A channel integration connects a project to the place your customers write or talk from, such as WebChat, WhatsApp, Facebook or Teams. Unlike a service integration, a channel belongs to a single project. See Service Integrations.
You need the Channel Integrations permission to see the list, and Channel Integrations > Edit to create, change or delete channels.
Creating a channel
- Go to Integrations and open Channels. The Channel Integrations list shows each channel's Name, Type, Project and Modified Date.
- Select New Integration.
- Enter a Name. It must be unique and can be up to 200 characters. A name that says both the channel and the project helps, for example
WebChat_EN_Banking. - Choose a Type, then a Provider. When a type has only one provider, it is selected for you.
- Fill in the provider's fields and save. The provider supplies the values, such as the service address and credentials.
After saving, you cannot change the Type or the Provider. To change them, create a new channel.
Types and providers
| Type | Providers |
|---|---|
| Avatar | Uneeq |
| Azure | |
| ExternalBot | Unifonic |
| Facebook, Azure, Sprinklr, Unifonic | |
| Slack | Azure |
| Sms | Twilio |
| Teams | Azure |
| Telegram | Connexease, Azure |
| WebChat | Azure, Sprinklr, Sestek |
| Connexease, Facebook, Gupshup, Infobip, Sprinklr, Unifonic, 360 Dialog, Twilio |
WebChat with the Sestek provider
The Sestek WebChat form has four tabs:
| Tab | What you set |
|---|---|
| Style | The widget's title, colours, bubble icon and avatars, with a live preview beside the form. |
| Generic | Cookie timeout, agent capacity threshold, custom action data, the input placeholder, file upload, recording, disabling earlier buttons after a new message, and an info area. |
| Warning Modal | The text and buttons of the dialog shown when the customer ends the conversation. |
| Code | The code to embed the widget in your website. It appears once the channel is attached to a project. |
Attaching a channel to a project
Open the project's General settings, or the project creation wizard, and use Select Channels. Select + next to it to create a channel without leaving the page. See Creating a Project.
A channel can serve one project. A channel already attached to another project is listed but greyed out.
The channels you select are the draft's. When you publish, you choose the channels the published version uses, and publishing stops if a selected channel has empty required fields. See Publishing and Versions.
⚠️ Warning: You can delete a channel that a project uses. The platform warns you, then deletes it and removes its registration with the provider. Check the channel's Project column before you delete it.
Responses for a specific channel
Some nodes can hold a different response for each channel, for example a shorter text for WhatsApp than for WebChat. A new node starts with Default Channel only. Add Channel adds a tab for another channel, starting from a copy of the Default Channel responses.
| Node | Channel tabs |
|---|---|
| Say, Ask, Ask Missing Slot, Confirmation | Default Channel, WebChat, Mobile, Avatar, WhatsApp, IVR, Sms, Facebook |
| Ask Attachment | The same, without IVR |
| AI Agent, RAG Agent | Default Channel, IVR |
At runtime a conversation uses its channel's tab when the node has one, and Default Channel otherwise. Slack, Telegram, Instagram and test conversations use the WebChat tab. Every WhatsApp provider shares the WhatsApp tab.
Channel IDs for API callers
When your application starts or continues a conversation through the API, it sends a channel ID. Send IDs in lowercase.
| Caller | Channel ID |
|---|---|
| Your own application, by channel type | avatar-external, facebook-external, instagram-external, ivr-external, slack-external, sms-external, teams-external, telegram-external, threads-external, webchat-external, whatsapp-external, externalbot-external |
| Sestek WebChat | webchat-sestek |
| Sestek WebChat on mobile | webchatmobile-sestek |
| A channel created in Channels | The type and provider in lowercase, joined by a hyphen, for example whatsapp-infobip |
An ID the platform does not recognise is handled as webchat-external. Conversations started from the test panel use the ID TestChat. See Testing a Project.