Connect email, SMS and social

Which channels can I connect?

Every credential you enter is encrypted before it is stored. You can disconnect a channel at any time and nothing is sent from it again.

• Email, using your own mailbox over SMTP for sending and IMAP for receiving.
• SMS, using your own Twilio or Telnyx number - both connect the same way and behave identically once connected.
• WhatsApp, through a Meta app your business owns - customers message your WhatsApp Business number and the conversation lands in the Inbox.

How do I connect an SMS number?

Once connected the vendor makes no difference: texts land in the Inbox as one conversation per number, replies from the Inbox or the contact page go out through the same connection, STOP and START are honoured, and delivery failures mark the contact do-not-contact automatically.

1. Open Settings, then Integrations, then Channels, and under Text messages choose Connect Twilio or Connect Telnyx.
2. Twilio asks for your Account SID, Auth Token and the number; Telnyx asks for your V2 API key and the number. Numbers are E.164, for example +15551234567.
3. We verify the number on your account and wire the inbound webhook automatically - for Telnyx the number must be on a Messaging Profile, which the error will say if it is not.

Before connecting WhatsApp: create your Meta app (one time, about 15 minutes)

WhatsApp connects through a small Meta app that belongs to your business. You only set it up once, and you do not need to be technical - just follow these steps in order. If you get stuck anywhere, ask us from the Help menu and we will do it with you on a call.

1. Go to developers.facebook.com and log in with the Facebook account that manages your business. Click My Apps at the top right, then Create App.
2. When it asks what your app is for, choose Business. Give the app any name (your company name is fine), confirm your email, and pick your business if it asks. Click Create.
3. You will land on the app's home screen showing a list of products. Find WhatsApp and click Set up. Meta will link your WhatsApp Business Account, or create one for you if you do not have one yet.
4. Add your phone number: in the left menu click WhatsApp, then API Setup, then Add phone number, and verify it with the code Meta sends. If your number is already in WhatsApp Business Manager, you can skip this step.
5. Create your permanent access key: open business.facebook.com/settings, click Users, then System users, then Add. Name it anything, set the role to Admin, and save. Now click Add assets, choose Apps and tick your new app, then choose WhatsApp accounts and tick yours - give full control on both.
6. Still on the system user, click Generate new token. Pick your app, set the expiry to Never, tick the two WhatsApp boxes (whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management), and click Generate. Copy the long code and keep it safe - Meta shows it only once.
7. Copy two more things: in the left menu click App settings, then Basic. Note the App ID, and click Show next to App secret and copy that too.
8. Finally, switch the toggle at the top of the app dashboard from Development to Live. No Meta review is needed for messaging your own customers.

How do I connect WhatsApp?

This uses a Meta app that belongs to your business, so any customer can message you on WhatsApp from day one. The setup inside Meta takes about 15 minutes and we are happy to do it with you - just ask from the Help menu.

Replies you send from the Inbox go out from your WhatsApp Business number through your own app, and your credentials are encrypted before they are stored, like every other channel.

1. Open Settings, then Channels, and under WhatsApp via your own Meta app choose Connect your Meta app.
2. Enter the App ID, the App secret and the permanent token you copied while setting up your Meta app above.
3. Pick the phone number to connect. We verify the credentials with Meta, wire your app's webhook to us automatically, and the number goes live.

How do I connect a mailbox?

Replies come back into the same conversation rather than a separate inbox, so the whole exchange is on the contact.

1. Open Settings and choose Channels.
2. Pick Email and enter your SMTP and IMAP details, or sign in if your provider supports it.
3. Send yourself a test message to confirm both directions work.

What happens when someone replies?

The reply lands in Conversations against that contact. If an automation was waiting for a reply, it wakes immediately and carries on. If a teammate is watching the thread, they can take over from the agent at any point and type themselves.

Every connected channel row has an agent dropdown: pick one of your chat agents and it answers new messages on that channel automatically (on WhatsApp its replies go out as normal messages inside the 24 hour window). Leave it on No agent and the channel stays fully human - messages just land in the Inbox for your team.