Multi-Channel Messaging App for Zoho CRM (SMS & WhatsApp)

User Guide Documentation

Table of Contents

PART 1 — INSTALLATION & SETUP

1. Overview of Features
2. Prerequisites
3. Installation
4. Setup Wizard
5. PART 2 — CONFIGURATION
   
       5. Sender IDs
       6. Access Levels
       7. Dynamic Templates
       8. WhatsApp Template Approval
       9. Custom Phone Fields

PART 3 — FEATURES

    10. Mini Chat Console
    11. Converse View
    12. Automation & Workflows

PART 1 — INSTALLATION & SETUP

1. Overview of Features

The ValueText integration for Zoho CRM enables two-way SMS and WhatsApp communication directly from within Zoho CRM, with the following key features:

• Easy marketplace installation with a guided setup wizard
• One-to-one and bulk messaging across SMS and WhatsApp
• Mini Chat Console on Lead, Contact, Account, Deal and Case records
• Converse View — a unified inbox for every conversation in the organization
• Dynamic templates with merge fields and media attachments
• WhatsApp template creation and approval requests from inside CRM
• Automatic inbound message routing to the matching CRM record
• Access control for sender IDs and templates by profile or user
• Advanced automation through Zoho CRM workflows
• Message history with delivery status tracking
  

2. Prerequisites

Before installing, ensure you have:

• A Zoho CRM account with administrator privileges — setup requires the ability to install extensions and configure organization-level settings.
• A ValueText account with available messaging credits. If you do not have one, you can Sign up at https://valuetext.io

3. Installation

Follow the steps below to install the ValueText extension:

1. Install the application using either of the following methods:
   • Search for ValueText in the Zoho Marketplace, or
   • Use the direct installation link shared with you.
2. Paste the installation link into your browser while logged into your Zoho account.
3. You will be automatically redirected to the Zoho login page (if not already logged in).
4. Review the permissions requested and choose whether to install for all users, specific profiles, or only administrators.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
6. Once installed successfully, you will see a confirmation message indicating that the package has been installed and your extension will be as shown below
   

 

What gets created

The extension adds the following to your CRM:

Tabs

Dynamic Templates,ValueText Setup,Converse View,Template Submission,Custom Phone Fields,Access Levels,Sender IDs,Dynamic Templates

Widget

The Mini Chat Console is added as a related list on Lead, Contact, Account, Deal and Case records.

4. Setup Wizard

After installation, complete the setup wizard before sending any messages.

To open it, click the ValueText Setup tab in Zoho CRM. The wizard opens on the first incomplete step.

The wizard has five steps which must be completed in order — each unlocks the next. Your ValueText wallet balance is shown at the top right once you have signed in.

4.1 Country Selection

The selected country code is automatically added to phone numbers when sending messages.

1. Select your country from the dropdown.
2. Click Save & Next.

Recommended: ALL. If you select ALL, no country code is added automatically — you must store every mobile number in your CRM with its full country code. Choose a specific country only if all your numbers are local and stored without a country code.

4.2 Sign In

Connect the extension to your ValueText account.

1. Enter your Email Address / User Name and Password.
2. Click Sign In.

On successful sign-in, your credentials are stored securely against your organization and the wizard moves to the next step.

4.3 Sign Up (if you do not have an account)

1. On the Sign In screen, click Sign Up.
2. Enter your Full Name, Email Address, and Country.
3. If you want a username different from your email address, tick Choose username different from email and enter it.
4. Click Register.
5. Check your email for the OTP.
6. Enter the OTP and set a password. 
7. Click Sign Up. You are returned to the Sign In screen with your username pre-filled.
   

4.4 Forgot Password

1. Enter your username or email on the Sign In screen.
2. Click Forgot Password.
3. Check your email for the OTP.
4. Enter the OTP and your new password, then click Sign In.

Use Resend OTP if the code does not arrive.

4.5 Channel Preferences

Set the order in which channels are attempted when no specific channel is chosen at send time.

1. Select Preferred Channel 1 (SMS or WhatsApp).
2. Optionally select Preferred Channel 2 as the fallback.
3. Click Save & Next.

Both fields are optional. If you set both, they must be different channels.

4.6 Enable OAuth

OAuth authorization allows ValueText to deliver incoming messages and delivery status updates back into your Zoho CRM.

