Introduction: Sometimes the person going through your flow isn’t the person you need to engage next. With Start somebody else in a flow, you can automatically start another contact (or a group) in a different flow while the current contact continues normally.
Start a third party in a flow (without interrupting the current contact)
If you just need the essentials, follow this quick path:
- Decide who to start (one contact via a field, or a whole group)
- Add Start somebody else in a flow in the right node
- Select recipients correctly (manual, group, or variable like
@fields.spouse) - Pick the destination flow and save
- Test in the Simulator and confirm the recipient in the action log
- Advanced: create a new contact, then populate fields from
@parent - If “child is active but parent is reachable”, use third-party messaging explicitly
This pattern is ideal for parent/guardian scenarios, agent escalation, supervisor notifications, and parallel workflows.
Step-by-Step Process
- Identify the “third party” you want to start:
- A single contact (example: a father stored in a contact field like
@fields.spouse) - A group of contacts (example: “Supervisors” or “Agents”)
- Confirm the target contact or group already exists in your workspace.
[CAPTURE: Contacts or Groups list showing a target contact or a group like “Supervisors”.]
@fields.spouse), make sure that field is consistently filled for your contacts.
- Open the flow where you want to trigger the third party flow.
- Create a new node (or add an action to an existing node).
- From the action list, choose Start somebody else in a flow.
[CAPTURE: Flow editor with the action dropdown open and “Start somebody else in a flow” highlighted.]
- In the action configuration, select how recipients will be chosen:
- Select recipients manually (for a specific contact reference)
- Start a group (if your UI supports group selection directly)
- If using a contact reference, enter the variable that points to the other person (example:
@fields.spouse).
[CAPTURE: “Start somebody else in a flow” configuration showing recipient selection method and a recipient field filled with a variable like @fields.spouse.]
- Choose the destination flow (example: Questions for Dads).
- Save the configuration.
Result: When the current contact reaches this step, the third party is started in the selected flow at the same time (while the current contact continues normally).
[CAPTURE: Flow picker showing the selected destination flow.]
- Open the Simulator.
- Run through the flow until the step that triggers the third party.
- Confirm:
- The current contact continues the current flow.
- The third party flow is started for the referenced recipient.
[CAPTURE: Simulator view showing an action log entry indicating a third party was started in a specific flow.]
You can also use Start somebody else in a flow to create a brand-new contact and then populate their fields in the new flow.
Example use case: create a “Child” contact profile.
- In the parent flow (example: Register Child), collect data using results like:
@results.child_name@results.child_age
- Add Start somebody else in a flow and select Create a new contact (if available).
- Start a second flow (example: Create Child Contact) that:
- Uses Update the Contact to save values passed from the parent (example:
@parent.results.child_name) - Stores a parent/guardian phone number on the new contact (example pattern:
@parent.urns.tel)
[CAPTURE: Child flow showing Update the Contact using @parent.results.* to populate the new contact.]
@parent namespace when you need values collected in the parent flow, and @contact in the child flow to reference the new active contact.
If the child is the active contact but the parent is the reachable person, build reminder or follow-up logic that targets the parent explicitly:
- Use Send message to third party (to message the parent), or
- Use Start somebody else in a flow (to route messaging through the parent)
Example address stored on the child contact: @contact.fields.mother_phone (or @fields.mother_phone)
[CAPTURE: Flow node sending a message to a third party using @contact.fields.mother_phone.]
@contact.name refers to the child—not the parent. Always reference the parent’s address field explicitly when sending reminders.
Common Issues & Quick Fixes
The third party flow doesn’t start
Problem: The action runs, but no third party is started.
Fix:
- Verify the variable you used (example:
@fields.spouse) is not empty for that contact. - Confirm the referenced person exists as a valid contact identifier in your workspace.
- Test in the simulator and check the action log.
The wrong person gets started
Problem: A different contact (or unexpected recipient) gets started in the flow.
Fix:
- Confirm the contact field contains the correct identifier/value for the intended third party.
- Standardize how you store third-party references (same format across contacts).
- If you start a group, verify the group membership is up to date.
Messages are sent to the child instead of the parent
Problem: The child is the active contact, so messages go to the child’s URN instead of the parent.
Fix:
- If the child is active in the flow, use Send message to third party to message the parent address field.
- Store the parent phone number on the child profile (example:
@fields.mother_phone) and always reference it explicitly.