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Other channels

By Faisal Karkoh
• 6 articles

How to setup a WhatsApp channel?

You can manage your WhatsApp Business Account conversations directly from AlooChat. To connect your WhatsApp number, AlooChat supports two onboarding methods: - Embedded Signup (recommended) – a guided flow powered by Meta that auto-configures your number, webhooks, and tokens. - Manual Setup – an advanced option for tech providers and cases where Embedded Signup cannot be used. This guide gives you an overview of both methods, their differences, and links to detailed step-by-step instructions. Prerequisites - A Meta (Facebook) developer or business account - A valid phone number (not already tied to another WhatsApp Embedded Signup flow, unless migrating) - A AlooChat workspace with WhatsApp feature enabled Step 1: Go to Inboxes 1. Log into your AlooChat account. 2. Navigate to Settings › Inboxes › Add Inbox. 3. Choose WhatsApp as the channel. Step 2: Choose Your Setup Method When creating a WhatsApp Inbox, you’ll see two options: Connect with Whatsapp Business (Embedded Signup) - Redirects you to Meta’s Embedded Signup flow. - You log in with your Facebook account, select or create a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA), and add your phone number. - AlooChat automatically receives the webhook, tokens, and phone number configuration. Use this option if you are: - Adding a new WhatsApp number - Looking for the fastest, no-configuration setup - Not a tech provider onboarding your own number Read the full guide on WhatsApp Embedded Signup Manual Setup - You configure everything through the Meta Developer Console. - Requires generating tokens, creating a system user, assigning assets, and setting up webhooks manually. - You copy/paste the Phone Number ID, Business Account ID, and API key into Chatwoot. Use this option if you are: - A tech provider onboarding your own number - Reusing a number that is already linked to Embedded Signup - Comfortable working with the Meta Developer dashboard

Last updated on Nov 06, 2025

How to setup an Email channel?