1. Click Enable OAuth.
2. Read the note and click OK. An authorization page opens in a new tab.
3. Sign in to your Zoho account and click Accept to grant access.
4. Sign in to the ValueText account and Return to the setup tab and click Finish.

Important: Log out of all other Zoho organizations before starting this step, to ensure authorization is granted for the correct org.

The user who completes this step is recorded as the default owner for conversations that cannot be matched to a specific record owner.

4.7 Module Preferences

Configure which modules are searched, and in what order, when an inbound message arrives.

1. Select Module Preference 1 — the module searched first.
2. Optionally select Module Preference 2 — searched if no match is found in the first.
3. Click Save.

When an incoming message arrives for the first time, ValueText searches your records in this order, identifies the record using the customer’s phone number, and associates the conversation with the first matching record.

Both fields are optional; if you set both, they must be different modules.

PART 2 — CONFIGURATION

5. Sender IDs

Sender IDs are the numbers your organization sends from. 

Creating or editing a Sender ID

1. Open the Sender IDs module.
2. Click Create (or open an existing record to edit).
3. Complete the fields:

1. Click Save.
   

Tip: Set a Label on every sender. Without it the From dropdown shows the raw number, which is harder for users to identify at a glance.

6. Access Levels

Access Levels are folders that control which users can see which sender IDs and templates. A sender or template with no Access Level assigned is visible to everyone.

Creating an Access Level

1. Navigate to the Access Levels module.
2. Click Create.
3. Enter a Name — this appears as the folder name.
4. Select an Access Type: Populate Access Profiles or Access User as required.

1. Click Save.

Assigning an Access Level

• To a template: open the Dynamic Template record and set its Access Level field.
• To a sender ID: open the Sender ID record and set its Access Level field.

Templates with no Access Level appear in the Public folder in the template picker, visible to all users.

Example

Goal	Configuration
Sales team only sees sales templates	Access Level “Sales Templates”, Access Type = Profile Based Access, Access Profiles = Sales
Two named managers can use the escalation number	Access Level “Escalations”, Access Type = Multiple User Access, Access User = both managers; assign to the Sender ID
Everyone can use a template	Leave Access Level blank

7. Dynamic Templates

Templates let you send standardized messages quickly, with values merged live from the CRM record.

Templates can be managed from the Template Submission tab or directly in the Dynamic Templates module.

Viewing templates

1. Click the Template Submission tab.
2. The Dynamic Templates view lists all templates with their Template Name, Message Body, Unique Name, Module Name, Category Type and WA Structure.
3. Use Search by Template Name to filter, and the pagination controls to move between pages.
4. Click Refresh to reload the list after making changes.
   
   

Creating a template

1. From the Template Submission tab, click Create Dynamic Template.
2. Complete the fields as shown below
   

1. Click Save.

8. WhatsApp Template Approval

WhatsApp requires every template to be approved by Meta before it can be used to start a conversation. The Template Submission tab lets you submit templates for approval without leaving CRM.

Submitting a template for approval

1. Click the Template Submission tab.
2. Select the WhatsApp Approval Request view.
3. Click to create a new approval request.

After approval

Once Meta approves the template, the approved template’s identifier is stored in WA Template Unique Name on the Dynamic Template record — shown in the Unique Name column of the template list. The template is then available in the chat console for WhatsApp sends.

Note: Approval times are set by Meta and typically range from a few minutes to 24 hours. Templates rejected by Meta must be edited and resubmitted.

9. Custom Phone Fields

By default, the To dropdown in the chat console lists every phone-type field on the record. Custom Phone Fields let you add text fields that hold phone numbers, or hide phone fields you do not want used.

1. Navigate to the Custom Phone Fields module.
2. Click Create.
3. Complete the fields:
   

1. Click Save.

PART 3 — FEATURES

10. Mini Chat Console

The Mini Chat Console appears as a related list on the detail page of Leads, Contacts, Accounts, Deals and Cases. It shows the full conversation with that record and lets you reply without leaving the page.

Opening the console

1. Open any Lead, Contact, Account, Deal or Case record.
2. Select Mini Chat Console from the Related List panel, or scroll to it in the Overview tab.

Sending a message

1. Select a From number. The channel switches automatically to that sender’s default communication channel.
2. Select a To number. The dropdown lists every phone field on the record that has a value, labelled with the field name — for example, Phone [9876543210].
3. Select a Channel — Default, SMS, or WhatsApp.
4. Type your message in the composer.
5. Click Send.

