Airtable

Action block allows you to set up the integration with Airtable in-order to collect the bot responses or leads at single location

This action block is available from our 'Premium' plan onwards

What is Airtable?

Airtable is a cloud-based database like Google Sheets that provides a more easier way to visualise and operate platform to kickstart your project using hundreds of inspiring templates

Airtable action block allows you to dynamically retrieve the data from it and render them in the chatbot in the form of buttons, image carousel or carousel.

When can I use an Airtable action block?

Following are few of the scenarios where the same can be used;

• To showcase the product catalogue to the visitors by pulling the data from the Airtable

• To showcase images to the visitors

• TO build a mini directory of the employees working in different department

• To highlight the customer testimonials or success stories

In-order to use the Airtable action block, you will first need to have the base or project in Airtable along with valid fields and data

How do I configure my Airtable account?

There are two ways through which you can configure Airtable account on Support Hunt. They are;

1. Through App Market: To connect your account through App Market, you can go to 'App Market -> Airtable -> Accounts -> Add Account -> Provide required details (Account Name & API key)'

2. Using Airtable action block: Or you can simply add the block in the flow and click on 'Connect your Airtable account'

How do I set it up?

Setting up the Airtable action block is a 3-step process that needs to be followed;

1. Authenticate your account: In-order to fetch the data from Airtable into the chatbot conversation, it is necessary to authenticate your account first with Support Hunt by providing the authentication details. You can follow the following steps to authenticate your Airtable account;

   • Add an action block on canvas by clicking on '+'

   • Choose 'Airtable'

   • Double click on 'Airtable' block to configure it on the right panel

     • Sign-in into your Airtable account

     • Map the API key of your account

     • Map the Base key (You will find this key by opening 'Airtable - Rest API')
     • Select the Base from where you would like to fetch the data from

     • Map the table name

   Different tabs under one particular base are called tables in Airtable. Columns are called fields.

2. Add formula to filter the data: While using the Airtable action block, you may not want to fetch all the data from the table, but rather just a few details which are required in the conversational flow. To filter this data, we use the formula field in the right panel of the Airtable action block to define the criteria The syntax to write the formula is same as what you would use in Airtable. You can learn more about Airtable formulas here You can also make use of the variables of Support Hunt in the formula field
3. Choose how you want to render the data: There are three ways in which you can render the data fetched from the Airtable in the chatbot;

   • Render as Buttons: Using this option, the data will be rendered as 'Buttons'. These buttons can be further classified into two types;

     1. Branch Button: With the use of branch buttons, the conversation will branch out and continue as per the flow defined in the bot builder. How do I configure:

        • Select 'Show data' as 'Buttons'

        • Select 'Type of Button' as 'Branch'

        • Define the question or message that will be shown along with the list of buttons

        • Map the Airtable's field name from which the name of the button will be fetched

        • Define variable in which the selection from the visitor will be stored

     2. URL Button: With the use of URL buttons, the bot will simply open the defined URL in the new tab. How do I configure?

        • Select 'Show data' as 'Buttons'

        • Select 'Type of Button' as 'URL'

        • Define the question or message that will be shown along with the list of buttons

        • Map the Airtable's field name from which the name of the button will be fetched

        • Map the Airtable's field name from which the URL that needs to open on click on the button will be fetched

   • Render as Carousels: Using this options, the data will be fetched from Airtable and will be rendered in the form of carousels. You mainly use this to showcase the list of your products or services. You can follow the following steps to render the data as Carousels;

     • Select 'Show data' as 'Carousels'

     • Map 'Cover Image' with Airtable field that contains images

     • Map 'Title' with Airtable field that contains description. This will be the title of the card

     • Map 'Description' with Airtable field that contains description. This will provide the brief summary about the card. It is best to limit the text here to 2-3 lines

     • Define action for the buttons. Maximum upto 3 buttons can be added.

     • Define variable in which the visitor selection will be stored

   • Render as Image Carousels: With this option, you can display a set of pictures of a selected item making it easy for the visitors to browse through it. You can follow the following steps to configure it:

     • Select 'Show data' as 'Carousel'

     • Map 'Image' field with Airtable field that contains images

Storing other values in Variables:

Often times, once you have integrated the Airtable action block with the above steps, you may find the need to store additional values from the Airtable for further processing within the conversational flow.

You can do this using the 'Store other values in variables'. By ending this configuration, you will see a field mapping table where you can map the Airtable fields with a variable name.

Limitations:

The API has a rate limit of 5 request per second per base. If you exceed this rate, your bot will show an error and the visitors will need to wait for 30 seconds before subsequent requests will succeed.