Channels Overview

Channels are where your bot talks to customers. Connect WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram or your website, then publish a bot to go live.

5 min read

Overview

A channel is a customer-facing surface where your bot holds conversations, a messaging app like WhatsApp or Telegram, a social inbox like Instagram or Facebook, or the chat widget on your own website.

One bot can serve every channel you connect, with a single customer identity across them. Connecting a channel makes it available; you then publish a bot to it to go live.

Channels vs Integrations

Channels are where customers talk to your bot. Integrations (Slack, HubSpot, Shopify…) are the back-office tools your bot acts on. They’re documented in the separate Integrations section.

Available channels

Pick a channel from the sidebar to open its full setup guide.

Channel	Best for	How you connect it
WhatsApp	High-engagement support and notifications	Meta WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API)
Instagram	Social DMs and commerce	Meta app + a linked Facebook Page
Facebook	Messenger support	Meta app + your Facebook Page
Web Widget	Instant chat on your website	A copy-paste embed snippet: no external account
Telegram	Quick bots and communities	A BotFather bot token

How channels work

Inbound messages reach B6AI through a webhook the channel calls; B6AI runs your bot and replies through the channel’s API. When a conversation needs a human, it hands off to Chats, the same agent inbox for every channel.

Messaging apps owned by Meta (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook) enforce a customer-service window and, for proactive messages, pre-approved templates or message tags. Telegram and the Web Widget have no such window.

Publishing a bot to a channel

Connecting a channel is only half the job, you still publish a bot to it.

Open the bot in Bots, go to its Channels tab, and Configure and Enable the channel.
Build and test your bot in Bot Builder until it passes validation.
Click Publish and select the channel(s) to publish to.
Run a live test on the channel, then share it with customers.

Messaging windows & templates

Understanding each channel’s rules prevents undelivered messages.

Channel	Customer-service window	Proactive messaging
WhatsApp	24 hours after the customer’s last message	Requires pre-approved message templates + opt-in
Instagram / Facebook	24 hours (extended for human-agent handoff)	Limited to specific message tags/policies
Telegram	No fixed window	User must Start the bot first
Web Widget	Not applicable (on your site)	Visitor-initiated

Opt-in matters

For Meta channels, only message customers who have opted in, and use approved templates outside the 24-hour window, otherwise messages are blocked and your quality rating drops.

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