Channels are the places where your AI Agents talk to your customers. Connect an agent to Web Messenger on your website or to your WhatsApp Business account, decide how conversations start and end, and launch. Every channel follows the same flow and lives on one page.
In this article:
Choose your channel
Channel | Where your customers chat | What you set up |
|---|---|---|
Web Messenger | A chat window on your website. | Design, Conversation Start, Conversation End, and Launch. Add the install script to your pages to show the chat window. |
WhatsApp, the app your customers already use. | Conversation Start, Conversation End, and Launch. WhatsApp sets the look of the chat, so there is no Design step and no script. Test with a QR code. |
Each channel connects to one AI Agent, and the same agent can serve more than one channel. For the full steps, see Set Up a Web Messenger Channel and Set Up a WhatsApp Channel.
Before you start
You need an AI Agent in Active status. Agents in Draft status can't be selected. To create one, navigate to InOne > Agent One > Agent One Audiences > AI Agents. For the full setup, see Create and Configure the Support Agent or Create and Configure the Shopping Agent.
You need the Administrator or Editor role to launch, pause, or delete a channel. Refer to User roles.
For Web Messenger, you need someone who can add a script to your website.
For WhatsApp, you need WhatsApp in your plan, the Conversational API integrated in your account, at least one integrated WhatsApp Business account, and your customers' phone numbers defined as an identifier in the Unified Customer Database (UCD). If something is missing, contact Insider One team.
Open the Channels page
The Channels page lists every channel where your AI Agents interact with your customers.
Navigate to InOne > Agent One > Agent One Audiences > Channels.
Review the list, or click Create to add your first channel.
Set up a channel
Every new channel opens in Draft status. Setup follows the same path for both channel types.
Click Create.
Enter a channel name. The name must be unique and can have up to 128 characters.
Under Channel Type, select Web Messenger or WhatsApp. For WhatsApp, also select a WhatsApp Account.
Click Create, then work through the steps. Click Save and Continue after each one.
Design (Web Messenger only): Match the chat window and launcher to your brand.
Conversation Start: Set the welcome message and the consent (GDPR) request. Web Messenger also has input field settings.
Conversation End: Set the conversation timeout, the fallback message, and the rating.
Launch: Select an Active AI Agent, select Active under Activation Status, and click Launch.
Put the channel in front of customers. For Web Messenger, click Copy Script and paste the script before the closing
</body>tag on every page where the chat window needs to appear. For WhatsApp, scan the QR code to test the conversation on your phone.
Manage your channels
The Channels page lists your channels with their Status, Name, Channel Type, Last Updated, and Connected Agent. Use Select Statuses and Search to narrow the list.
Status | What it means |
|---|---|
Draft | Created but not launched yet. |
Active | Launched. Your AI Agent answers customers on the channel. |
Paused | Temporarily stopped. Settings are kept, and you can launch the channel again. |
Updates Pending | An Active channel with saved changes that are not applied yet. Refer to Update an Active channel. |
Use the actions menu on a channel row to manage it:
See Script (Web Messenger) or See QR Code (WhatsApp): Displays the install script or the test QR code for Active and Paused channels.
Duplicate: Creates a copy of the channel in Draft status.
Update Status as Paused or Update Status as Active: Takes you to the Launch step, where you pause or relaunch the channel.
Delete Channel: Deletes the channel permanently.
An AI Agent that is connected to a channel can't be deleted. Replace it in the channel first. The AI Agents page displays the channels each agent is connected to.
Update an Active channel
When you edit an Active channel, Insider One saves your changes but doesn't apply them yet. The channel displays the Updates Pending status on the Channels page.
Open the channel and make your changes.
In the Launch step, click Update and confirm in the Update Channel? pop-up.
Your changes apply to new conversations only. Open conversations continue with the previous settings until they end.
User roles
What you can do on the Channels page depends on your Insider One user role. Roles work the same way for Web Messenger and WhatsApp channels.
Administrator and Editor: View, edit, launch, pause, relaunch, and delete channels.
Collaborator: View channels and edit Draft channels.
Viewer: View channels only.
For the full role table, refer to Set Up a Web Messenger Channel.
Good to know
A channel connects to one AI Agent. The same agent can serve more than one channel.
A WhatsApp account can be connected to only one channel.
Handing a conversation over to a live agent isn't available on WhatsApp channels.
Conversation timeouts are set per channel, up to 24 hours. For the full list of limits, see Agent One Audiences.
Messages can have up to 1,024 characters.
Next steps
Pick the channel your customers use most and launch it first. Set Up a Web Messenger Channel puts your AI Agent on your website. Set Up a WhatsApp Channel puts it in your customers' pockets.