To manage your customer support/ticketing email from AlooChat, you can create an Email inbox in AlooChat. This is a complete guide to getting your Email channel up and running. This document is divided into three parts: 1. Creating an Email inbox 2. Settings for Gmail users 3. Creating a Microsoft Email inbox Feel free to jump to any section. Let's roll. How to create an Email inbox in AlooChat**?** Step 1. Open your AlooChat dashboard. Go to Settings → Inboxes → Add Inbox. Step 2. Click on the "Email" icon. Step 3. Enter the channel name (how you’d like to address this channel), and your support email, and click the "Create Email Channel" button. P.S. You will also see an option to select Microsoft as an Email provider. If you use an Outlook/Microsoft email, scroll to the "How to create a Microsoft Email channel?" section (last section) instead. Step 4. "Add agents" to your email inbox. You have successfully created an Email inbox. Step 5. Configure your email settings. Go to Settings → Inboxes → Email Inbox settings → Configuration tab. You will see three main settings here: 1. Forward to Email 2. Configure IMAP 3. Configure SMTP All three settings are explained in the following sections. How to forward emails to Chatwoot inbox? Step 1. Copy the "Forward to email address" from the Configuration tab under inbox Settings. Step 2. Configure the copied email address as the forwarding email address in the email inbox. P.S. Check the Gmail section below to learn how to add a forwarding address in Gmail. Step 3. Send a mail to the forwarding address added inbox and check the Chatwoot email inbox for the new email. How to configure IMAP for the Email channel? If you are using Gmail, scroll down to the IMAP section for Gmail below. Step 1. Go to Settings → Inboxes → Email Inbox settings → Configuration tab. Step 2. Select the checkbox Enable IMAP configuration for this inbox. You’ll be able to see the required fields as follows. 1. Address 2. Port 3. Email 4. Password P.S. If using a 2FA-enabled Gmail, scroll down to the "How to generate app password for Gmail?" section. If using a regular Gmail account, scroll down to the "How to allow less secure access to Gmail?" section. Step 3. Test if everything is working fine. Send an email to the IMAP-configured email in Chatwoot. Check Chatwoot inbox for the new email. Open the email conversation in Chatwoot and verify the email details. How to configure SMTP for the Email channel? Step 1. Go to Settings -> Inboxes -> Email Inbox settings page. Step 2. Select the "Configuration" tab. Step 3. To enable SMTP, select the checkbox "Enable SMTP configuration for this inbox". Fill in the fields below and click the "Update SMTP settings" button. 1. Address 2. Port 3. Email 4. Password P.S. If using a 2FA-enabled Gmail, scroll down to the "How to generate app password for Gmail?" section. If using a regular Gmail account, scroll down to the "How to allow less secure access to Gmail?" section. 5. Domain Step 4. Open an existing email Conversation in Chatwoot. Step 5. Type a reply message for the conversation and click the "Send" button. Verify that mail has been delivered. You can also check the recipient inbox for the delivered email. Settings for Gmail users How to enable IMAP for Gmail inbox? Step 1. Open your Gmail inbox and click the Settings icon in the top right corner. Click the "See all settings" button. Step 2. Select the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab on the Settings page. Step 3. Choose the "Enable IMAP" option under the IMAP access section and click the "Save Changes" button. How to allow less secure access to Gmail? Note: This option is unavailable for Gmail accounts with enabled 2-step verification or those managed by an organization. Step 1. Go to Google Account Security. Step 2. Click on "Turn on access" under the "Less secure app access" section on the Security page. Step 3. Toggle "Allow less secure apps" to "ON". Now you can use your Gmail account password to configure IMAP/SMTP. How to generate app password for Gmail? Note: This option is for Gmail accounts with enabled 2-step verification or those managed by an organization. Step 1. Go to Google Account Security. Step 2. Click "App passwords" under the "Signing in to Google" section on the Security page. Step 3. Select the Mail app, select a device, and click "GENERATE". Use the generated password to configure IMAP/SMTP. How to add a forwarding address for Gmail? Step 1. Open your Gmail inbox and click the Settings icon in the top right corner. Click the "See all settings" button. Step 2. Select the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab on the Settings page. Step 3. Click the "Add a forwarding address" button. It will ask for the forwarding email address. Enter the one from Chatwoot and click the "Next" button. Step 4. Confirm the forwarding address in the browser popup. The email inbox will send a verification code to the forwarding email address. Step 5. Copy the verification code from the Chatwoot email inbox. Step 6. Paste the verification code and click the "Verify" button. Step 7. Select the "Forward a copy of incoming mail" option. Choose the required action from the second dropdown and click the "Save Changes" button. How to create a Microsoft Email channel? Step 1. Open your Chatwoot dashboard. Go to Settings → Inboxes → Add Inbox. Step 2. Click on the "Email" icon. Step 3. Click on the "Microsoft" icon. Step 4. Add your Outlook/Microsoft email. Step 5. Enter your Microsoft/Outlook credentials. Step 6. Allow the "Chatwoot" app to read and reply to your email. Step 7. "Add agents" to your email inbox. You have successfully created a Microsoft email inbox. Step 5. Configure your email settings. Go to Settings → Inboxes → Email Inbox settings → Configuration tab. Note: Please do not change anything in Settings for now, as we have used the default values for IMAP and SMTP. We will be making these fields non-editable soon for Outlook accounts. We use default IMAP settings to fetch emails and SMTP to send; you don't need to set anything through configuration. Step 6. If your access token expires, you must re-authorize your Microsoft account by going to Settings -> Configuration.

Last updated on Nov 06, 2025

How to setup a Telegram channel?

Step 1. Go to Settings → Inboxes → “Add Inbox”. Step 2. Click on the "Telegram" icon. Step 3. Create a new telegram bot using Telegram BotFather. Step 4. Enter the API token of the Telegram bot and click on "Create Telegram Channel". Step 5. "Add agents" to your Telegram inbox. The inbox setup is complete. Step 6. Go to the Inbox settings page and verify that the inbox name matches the bot username created using BotFather. Step 7. Send a message to the Telegram bot. Check AlooChat Telegram inbox for the new message. FAQs Does AlooChat support Telegram Business Bot accounts? Yes — support for Telegram Business-mode bots was added in AlooChat v4.3.0 (18 Jun 2025). How to enable Business Bots? 1. In @BotFather run /business_mode, choose your bot, and confirm. 2. Create a new Telegram inbox in AlooChat (Settings → Inboxes → Add Inbox → Telegram) and paste the same bot token. 3. AlooChat auto-detects Business Mode and registers the correct webhook. 4. For best results, keep this Business bot in its own inbox, separate from any standard bot you already use.  Known issues with Business Bot • 24-hour reply window – Telegram only lets the bot (and AlooChat) reply within 24 hours of the customer’s last message.  • If a user has previously chatted with the same bot outside Business Mode, replies may appear to come from the bot rather than the Business account; creating a dedicated Business bot & inbox avoids this confusion. • The Telegram Business API is currently less feature-rich than the regular Bot API (e.g., no typing indicators, limited message types). Keep expectations accordingly.

