Start Conversation node¶

Status: Current | Last reviewed: 2026-09-01

Reaches a person on a channel and connects them to one of your agents. Use this when you want a conversation; use the Notification node when you only want to send a message.

Pick the channel first¶

The Channel dropdown is the first field on the panel and it decides everything below it — which integration you pick, which delivery fields appear, and which agents the Agent dropdown offers.

The Agent dropdown lists only agents that suit the channel — chat agents for Chat/SMS/Email, voice agents for Voice. Switching between the chat channels and Voice clears your agent selection, because an agent of the wrong kind cannot answer.

SMS and Email¶

Fill in Recipient and Message. Both accept merge fields, so a body can read Hi {{trigger.first_name}}, we need a decision on your order.

You do not have to place the link yourself: if your message does not mention the link, it is added to the end. If you do want it somewhere specific, insert {{<this node>.external_link}} where it belongs.

For SMS, choose the messaging integration first so the SMS origination identity list can show your active numbers and pools. For Email you can set a Subject and, optionally, a From address.

Create share code is switched on and locked for these channels — the link has to exist for the message to be worth sending.

If the message cannot be sent — no recipient, or the messaging provider rejects it — the node reports an error with the reason in delivery_error, and delivered is false. It does not report success for a message nobody received. The conversation and its link are still created and still readable downstream, so you can branch on the failure and reach the person another way.

Voice¶

Voice places a real outbound call. Pick the Telephony Integration first — the platform behind it decides how the call is placed, and the panel changes to match. The line under the dropdown always tells you which way it will dial.

Genesys¶

TrueServe dials the call itself over your Genesys BYOC trunk, so the integration must be authorized to dial out: External Consults enabled with a Routing Number set (Integrations → your Genesys integration → External Consults). Without that, the node reports an error explaining what to switch on; it will not quietly do nothing.

• Caller ID — the number shown to the person you are calling. Leave it empty to use the integration's default.

Amazon Connect¶

Amazon Connect places the call itself. TrueServe asks Connect to dial, Connect runs your outbound contact flow, and that flow transfers the answered call back to TrueServe so your agent can talk.

Set this up once on the integration (Integrations → your Amazon integration), the same way a Genesys integration carries its Routing Number — not per workflow:

• Outbound Contact Flow ID — the flow Connect runs for every workflow-placed call. It routes each call using the contact attributes TrueServe sets, so one flow serves all your workflows.
• Outbound Source Phone Number or Outbound Queue ID — the caller identity. Connect will not place the call without one of these.

You do not have to look these ids up in the AWS console: set the Connect Instance ARN, click Discover AWS resources, and all three become dropdowns of your real flows, queues, and claimed numbers (see Discovering AWS resources).

On the node itself you only set:

• Caller ID — overrides the integration's source number for this call. Leave it empty to use the integration's.

Two things must be true inside the flow, and neither is something TrueServe can set for you:

1. The flow must transfer the call to TrueServe over your Chime Voice Connector.
2. The flow must pass along the contact attributes trueserve_pipeline_id and trueserve_conversation_id that TrueServe attaches to the call — usually as UUI on the transfer, or by transferring to the agent's own phone number. If the flow drops them, the person answers and hears silence, because the arriving call has no agent attached.

Your agent also has to be published for that Connect integration (the CCaaS Availability section of the agent's publish dialog) — the returning call is an ordinary inbound Connect call and goes through the same check.

Both platforms¶

• Wait for answer — on, the workflow pauses until the call is answered or the dial gives up, and reports which happened. Off (the default), the workflow continues as soon as the call is placed. Off is usually what you want in a long workflow.

None of the chat settings (share link and injection) apply to Voice, so they are hidden.

Chat session settings¶

These appear for Chat, SMS, and Email:

• Start live session — boots the agent immediately, so its greeting is ready before anyone opens the link. Required if you want to inject an instruction.
• Inject instruction — tells the agent what to do the moment the session starts ("Give them today's briefing"). With Trigger agent response on, the agent acts on it right away.
• Share code TTL — how long the link stays usable.

What downstream nodes can read¶

Note on workflow mode¶

A workflow containing this node runs in async mode. The editor enforces this; a synchronous workflow will not validate.

See also¶

• Notification node
• Creating a workflow
• Workflow node types
• Adding an integration