Alerts let reps know when there’s a hot visitor on the site that’s ready for a pounce, or is requesting an incoming call, without them needing to sit in ServiceBell’s dashboard 24/7.
In one click, reps can launch ServiceBell and initiate a call, from the tools they already use everyday, like Slack.
This tutorial walks ServiceBell admins through configuring the Slack Integration.
Connect Slack to ServiceBell
First, navigate to Settings > Notifications and click “Enable push notifications.”
When prompted by your browser to enable notification permissions, click “Allow.”
You’ll see a confirmation box pop up that looks like this:
The test notification (on Google Chrome) looks like this:
If you don't get a test notification after enabling them, make sure your operating system allows notifications from your browser.
Connect Slack to ServiceBell
You’ll need a Slack administrator to install the ServiceBell app in your Slack workspace, and create dedicated ServiceBell Slack channels.
Create at least one dedicated Slack channel for ServiceBell.
Then, ServiceBell admins can Navigate to Settings > Integrations and toggle the Slack integration on. Follow the prompts on screen to sign-in to Slack, and select your ServiceBell Slack channel for alerts.
Manually Installing the ServiceBell Slack App
The ServiceBell app should automatically install in Slack after conecting your Slack account. If you’re not receiving alerts, try manually installing the Slack app.
First, scroll down to the Apps section in your Slack workspace and click the Browse apps (+) button.
Search for the ServiceBell app in the Slack App Directory, and you should see it pop up. Click ”Add to Slack” and you’re good to go. (Note, you can only add the ServiceBell app as a Slack administrator. Contact your administrator if you need permissions.)
Once connected, you should see ServiceBell in your list of connected apps:
Choose Slack Channels
After connecting Slack, choose where you want to send notifications for incoming calls, chats, meetings, and pounce alerts:
You can also create dedicated Slack channels for different user groups. For example:
- West coast sales team vs east coast sales team
- Product A vs Product B reps
- Enterprise sales reps vs small business reps
- Outbound reps vs inbound reps
- SDRs vs AEs
To alert specific Slack channels or ServiceBell agents, navigate to Automate > Alerts and click Send an alert.
Click the Who dropdown menu in the Send app alert window. Choose the Slack channel(s) or agent(s) of your choice.
Click “Send test alert” and see if the notification fires in the right Slack channel(s).
Enabling Notifications in Your Operating System
Mac
- Search for “Notifications” in the spotlight, or open “Notifications” from “System Preferences”
- Find your browser in the list of applications (Google Chrome, Firefox)
- Ensure that “Allow Notifications” is toggled on, and that the style is either “Banners” or “Alerts”
Send yourself a test alert by visiting a page with alerts configured. You should see something like this pop up:
Windows
- Click Start > Settings.
- Select System
- Click Notifications & Actions
- Toggle on Get notifications from apps and other senders
- Scroll down to Get notifications from these senders
- Toggle on the apps you want to get notifications from. In this case, we want to enable your browser alerts, along with Slack or Microsoft Teams, depending on which you’re using
Visit a page with alerts configured to fire a test alert. See if an alert banner pops up on your screen. If not, make sure you have Show notification banners turned on.
Browser Compatibility
Browser | Supports Push Notifications |
Chrome | ✅ Yes |
Firefox | ✅ Yes |
Safari | ❌ No |
Microsoft Edge | ✅ Yes |
Brave | ⚠️ Requires configuration¹ |
Internet Explorer | ❌ No |
iOS Safari | ❌ No |
Android Chrome | ✅ Yes |
Android Firefox | ✅ Yes |
¹Go to brave://settings/privacy and enable "Use Google services for push messaging". Must restart browser for setting to take effect.
Conclusion
Alerts are paramount if you want to convert more visitors into opportunities. Without alerts configured, you’ll miss hot inbound leads that want to chat in realtime, along with prime opportunities to pounce on VIP visitors.
Make sure alert banners are firing before moving on, or you likely won’t have many conversations with hot prospects on your website.