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Connecting External Channels to Chat

Channel integrations gather customer communication from different places into one working loop. The customer writes where it is convenient for them — in Telegram, WhatsApp, or through a form on the site — and the message arrives in LadVen OS chat, where the team replies, assigns an owner, and links the inquiry to a task or opportunity.

This is the foundation of omnichannel work: the correspondence is not lost in employees' personal phones, and the history stays in the portal and is available to the team.

Supported Channels​

Right now you can connect the following to chat:

  • Telegram — messages from a Telegram bot or channel;
  • WhatsApp — messages from WhatsApp;
  • Site form — inquiries sent through a form on your website.

Each channel is connected as a separate integration. One company can have several integrations at once — for example, Telegram for one product and WhatsApp for another.

note

The set of available channels depends on your portal settings and the connected adapters. If the channel you need is not in the list, check with your portal administrator whether it is available in your configuration.

How to Connect a Channel (for the Administrator)​

Connecting a channel is set up by the administrator in the chat integrations section.

  1. Open the chat integrations section in the settings.
  2. Create a new integration and give it a clear name — for example, "Telegram: Sales" or "WhatsApp: Support". The name lets the team understand where the messages come from.
  3. Select the connection type.
  4. Fill in the channel's connection parameters. Their makeup depends on the specific channel: for example, a bot token, an access key, or a webhook address. Take the exact values from the channel's own settings and its provider's documentation (Telegram Bot, WhatsApp Business, and so on) — the portal uses them but does not prompt or check their contents for you.
  5. Enable the integration and save.

After saving, the integration appears in the list with its own status. You can disable or delete it in the same place, and update the parameters when the channel's access changes.

Prepare the channel parameters in advance and check them before enabling: a mistake in the token or address means messages will not arrive or be sent.

How It Looks for the Team​

Once a channel is connected, customer messages from it arrive in chat as ordinary conversations. From there the team works with them the same way as with internal chats:

  • replies to the customer right from the portal;
  • attaches files, replies to a specific message, uses mentions;
  • links the conversation to a task or opportunity so the inquiry enters the workflow;
  • pins important messages and searches the correspondence.

The customer receives replies back in their channel — they keep communicating the usual way, without knowing about the portal's inner workings.

Delivery Control (for the Administrator)​

For external channels it is important that messages not only arrive but also go back to the customer. For this there is an operational delivery console, where the administrator sees the sending status:

  • how many messages are queued, sent, failed, or overdue;
  • stuck deliveries for a specific integration;
  • messages that could not be delivered, with the option to retry sending manually.

Regularly check the console for active channels: if the number of errors or stuck messages grows, the problem is usually in the channel's access or its limits, not in the portal itself.

Good Practices​

  • Name integrations by channel and purpose so the team immediately understands the message source.
  • Prepare and check the channel parameters before enabling the integration.
  • Assign an owner for each external channel, otherwise inquiries will be "visible to everyone" and closed by no one.
  • Link customer conversations to tasks or opportunities so the inquiry does not remain just correspondence.
  • Periodically check the delivery console for active channels.
  • When the channel's tokens or access change, update the integration parameters right away.

Common Mistakes​

  • A mistake in the connection parameters — messages do not arrive or are not sent, and the cause is not visible in the correspondence itself.
  • No owner for the channel — customer inquiries get lost in the general flow.
  • A conversation from an external channel is not linked to a task or opportunity — the agreement stays only in chat.
  • No one watches the delivery console — sending errors pile up unnoticed, the customer gets no reply.
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