Channels
Your customers choose the channel. Your team gets one workspace.
WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, email and website chat arrive in the same Inbox, with the same queues, assignment, Tags and reports. Each channel keeps its own format, so your team always knows where a message came from.
Illustrative demo with fictional data.
One workspace
One thread, every channel.
A message from WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, email or your website lands in the same queue, with the same assignment, tags, private notes and reports. Your team works one place; the customer keeps writing wherever they already were.
Each conversation stays a thread on the channel it arrived on. What they share is the workspace around them.
- One queue, every channel
- Mine, Unassigned and All span all five channels. Filter by inbox when you want one of them, not when you want all of them.
- One customer, one history
- Merge contacts so a customer's WhatsApp number and email address sit on one profile with their order history. The next agent reads the whole story.
- One set of tags and reports
- Tags, custom fields and reports cover every channel, so you can read the whole team or one channel without exporting anything.
- Channel rules modelled, not flattened
- WhatsApp's 24-hour window, template categories, Instagram story context and email's quoted history are each handled as what they are. Pretending five channels are one channel is how replies get rejected.
Channel by channel
Go deeper on the channels you use.
WhatsApp
Replies show Sent, Delivered or Read. When the 24-hour window closes, a banner appears and your team picks an approved template.
- A delivery state on every reply
- A banner when the 24-hour window closes
- Templates synced from your own Meta account
Instagram
Direct messages, story replies and story mentions each look like what they are, so your team sees what the customer was responding to.
- The story a customer replied to
- The customer's Instagram handle
- The same Tags, notes and assignment as any thread
Messenger
Messages sent to your Facebook Page land in the Inbox. Formats the thread can't show are flagged, with a pointer to the Messenger app.
- Messages sent to your Facebook Page
- A clear note when a message type is unsupported
- The same Tags, notes and assignment as any thread
Email
Each message shows who sent it and who is copied. Quoted history is collapsed, and replies have To, Cc and Bcc.
- Sender, To and Cc on every message
- Quoted history collapsed until you need it
- A composer with To, Cc and Bcc
Live chat
Visitors chat from your website. Beside the thread, the panel shows the page they started from and the browser, system and language they use.
- The page the visitor started from
- Browser, operating system and language
- Pre-chat details and Customer ratings
Before you connect
What each channel needs.
Some channels work the moment you add them. Others depend on Meta, and we'd rather tell you that now.
| Channel | What you need | How it's set up | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you needA WhatsApp Business account on your own Meta business account, and a phone number that isn't active on the WhatsApp app. | How it's set upConnected with you through the WhatsApp Cloud API, using the in-app Meta setup guide. | Good to knowMeta bills WhatsApp messaging to you directly. After 24 hours without a customer message, replies need an approved template. | |
| What you needAn Instagram Professional account (Business or Creator) with Allow access to messages turned on. | How it's set upSet up with our team. | Good to knowAvailability to the public depends on Meta's App Review. We'll tell you where your account stands before you plan around it. | |
| Messenger | What you needA Facebook Page owned by your Meta Business Portfolio. | How it's set upSet up with our team. | Good to knowReplies to the public need Meta's approval of Advanced Access for Page messaging. Until then, replies to people outside your team may fail. |
| What you needA Gmail, Microsoft or other mailbox. For other providers, your IMAP and SMTP details. | How it's set upYou connect the mailbox in Settings. Gmail and Microsoft sign-in needs an OAuth app, which we set up with you. | Good to knowScout doesn't reply on email. Copilot can draft replies for your agents when an AI provider is configured. | |
| Live chat | What you needA website where you can add a short script. | How it's set upYou create the widget in Settings and paste in the script. No Meta or third-party review is involved. | Good to knowPre-chat form, business hours, allowed domains and Customer ratings are built in. |
Also available in the product
Telegram (connect with a bot token), SMS through your own Twilio or Bandwidth account, and an API channel for your own systems. Ask us if you need one of these.
Scout across channels
Scout helps where it fits. People stay in control.
Scout is BlendDesk's AI support system. It answers only from the knowledge you approve and hands the conversation to your team when it can't help.
Scout needs an AI provider configured for your installation.
How Scout works- Website chat
- Scout can be assigned to your website chat inboxes.
- Scout can be assigned to a WhatsApp inbox. It replies only while the 24-hour window is open.
- Instagram and Messenger
- Scout can be assigned to social inboxes once they're connected.
- Scout doesn't reply on email. Copilot can suggest a draft that your agent reviews and sends.
Questions about channels
Do I need every channel?
No. Start with the channels your customers already use and add others later. Each one becomes an inbox in the same workspace.
Are conversations from different channels merged?
No. Each channel keeps its own thread. What they share is the workspace: the same queues, assignment, Tags, reports and teammates.
Which channels don't involve Meta?
Website live chat and email. WhatsApp uses your own Meta business account, and Messenger and Instagram go through Meta's platform and its review process.
Who pays Meta's WhatsApp fees?
Meta charges WhatsApp messaging to the payment method on your own WhatsApp account. The rates and free allowances are Meta's and can change.
Can Scout answer on every channel?
Scout can be assigned to website chat, WhatsApp and social inboxes, but it doesn't reply on email. It needs an AI provider configured for your installation and answers only from knowledge you approve.
Can I connect other channels?
The product also supports Telegram, SMS through your own Twilio or Bandwidth account, and an API channel. Talk to us about what you need.
Bring your customer conversations together.
Tell us a little about your team. We'll show you how BlendDesk could fit the way you already talk to customers.