat will send messages and events to. You will need it in Step 3.
  • Complete the remaining fields:
    • Account name — any name for the connection, for example, "WeChat — Support."
    • AppId — the AppID from WeChat.
    • AppSecret — the AppSecret from WeChat.
    • Token — create a string containing Latin letters and numbers, up to 32 characters. You will need to enter exactly the 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 value must be identical in Planfix and WeChat.
  • Save the integration.

Important: Save the integration in Planfix before validating the URL in WeChat. Otherwise, validation on the WeChat side will fail.

Step 3. Configure message delivery 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.
  • Next to Push Notifications, click "Enable."
  • In the "URL" field, paste the "Address for accepting requests" copied from Planfix in Step 2.
  • In the "Token" field, enter the same Token used in Planfix.
  • In the "EncodingAESKey" field, enter the same key used in Planfix. Alternatively, generate it here using the random generation button 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 validation is successful, WeChat will start sending messages and events to Planfix.

Test the connection

To make sure everything works:

  • Send a message to the connected Service Account as a regular WeChat user.
  • A new communication task should appear in Planfix.
  • A customer contact should be created or matched in the task.
  • Add a comment to the task and include the customer in the comment notifications.
  • The customer should receive your reply in WeChat.

If the connection does not work

Check the following:

  • The integration was saved in Planfix before you validated the URL in WeChat.
  • The URL was copied in full and starts with https://.
  • The Token in Planfix and WeChat is identical and contains no extra spaces.
  • The EncodingAESKey in Planfix and WeChat is identical.
  • 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 IP whitelist is enabled for the API in WeChat, make sure Planfix access is not blocked.

Limitations

The following WeChat rules apply when using the integration:

  • You cannot message a user first. Only the customer can start the conversation.
  • Communication is only supported on behalf of the company’s Service Account. Personal WeChat accounts are not supported.
  • No more than 5 reply messages can be sent after each incoming customer message.
  • You can reply to a customer only within 48 hours of their most recent message.
  • Images are sent as images; all other files are sent as file links.
  • Only XML messages are supported.
  • Messages sent from the system follow the WeChat Customer Service Messages rules.


Go To

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