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Connect Your Channels
A channel is a gateway to your customers. Everything that arrives there goes to the same inbox, handled by an AI agent or your team. The Customer Service → Channels page lists the connected channels; the Connect a Channel button opens the selection.
Types of Channels
| Channel | Requirements | What Arrives in the Inbox |
|---|---|---|
| Online Chat | An online chat created on the Online Chat page and installed on your site | Conversations from site visitors |
| A Google, Microsoft, or other host (IMAP) mailbox | Received emails, with replies from the same address | |
| Forms | A form created in the Web Content hub | Each submission becomes a conversation |
| Calls | A number obtained in the Telephony hub | Incoming and outgoing calls |
| Facebook Messenger | A Facebook Page you administer | Messages received by the Page |
| A WhatsApp Business account and a number | Messages received on this number |
An online chat is a channel as soon as it exists: the "Online Chat" sidebar is used to reactivate an inactive chat or create a new one.
An AI Agent per Channel
Each channel can be assigned to an AI agent or remain without an agent. From Settings on the channel's line, you choose the agent and its mode: it responds alone, it suggests responses for the team to validate, or it steps back. Without an agent, the channel operates normally: hours, notifications, and handling by an advisor remain active.
Facebook Messenger
- Connect a Channel → Facebook Messenger, then Connect with Facebook.
- A Meta window opens: log in with the Facebook account that administers the Page, then choose the Page to link.
- Metaventus subscribes the Page to its notifications: messages received by the Page arrive in the inbox, and your responses are sent via Messenger.
Only one Facebook account is needed, that of a Page administrator. If you administer multiple Pages, Metaventus asks which one to link; each Page becomes a channel.
WhatsApp
Two Ways to Link a Number
- Connect with Facebook: the Meta window lets you choose your WhatsApp Business account and your number. Nothing to copy. This is the recommended path.
- Enter Credentials Manually: for a number already managed in Meta for Developers. You provide the number, its number ID (Meta's phone number ID, a string of digits, not the number itself), and an access token. These two pieces of information are displayed side by side in Meta for Developers → your app → WhatsApp → API Configuration.
Which Number?
- My Current Number: the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone. It stays there: you continue to respond from your mobile, and these responses also appear in Metaventus. Meta calls this coexistence.
- A New Number: a dedicated number that has never been used on a WhatsApp account. It can no longer be used in the WhatsApp Business app.
Things to Know Before Connecting
- Coexistence: the WhatsApp Business app must be version 2.24.17 or newer. A number shared between the phone and the API is capped at 20 messages per second; it doesn't affect conversations but is something to keep in mind for a campaign.
- Permanent Token: for manual entry, use a permanent system user token (Business Manager → System Users → Generate a token). A temporary token from the Meta console expires after 24 hours, and the channel stops responding.
- 24-Hour Window: WhatsApp only allows free responses within 24 hours of the client's last message. After this period, only a message template approved by Meta can be sent. This is a WhatsApp rule, not a Metaventus rule.
- One Number, One Channel: a number already connected cannot be connected a second time.
Deactivate or Disconnect
On the channel's line, Deactivate pauses it without losing anything; the trash icon disconnects it. Conversations already received remain accessible in the inbox.
Don't see the Connect a Channel button? It is reserved for users authorized to manage online chats. Request permission from your account administrator.