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The Channels page - connect every place your agent answers

Written by Joseph Russo, Principal Architect, Networks and Tech, AskVault · Reviewed by Allison Chan
Last updated: · 3 min read

What Channels shows

A grid of all available channels with status indicators:

  • Channel name and icon.
  • Connection status. Connected / Not connected / Error.
  • Last activity timestamp.
  • Volume. Messages this month.
  • Enable / disable toggle.

Click any channel to open detailed config for that channel.

Channels by plan

By plan tier and most common setup time:

Free tier (2 channels):

  • Widget. Web chat. Embed via one script tag.
  • Hosted page. Default /c/{slug} plus optional custom domain.

Starter and above (1 more channel):

  • REST API. Programmatic queries with API keys.

Growth and above (7 more channels):

  • Make. Send AskVault events (new message, new conversation, escalation, lead captured) to a Make scenario through its webhook URL.

  • WhatsApp with your own WhatsApp Business number, connected by Meta one-click sign-up.

  • Telegram with a bot you create in BotFather.

  • Slack. AskVault's Slack app, installed with one click.

  • Discord. Your own Discord application; members ask with /ask.

  • SMS with your own Twilio number, plus A2P 10DLC registration in the US.

  • Email assistant connected to your inbox by IMAP and SMTP (Microsoft sign-in is rolling out).

Business and above (1 more channel):

  • Voice / telephony via Twilio Voice, in early access. Voice minutes are sold separately.

Zapier setup is not currently available, and Intercom is not currently available to connect.

Setup guides for each:

What is set per channel and what is shared

Each channel has its own connection details (tokens, numbers, inbox credentials) and a few channel-specific settings, such as WhatsApp templates or the Email Assistant's tone and signature.

Everything else is shared by the whole workspace: your knowledge, the system prompt and persona, and which skills are on. If one channel needs very different behaviour, give it its own workspace.

Multi-channel deployment pattern

Most teams deploy in stages:

  1. Week 1: Widget on the marketing site. Start where most questions arrive.
  2. Week 2: WhatsApp. For B2C, this often becomes the dominant channel.
  3. Week 3: Email assistant. Auto-respond to common email tickets.
  4. Week 4: Slack. Internal helpdesk for the team.
  5. Beyond: SMS, voice, Discord per audience.

Don't enable every channel at once. Start with widget; expand as you validate quality.

Channel health monitoring

The Channel health panel shows each connected channel's status over the last 24 hours:

  • Status. Healthy, Degraded, Down, Idle or Disabled.
  • Last activity timestamp.
  • Counts and average reply time for the last 24 hours.

Click a row to see its 10 most recent problems. Health is a dashboard view only; it sends no alerts. See Channel health for how each status is decided.

Branding across channels

The widget and hosted page use the colours, name and logo you set in Appearance. Messaging channels such as WhatsApp and Telegram show the name and picture you set with that provider.

Per-channel rate limits

Each widget token has its own daily request limit, and each API key has per-minute and per-day limits that support can raise. See API rate limits. Visitor abuse limits for the widget are part of chat guardrails, which are rolling out.

Limits

  • Channels available. Depends on plan; see Channels by plan.
  • Channel-level concurrent connections. Provider-dependent.
  • Concurrent deployments per workspace. All channels can be enabled simultaneously.
  • Channel-switch cost. Free; switch any time.

Common pitfalls

Channel connects then goes red. Provider credentials expired (e.g., OAuth token). Re-authenticate.

Multiple Slack workspaces install the same bot. Each Slack workspace gets its own AskVault workspace mapping. Don't share OAuth tokens.

Widget shows on test domain but not production. Domain allowlist incomplete. Add the production domain under Widget > Allowed Origins.

Custom domain CNAME points to old AskVault target. AskVault changed the target string. Re-check Hosted Page > Custom Domain for current value.

Planned features (on the roadmap)

Documented for accuracy:

  • Microsoft Teams channel. Today, not native. Teams integration planned for Business.
  • Apple Business Chat. Today, not native. Planned.
  • Voice via SIP trunks. Today, Twilio only. SIP-trunk support for direct PBX integration planned for Enterprise.

FAQ

Can I run every channel at once?

Yes, every channel your plan includes. Free covers the widget and hosted page, Starter adds the REST API, Growth adds WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, SMS, email and Make, and Voice requires Business (voice minutes sold separately).

Do channels share conversation history?

Only when AskVault can tell it is the same person, by email or by the ID your site passes with identity verification. A WhatsApp number and an anonymous widget visitor show as separate contacts.

Can I disable a channel temporarily?

Yes. Toggle off; the channel stops receiving messages but credentials and config preserve. Re-enable anytime.

What happens to a channel when I downgrade plan?

Channel access locked but config preserved. Re-upgrade restores immediately.

Can I have multiple widget tokens for different domains?

Yes. Generate separate widget tokens per domain under Widget > Tokens. Each token can have its own customization.

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