Live chat

Connect Telegram

Open Connections in the sidebar, choose Telegram and click Connect Telegram. Telegram opens; on a computer, scan the QR code with your phone. Tap Start, and the card shows “Connected to” and your Telegram name. We email you when a Telegram account is connected, so you can disconnect it if it wasn’t you.

Live chat needs visitor details switched on. If they’re off, the button reads Turn on visitor details and connect and does both.

When a visitor asks for a person

The agent tells the visitor it has let your team know, and they can also leave their details. In Telegram you see where on your site they are, their latest message and their last few questions.

• Reply to that message to answer. Your reply appears in their chat, labelled “{your business} team”, and the agent stays quiet while you talk. Replies are sent as text, up to 2,000 characters.
• Tap Not now if you can’t take it. The visitor is told no one is free and can leave their details.
• If nobody replies within two minutes, the visitor gets the same message.
• Tap End chat when you’re done. The agent answers again, and also after ten minutes without a message from you.

If the visitor has already left, Telegram tells you, and you can answer by email if they left their details.

Privacy

Visitors’ contact details are never sent to Telegram: email addresses and phone numbers they type are removed first. See Privacy.

Pause or disconnect

Under More on the card: Pause until tomorrow, or Disconnect Telegram. While paused, visitors can leave their details as usual. At most 30 live chats a day; after that, new visitors get the enquiry form until the next day.