Last updated on Nov 06, 2025

How to setup a WhatsApp channel (Manual flow)?

You can manage your WhatsApp business account conversations from AlooChat. To set it up, you have two options to choose your provider: 1. WhatsApp Cloud API 2. Twilio We'll explain all the procedures in this guide. Prerequisites 1. You need a Meta Developer Account to setup WhatsApp API. If you dont have a developer account already click here to create one before proceeding 2. A valid phone number Using Whatsapp Cloud API WhatsApp Cloud API is available to all businesses and individual developers. Since it's hosted on Meta's cloud infrastructure, you no longer need to use third-party providers like Twilio, Zendesk, 360Dialog, or MessageBird (Business Solution Providers) to host your WhatsApp Business API. Set up your Business Profile Create a professional WhatsApp business profile with your company name, description, and contact information. A well-crafted profile helps customers recognise and trust your brand when they interact with you. Log into https://business.facebook.com and click the create portfolio button in the dropdown menu under Home Complete all required fields to set up your business portfolio. Once you have created your business portfolio, it's time to create your Facebook app. Setup your Facebook App Log into https://developers.facebook.com/ and click the Create App button. Complete the required fields Click "Other" from the options Choose "Business" as your app type Enter your contact email address and choose your business portfolio from the dropdown menu. Add Whatsapp to your app After creating your app, you'll be directed to the app dashboard. From there, click "Add Product" and choose WhatsApp from the available products list. Click the "Set up" button for WhatsApp Note: Before proceeding, verify your business with Meta. You'll need to submit documentation for verification, which is required for full API access. Set Up a Permanent WhatsApp Cloud API Access Token You'll need to create a System User and generate a permanent token to maintain secure, uninterrupted access. Log in to your Facebook developer account, select your WhatsApp app, and navigate to the Business settings page. Click on "System Users" and add a new system user with the role Admin Click the "Add Assets" button, select your app name, choose the "Full Control" option, and click "Assign assets." Return to the system users page, select your newly created system user from the list, and click the "Generate new token" button. Select your app from the dropdown menu Select these three permission levels for your token: - whatsapp_business_manage_events - whatsapp_business_management - whatsapp_business_messaging Copy and save your token Set Up WhatsApp Cloud API To create a new Meta business account, select "create a business account" from the dropdown menu. If you already have a business account, you can select it from the existing options. I'm selecting "create a business account". Click the continue button. Paste your permanent token here Add your production ready phone number Note: Meta requires a verified phone number for WhatsApp API setup. You can verify your number using an OTP (one-time password). Once you have added and verified your phone number, the next step is configuring a webhook to receive inbound messages. Connecting Your AlooChat Account Let's connect your AlooChat account with your WhatsApp Cloud API Copy your WhatsApp Phone Number ID and Business Account ID from this section Log into your Chatwoot account, go to Settings > Inbox, and select WhatsApp channel Enter your phone number, phone number ID, and business ID from your WhatsApp API setup Add team members to your WhatsApp inbox Copy the webhook URL and webhook verification token provided here Set Up Your Webhook We need to set up the WhatsApp webhook to receive incoming customer messages sent to your business number. Your callback URL should be in the format of https://app.chatwoot.com/webhooks/whatsapp/{phone_number}. Log into your Facebook developer account and navigate to WhatsApp > Configuration Paste your Chatwoot webhook URL and verification token here, then click "Verify and Save" Set up webhook permissions by subscribing to messages That's it—you're all done! You can now start sending WhatsApp messages through AlooChat. FAQ’s How to configure multiple numbers under a single Facebook app? Facebook App allows configuring only a single Webhook endpoint. So create Inboxes in AlooChat for all the numbers as required. You will need to configure the Webhook URL provided for only one of these inboxes in the Facebook app for all the other inboxes to work. What type of Whatsapp templates are supported by AlooChat ? Please check the doc for more details about templates. What are the supported media types?

Last updated on Nov 06, 2025