What is this?
Telegram is a channel like WhatsApp or Instagram. You connect your own Telegram bot, and people who message the bot appear in your shared Inbox. Your team, your automations, and your AI agents can reply, and you can send campaigns to your Telegram contacts. The bot can also be added to Telegram groups, where it can answer questions and moderate — deleting spam, warning, muting, or banning. [SCREENSHOT: telegram-overview-sidebar — The Telegram section of the sidebar showing Campaigns, Groups, and Bot settings]Telegram is available when your plan includes Telegram Integration and your platform has the Telegram channel switched on. If your plan doesn’t include it, Telegram pages show Upgrade Required. Ask your platform administrator if you can’t connect a bot.
What can I do here?
- Connect a Telegram bot so customers can message you — see Connect a Telegram Bot
- Reply in the Inbox with text, photos, video, audio, voice notes, documents, locations, buttons, and reactions — see Telegram in the Inbox
- Set a welcome message, a command menu, and inline mode — see Bot Settings
- Send campaigns, now or scheduled — see Campaigns
- Manage groups the bot is in, with moderation rules and welcome messages — see Groups
- Automate replies with Telegram triggers and steps — see Telegram Triggers and Telegram Steps
How it works
- You create a bot in Telegram with @BotFather and connect it to your workspace.
- When someone sends the bot a message, it arrives in your Inbox as a conversation with a new contact.
- Automations and AI agents answer instantly when they can; your team takes over when needed.
- You can message people back at any time — as long as they’ve started your bot.
The Telegram pages
The bot connection itself lives in Channels → Telegram.
How Telegram differs from WhatsApp
Telegram works differently, and it’s worth knowing before you plan messages:- People must start the bot first. A bot can’t message someone who has never started it, or who has blocked it. Campaigns skip these people automatically.
- No message templates. You can send a free-form message any time. There’s no 24-hour window.
- No read receipts. Messages are marked sent; delivered and read aren’t tracked.
- File size: files people send you can be up to 20 MB.
- Speed limits. Telegram limits how fast a bot can send. Campaigns are sent in the background at a pace Telegram allows.
- Broadcast channels aren’t supported. Private chats, groups, and supergroups are.
Permissions
Team members need these permissions. Owners and admins have them by default.
Campaigns use the normal campaign permissions (view, create, send, schedule). See Team.
Troubleshooting / Technical Notes
- The Telegram menu isn’t in the sidebar. Telegram may not be enabled for your platform or plan. Ask your platform administrator.
- “Upgrade Required.” Your plan doesn’t include Telegram Integration.
- Nothing arrives in the Inbox. Open Channels → Telegram and click Check status. See Connect a Telegram Bot.
- I can’t message a contact. They haven’t started the bot, or they blocked it.