Capturing information from a user in a Facebook Messenger chat conversation

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Capturing information from a user in a Facebook Messenger chat conversation

    This content explains how ServiceNow customers can leverage Virtual Agent Designer to capture user information during Facebook Messenger chat conversations. Virtual Agent Designer is a visual tool for creating conversational blueprints (topics) between a virtual agent and users. The Facebook Messenger integration supports various user input controls and bot responses, enabling rich, interactive chat experiences.

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    Supported User Input Controls

    The integration supports multiple input types within Virtual Agent Designer to gather user data effectively:

    • Text: Users can enter plain text up to 5000 characters.
    • Static Choice: Users select from predefined options presented as quick replies. Quick reply labels are limited to 20 characters, with up to 13 visible at once; pagination is used if more options exist. The maximum quick replies per page can be configured via the snvafbmessenger.maxquickreplies system property.
    • Boolean: Users respond with Yes/No type answers.
    • File Picker: Users can send files of types JPG, PNG, BMP (images up to 10 MB), and MP4 videos (up to 200 MB).
    • Date Time: Users select calendar dates and times, respecting customer time zones if configured by the administrator; otherwise, UTC is used.
    • Carousel: Users select a single item from a carousel of images. Each carousel card’s title is limited to 40 characters and text to 60 characters. Up to 10 images display per page, with pagination enabled for more. This limit is configurable with the snvafbmessenger.maxcarouselcards system property.

    Supported Bot Responses

    The bot can respond with various content types to enhance conversations:

    • Text: Plain text messages.
    • Image: Images sent directly in chat.
    • Link: Web links presented as URL buttons.
    • Card: Selected information from ServiceNow records displayed as cards.

    Additionally, when no relevant conversational topics exist, the bot can return search results through AI Search to improve user experience.

    Practical Considerations

    ServiceNow customers can configure the limits for quick replies and carousel images with system properties to tailor user experience. Understanding supported input types and response formats helps in designing effective, interactive chatbots for Facebook Messenger that meet both user needs and platform constraints.

    Use the collection of input controls provided by the Virtual Agent Designer to prompt and capture information from the user in a Facebook Messenger chat conversation.

    Virtual Agent Designer is a diagram tool for creating and managing topics, which are blueprints for conversations between a virtual agent and user. For more information, see Getting started with Virtual Agent Designer.

    The Conversational Integration with Facebook Messenger application supports the following user input controls in Virtual Agent Designer.

    Table 1. Supported user input controls
    User input control Description
    Text User enters a plain text string in the conversation.

    The maximum character limit is 5000 characters.
    Static Choice User selects an item from a predefined choice list.

    In a quick reply, the label has the maximum character limit of 20 characters. At a time, a user can view only 13 quick replies. If there are more than 13 quick replies, the pagination format is used to view more options. The default value of the maximum number of replies for a page is set in the sn_va_fb_messenger.max_quick_replies system property (location: System Property [sys_properties] table).
    Boolean User enters a Boolean response to the bot. For example, the user can reply Yes or No in a chat conversation.
    File Picker User sends a file to the bot.

    The supported file types are JPG, PNG, BMP, and MP4.

    Note the following points about the maximum size limit for a file type:

    • For images, the maximum size limit is 10 MB.
    • For videos, the maximum size limit is 200 MB.
    Date Time User selects a calendar date, time (hours and minutes), or both.
    Note:
    If your administrator has set the option to request time zone from the customer, the selected date and time reflect customer's time zone. Else, they appear in the UTC time zone. For more information about the time zone setting, see 1.f.
    Carousel User selects a single item from the carousel.

    In a carousel, the title for an image has maximum limit of 40 characters and the text for the image has maximum character limit of 60 characters. At a time, a user can view only 10 images. If there are more than 10 images, the pagination format is used to view more options. The default value of the maximum number of images in a carousel for a page is set in the sn_va_fb_messenger.max_carousel_cards system property (location: System Property [sys_properties] table).

    For more information about configuring user input controls, see Assistant Designer user input controls.

    The Conversational Integration with Facebook Messenger application supports the following bot responses in Virtual Agent Designer.

    Table 2. Supported bot responses
    Bot response Description
    Text Bot sends a plain text string to the user.
    Image Bot sends an image to the user.
    Link Bot sends a web link to the user.
    Note:
    The web link appears as a URL button in the conversation.
    Card Bot sends selected information from a record on your instance.
    Note:
    You can also return search results as bot responses in Facebook Messenger chat conversations when there are no relevant topics to display to end users. For more information, see Improving the user experience with AI Search.

    For more information about configuring bot responses, see Virtual Agent Designer bot responses.