Below is a list of frequently asked questions about Google's Business Messages.
Business Messages is a mobile conversational channel that combines entry points on Google Maps, Search, and brand websites to create rich, asynchronous messaging experiences that delight customers and drive business results.
First you must [register with Business Messages](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/set-up/register). After you register as a partner, you can enable conversations for brands you manage by creating Business Messages agents for them. See [Create agents for brands](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/set-up/agent) for more information.
With Business Messages, you can place messaging buttons for brands within organic Google search results. When a user clicks on a messaging button, they start a conversation with an entity representing the brand-the brand's agent. The conversation takes place on a Google messaging surface available on iOS and Android. You receive and respond to customer messages, through the agent, using a webhook and the Business Messages API. See more [here](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/learn).
An agent is a conversational representation of a brand, managed by a partner. An agent includes the conversational interface users interact with and any code or infrastructure required to power interactions. See [Agents](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/set-up/agent).
A brand is an organization or group represented by one or more agents. For example, the brand "Best Buy" might be represented by a "Best Buy Deals" RBM agent and a "Best Buy" Business Messages agent. See [Brands](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/reference/business-communications/rest/v1/brands).
Business Messages has entry points from organic Google search results on mobile browsers and from the Google Maps app (for location-based brands).
After you receive a message from a user, you can send a response to continue the conversation. Agents communicate with users by sending and receiving messages. To send messages to users, your agent sends message requests to Business Messages. To send a message, you send an HTTP POST request to the Business Messages API. See [Send messages](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/send) for details.
After you [register with Business Messages](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/set-up/register), you can receive messages on behalf of your test agent. You can receive messages for brands you manage after you [create](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/set-up/agent), [verify](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/deploy/verify), and [launch](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/deploy/launch) agents for those brands. When a customer sends a message to an agent that you manage, Business Messages sends a JSON payload to your webhook that contains various IDs, message content, and location information. See [Receive messages](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/receive) for more information.
Messages sent between users and agents are encrypted between users' devices and Google servers and between Google's servers and Business Messages agents. Businesses can't use their own encryption keys because Google needs to scan messages for spam to protect all users and businesses. Messages received on users' devices are encrypted by any device-wide encryption that users have configured for their devices, and Google deploys on-device security models to protect message data.
After you register as a partner, you can enable conversations for brands you manage by creating Business Messages agents for them. See [Create agents for brands](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/set-up/agent) for more information.
A service account lets you generate temporary authentication tokens to use with the Business Messages API.
All launched Business Messages agents must support live agents. See [Handoff from bot to live agent](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/learn/conversations/bot-live-agent-handoff) for details.
Business Messages enables agents and locations to be responsive to users' preferences by passing user locale settings to agents, enabling agents to specify a default locale and unique conversational settings per locale, and resolving matches between users' locales and an agent or location's supported locales. By detecting locale, Business Messages agents can localize their experiences by making automated and live agent interactions aware of users' region and language preferences. Read more about [Localization and locales](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/configure/localization).
Every message that is sent over Business Messages contains a representative object. As part of that object, you can specify an avatar image. See [Representative](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/reference/rest/v1/Representative) for details.
Yes, you need human representatives available to answer questions when automation is unable to fulfill a request or when requested by users.
To make sure that users have satisfying interactions with your agent, Google occasionally sends customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys to users in conversations with your agent. If you want to collect CSAT data more consistently or with different timing, such as at the end of a conversation, you can also send surveys within the context of a conversation. Surveys display in a dialog above a conversation and allow users to rate their experience with your agent on a 5-point scale. See [Send surveys to track user satisfaction](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/surveys) for details.
See [Send surveys to track user satisfaction](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/surveys) for details.
An agent contains information for a business's logo, phone number, conversational settings, interaction types, and launch configuration. See the [Business Messages Agent API reference](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/reference/business-communications/rest/v1/brands.agents#BusinessMessagesAgent) for details.
In Business Messages conversations, events inform and enrich the conversational experience of both users and agents by communicating non-message content. For users, events display as notifications within their conversations and trigger based on various actions users might make. Agents receive events at their webhooks and send events with API calls. Agents should be aware of user-initiated events and be able to respond accordingly. For example, if a user requests a live agent, but the agent can't respond positively or negatively to the request, this results in a bad user experience. See [Send and receive events to enrich conversations](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/events).
JPG, JPEG, and PNG are all supported for media used within a rich card or carousel.
We do not currently support any video formats.
You can see you recommendations for image sizes [here](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/send#card_height).
If you receive duplicate messges, deduplicate by "messageId" and make sure you acknowledge that you received the message. See [Best practices: Check for duplicate incoming messages](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/learn/best-practices#check_for_duplicate_incoming_messages).
See [Delete an agent](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/set-up/agent?method=api#delete-agent) for details.
See [Test an agent](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/set-up/agent#test-agent) for details.
Suggested actions guide users through conversations by leveraging the native functionality of the their devices. We currently support [OpenUrlAction](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/reference/rest/v1/conversations.messages#openurlaction) and [DialAction](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/reference/rest/v1/conversations.messages#dialaction).
A chip list is a list of suggested actions and suggested replies displayed as chips after a message. See [Send messages: Suggestion replies](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/send#suggested_replies).
See [Send messages: Text](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/send#text) for example and reference.
See [Send messages: Rich card](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/send#rich-cards) for example and reference.
Sorry, but video formats are not supported at this time.
See [Send messages: Rich card](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/send#rich-cards) for example and reference.
See [Send messages: Rich card carousels](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/send#rich-card-carousels) for example and reference.
See [Send messages: Dial action](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/send#dial_action) for example and reference.
See [Send messages: Open URL action](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/send#open_url_action) for example and reference.
When a customer sends a message to an agent that you manage, Business Messages sends a JSON payload to your webhook that contains various IDs, message content, and location information. See [Receive messages](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/build/receive) for more details.
After you verify an agent for a brand that you manage, build out your message-routing capabilities, and determine that your infrastructure is ready to interact with users, it's time to launch. When you launch an agent, Business Messages performs checks for necessary approvals, emails you once the agent is approved for launch, and begins the launch process. Once the launch process begins, the agent is available to users within a few hours. See [Launch an agent](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/deploy/launch?method=console) for specifics on how to launch your agent through the Developer Console or APIs.
Yes, this product is live with many brands.
You must verify agents and locations before they can launch. When you verify an agent, Business Messages confirms the agent's information with a contact from the brand that the agent represents. Once the brand contact confirms that you can represent the brand with the agent and that the agent information is correct, the agent is verified. See [Agent verification](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/deploy/verify?method=console) for details about how to verify an agent.
After you launch your agent, Business Messages tracks key performance metrics to make sure your agent performs well. You can develop your own analytics by tracking events and other attributes of your agent's conversations. See [Metrics](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/measure/metrics) for more information.
Yes, we have samples and client libraries available in Java, NodeJS, and Python. See [Samples](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/samples).
We currently have client libraries available in Java, NodeJS, and Python. See [Samples](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/samples). However, you can use any language of your choice and program directly against our [REST API](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/reference/rest).
The full API reference is availble [here](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/reference/rest).
Please check out our [support](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/support/overview) page for details.
Business Messages is free.
Business Messages is a mobile conversational channel that combines entry points on Google Maps, Search, and brand websites to create rich, asynchronous messaging experiences that delight customers and drive business results.
Once you launch an agent, Business Messages has entry points from organic Google search results on mobile browsers and from the Google Maps app (for location-based brands) for the brand that corresponds to your agent. See [How Business Messages works](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/business-messages/guides/learn) for more information.