Slack is a team collaboration application that has gained a significant amount of momentum over the last few years. One of the things that sets Slack apart is the simple and powerful way it can integrate with external applications. In this and the next series of articles, we will review three approaches you can use to integrate Slack and Salesforce:

1. Get information from Salesforce into Slack using Slash Commands
2. Sending messages from Salesforce to Slack using Webhooks
3. Writing a Salesforce Bot for Slack

But before that,

More about Slack

Below are some of the features of Slack that makes it more than just a simple chat application, and in fact a Project Management Tool in its entirety.

Effective communication

Communication is the backbone of any good project and collaboration. Slack supports how people work, making collaboration easy and efficient — just like working face-to-face. A workspace is a shared hub made up of channels, the spaces where members work together.

Channels

Your workspace is comprised of channels: a single place for messaging, tools, and files. Channels bring the right people together with all the right information.

• Channels can be based on anything — teams, projects, or even office locations — and you can create as many as you need. It is similar to #tags of twitter and for that matter pretty much of every social networking site.
• Shared Channels connect two separate organizations together, allowing you to work with external partners and contractors without having to leave Slack.

Direct messages

Direct messages (DMs) and group direct messages (group DMs) are best for ad-hoc conversations that don't require an entire channel to weigh in. DMs can be useful in a number of ways:

• A substitute for an in-person, 1-1 conversation
• An easy way to catch up with a teammate
• A quick and simple way to ask questions

Notifications

Notifications are Slack’s way of telling you about items that need your attention. You can choose to receive notifications on your desktop, your mobile device, or by email. Slack notifications can even be customized by channel, so you can prioritize where your attention goes.

Mentions

Mentions and user groups are an easy way to notify team members and get the right eyes on important information. Include an @mention or user group in your messages to notify the right people to keep the right people updated.

Access to your tools and services

Apps and integrations are the tools that will enable you to build your existing workflows in Slack. Bring important information and alerts into the right channels by connecting services like Zendesk, Salesforce, Jira, or even your own proprietary software. With these tools connected to channels, you can add meaningful context to discussions and complete simple tasks in Slack.

Robust company knowledge

Search is your way to narrow down and find what you need, fast. Search your messages and files or find anything that’s been posted in a public channel, even if you're not a member of it or if it’s been archived. Learn the context of past decisions or see if someone’s already solved the problem at hand.

You’ll find the search field in the upper-right corner of Slack: simply type a word or phrase to start looking. You can even use a number of modifiers to help narrow your results.

Secure working environment

At Slack, we're serious about security. That's why we offer a number of ways to secure your data.

• For an added layer of security, turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) for your account. If your password is compromised or stolen, you'll have peace of mind knowing that only you can sign in.
• Slack also supports SAML-based SSO which allows you to securely access to Slack through an identity provider (IDP) of your choice.

Why integrate Slack with Salesforce? A Short Demo

So let us see how to achieve this with a Nodejs app hosted on Heroku and few configurations in Salesforce and Slack. Apart from this there are two out-of-box apps that connect Slack and Salesforce together, with each providing a different functionality. This is covered at the end of this article.

Get information from Salesforce into Slack using Slash Commands

Custom implementation of slash commands

The following Github link describes in details how to create a connected app followed by the steps to deploy the Slash commands.

Slack-Salesforce Integration - Github

The Salesforce app from Slack

Install the Salesforce app

1. Visit the Salesforce page in the App Directory.
2. Click Install.
3. Authenticate your Salesforce account.

Get more info on Salesforce links in Slack

Share details about a Contact, Account, Lead, or Opportunity with your team by pasting Salesforce links in Slack. The link will expand to show details from Salesforce.

Search Salesforce from Slack

To search, type the slash command /salesforce and your search term in the message field and hit Enter.

Slack will display the top three records — simply click Show Details to see more or to view it in Salesforce.

Note: The /salesforce slash command will search accounts and contacts, but not leads or opportunities.

The Slack app from Salesforce

Install the Slack app

Only Salesforce Administrators can install the app from the Salesforce AppExchange.

1. Visit AppExchange Marketplace from the Salesforce Setup Menu.
2. Search for the Slack app, then click Get It Now.
3. Review the app components, then click Install.

Link your Salesforce records to a Slack channel

Improve communication and transparency around a Contact, Account, Lead, or Opportunity by linking Salesforce records to Slack channels. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• The Chatter connector only works for certain Salesforce record type: Contacts, Accounts, Opportunities, and Leads.
• The Salesforce Chatter connector will not work with a Custom Object.
• The Salesforce Chatter connector will not work in Chatter Groups.

Communicate with Slack and Chatter

• Use the /chatter command in Slack to send updates to Chatter.
• Enter /slack in Chatter to send a post from Chatter to Slack.

Subscribe to the blog and get notified when the articles for the below two approaches are posted on inteygrate.com

• Sending messages from Salesforce to Slack using Webhooks
• Writing a Salesforce Bot for Slack