The counter below the composer shows the character count and the number of SMS segments the message will consume.

Sending a template

1. Set the Channel to WhatsApp, or click the Templates icon while on SMS/Default.
2. Choose a folder from the folder dropdown — Public contains templates with no folder assigned.
3. Choose a template from the template dropdown.
4. The preview populates with merge field values pulled live from the record.
5. Edit any merge field value in the boxes below the preview if needed — the preview updates as you type.
6. Click Send.

Click Back to return to the free-form composer.

Reading the conversation

All messages for the selected From/To pair on this record are shown in date order. Outbound messages appear on the right, inbound on the left. Each message shows:

• The channel icon (SMS or WhatsApp)
• The delivery status indicator
• The sender’s name
• The timestamp

WhatsApp and the 24-hour window

WhatsApp Business rules allow free-form messages only within 24 hours of the customer’s most recent inbound message. Outside that window, only approved templates may be sent.

When the template picker is shown because the window is closed, the console displays the message: “Please use a WhatsApp Approved Template Message to initiate the conversation.”

To send a template while inside an open 24-hour session, click the Templates icon to switch to the template picker manually.

Live updates

After you send a message, or open a conversation, the bell icon  shows a New Message Received notification.

11. Converse View

The Converse View tab shows every conversation in one place, independent of any single record. Use it as a working inbox rather than jumping between records.

To open it, click the Converse View tab in Zoho CRM.

Layout

• Left rail — navigation filters
• Middle panel — the chat list, one row per conversation
• Right panel — the full chat console for the selected conversation

Navigation filters

Filter	Shows
All Chats	Every conversation except those marked spam
Inbox	Conversations whose latest message was inbound
Outbox	Conversations whose latest message was outbound
Spam	Conversations marked as spam

View scope

Toggle between:

• My view — conversations owned by you
• My team view — all conversations in the organization

Conversation ownership is set automatically: inbound conversations are assigned to the owner of the matched record, and outbound conversations to the user who sent the message.

Opening the related record

Click the conversation name in the console header to open the related CRM record.

12. Automation & Workflows

Messages can be sent automatically by Zoho CRM workflow rules, so routine communication happens without anyone opening the console.

Example use case

When a Deal moves to the “Qualified” stage, send the contact a WhatsApp confirmation.

Step 1: Navigate to Workflow Rules

1. Log in to Zoho CRM.
2. Click the Setup (gear) icon in the top-right corner.
3. Under Automation, select Workflow Rules.

Step 2: Create a new workflow rule

1. Click Create Rule.
2. Select the Module the workflow applies to — for this example, Deals.
3. Click Next.

Step 3: Enter rule details

• Rule Name: Qualified Deal Notification
• Description (optional): Send WhatsApp confirmation when a deal is qualified

Click Next.

Step 4: Select the trigger

Choose when the workflow should execute. Available options:

• On a record action (create/edit)
• On date/time
• Based on score

For this use case, select On a record action → Create or Edit.

Step 5: Define conditions

1. Select Execute the workflow when specific conditions are met.
2. Add a condition:
   • Field: Stage
   • Operator: is
   • Value: Qualified
3. You can add multiple conditions using AND/OR logic.
4. Click Next.

Step 6: Add the action

1. Click Instant Actions → Create Record.
2. Select the Message Bucket module.
3. Populate the fields:

Field	Value
Sender ID From	Your sending number
Number To Phone	The recipient’s number, mapped from the record
Template ID / Message	The templateId to send/Message body
Related To	The record ID
Process Type	Automation
Type	Outbound

1. Save.

Step 7: Save and activate

1. Click Save.
2. Enable Activate Rule.

Note: The workflow will not run unless activated. Only Message Bucket records with Process Type set to Automation are picked up and sent automatically.

Merge fields in the template are resolved against the related record at send time, and the resulting message and delivery status are written back to the same Message Bucket record.

Other automation ideas

Trigger	Message
Lead created	Welcome message with a booking link
Deal stage → Closed Won	Thank you and next steps
Appointment date approaching	Reminder 24 hours before
Case closed	Satisfaction survey link

Wallet balance

Your ValueText wallet balance is shown at the top right of the ValueText Setup tab once you have signed in. Click the refresh icon beside it to fetch the current figure.

If the balance reads Balance unavailable, your stored credentials may have expired — sign in again from the Sign In step of the setup wizard.

Support

For assistance with the extension or your ValueText account, contact support@valuetext.io 

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