Reply to Zalo OA Messages

Guide Info

Target audience: CS Staff, CS Lead

Reading time: 3–5 minutes.

Outcome: Reply to customer messages in Discuss and handle common exceptions correctly.

When to use this guide

Use this when CS staff need to reply to customers directly from the Zalo menu in Viindoo.

Example used throughout this guide: Mr. Sơn — a customer who messaged the company’s Zalo OA — asks about delivery timing. CS staff Lan handles the reply from Discuss without switching to the external Zalo OA app. Staying in one place saves the handover note that would otherwise need to be copied manually between apps, and keeps the team inside the 7-day Advisory Message window — a missed window means the reply can no longer be sent as a free-form message at all.

Note

• This guide focuses on the reply workflow only.

• If the OA is not yet connected or has no conversation data, see Configure Zalo OA.

Reply quickly in Discuss

Replying from Viindoo instead of the external Zalo OA app keeps conversation history attached to the customer record in Discuss — next shift staff don’t need to search elsewhere. More importantly, per Zalo policy, Advisory Messages can only be sent within 7 days of the customer’s last message. Centralizing replies in Viindoo helps the team stay within the time window and never miss a message. Teams that previously split between the Zalo OA app and a CRM typically spend 10–20 minutes per shift reconciling conversation history; a single inbox removes that overhead entirely.

1. Go to Zalo.

2. Select the correct OA from the sidebar.

3. Open the customer conversation you need to handle.

4. Compose and send your reply.

5. Check the send status immediately on the message.

After sending, the message is recorded in the Zalo conversation in Discuss so the entire CS team follows the same history. If the Zalo Chatter Bridge module is enabled (see Configure Zalo OA), the message can also be mirrored to the Chatter of related business documents. If this module is not enabled, the ops team only sees history in Discuss and must manually note it on documents if business logic requires it.

Tip

Checklist for correct workflow:

• Working in the Zalo menu.

• Selected the correct OA before replying.

• Sent message shows updated status.

• Customer in conversation is the correct person you need to help, not a placeholder or temporary contact.

Supported content and limits

Supported content types:

• Text

• Image

• PDF file (max 5 MB)

Important limits:

• Non-PDF files will be rejected.

• Zalo channel composer does not support sending voice directly.

Understanding send status

Each message carries one of these statuses (hover the icon to see the tooltip):

• Pending on Zalo — queued, not yet sent (hourglass icon)

• Sent on Zalo — handed to Zalo (check icon)

• Delivered on Zalo — delivered to the recipient’s device (check-circle icon)

• Read on Zalo — the recipient opened it (eye icon)

• Failed to send on Zalo — Zalo rejected delivery (times icon)

When multiple consecutive messages from the same person are grouped, Discuss displays one shared status icon for the entire group (example: hourglass = pending send, checkmark = sent) instead of per-message status. To check a specific message, send it individually or look at the icon closest after it.

When to switch to ZBS templates

Example: Mr. Sơn (customer from Business OA) is waiting for a response. Based on the actual situation, choose the right sending method:

Situation	Right method	Action
Customer is actively messaging for discussion	Advisory Message	Reply immediately in Discuss
Reply fails due to send policy or you need to send proactively after a delay	ZBS Template	Switch to Send ZBS Message Templates from Sales Orders
Send notification from a sales order	ZBS Template	Use the sales sidebar in Zalo Discuss — see Create Quotations Directly from Zalo Chat

Note

Currently, ZBS template sending in the Discuss screen only works for templates linked to sales orders via the sales sidebar. Other ZBS templates linked to different documents are not yet available in this workflow.

See also

• Send ZBS Message Templates from Sales Orders — Send ZBS templates from sales orders

• Create Quotations Directly from Zalo Chat — Create a quote directly from a Zalo conversation

• Manage Zalo Partner Links — Check and fix partner links when you cannot identify the correct customer

• Monitor and Troubleshoot Zalo — Diagnose send errors and Zalo channel issues

Common exceptions

1. Message shows “Failed to send on Zalo”: Review the content/file being sent, then consider switching to ZBS if it’s a send policy issue.

2. Cannot see conversation in Zalo menu: Ask Admin to check OA status at Configure Zalo OA.

3. Cannot identify the correct customer to reply to: Escalate to Admin/CS Lead to check partner links at Manage Zalo Partner Links.

4. Team already replied from external OA app: Reopen the conversation in Discuss to check if messages synced, then continue handling in one place.