Answer Telegram messages in the inbox
Connect a Telegram bot and answer the messages it receives from the shared inbox, next to every other channel.
Telegram can be a channel of the Conversations inbox. You connect a Telegram bot, and every message someone sends that bot becomes a conversation your team can assign, label, snooze and answer.
Telegram requires an active Suite plan or higher, or a current trial. It appears under Conversations → Channels.
How it works
- Customers write to your bot, for example
@yourcompany_bot. The bot's name is what they see in Telegram. - Each person gets one conversation in the inbox, marked with the Telegram channel.
- Your replies are sent by the bot into the same Telegram chat.
A bot cannot start a conversation. The customer has to write first, usually by tapping Start on your bot.
Set it up
- In Telegram, open @BotFather and send
/newbot. - Choose a name and a username for the bot. The username must end in
bot. - Copy the token BotFather sends you.
- Open Conversations → Channels, select Set up for Telegram and paste the token.
- Open your bot in Telegram, tap Start and send a message. It appears in the inbox within seconds.
Treat the token like a password. Anyone who has it controls your bot. If it leaks, send /revoke to BotFather, then paste the new token in Conversations → Channels. Disconnect the bot there first to get the token field back.
Share your bot
Link to https://t.me/<your bot username> from your website, email signature or a QR code. Anyone who opens the link can start a chat with you.
Limits
- The inbox shows text only. Photos, voice messages, stickers and files appear as an attachment note, with their caption if there is one. Ask the customer to describe what they sent.
- Only private chats reach the inbox. Messages in groups the bot was added to are ignored.
- If someone blocks your bot, your replies to them fail and the inbox tells you so.
Disconnect
Open Conversations → Channels, select Manage for Telegram and choose Disconnect. Past conversations stay in the inbox, but you can no longer reply until you connect a bot again. If you connect a different bot, chats from the old bot stay readable but can't be answered, because customers have to start the new bot first.
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