How to connect Telegram

The Telegram channel connects a Telegram bot to Gruvi. Anyone who messages the bot starts a conversation that appears in your inbox.

What the Telegram channel is

In Telegram, businesses are reached through bots rather than ordinary accounts. A bot has a name and a handle, people can find it and message it, and everything sent to it can be handed to another system. In this case, that is us.

The word "bot" is a little misleading here. It does not mean answers are automated. It is Telegram's name for a business account. Whether anything is answered automatically is down to your Chloe settings, exactly as on every other channel.

This is the fastest of the four channels to connect. It takes about a minute, with no DNS, no website code and no approval from anyone.

Before you start

• A Telegram account, and the Telegram app open while you work.
• A name and handle for your bot. Something customers will recognise as you, such as your company name followed by "support".
• Nothing else. No developer, no domain access, no business verification.

How to set it up

1. 1Open Telegram and message @BotFather, the official account for creating bots.
2. 2Ask it for a new bot and follow its questions to name it. It will give you a token, which is a long string of letters and numbers.
3. 3In Gruvi, go to Settings, then Channels, then Telegram.
4. 4Click Connect a bot.
5. 5Paste the token. We check it and confirm the bot before connecting.
6. 6Message your own bot from Telegram and watch the conversation appear in your inbox.

Limitations and things to watch

• The token is a password. Anyone holding it can act as your bot. Do not paste it into a group chat, a ticket or a document.
• Customers have to find the bot. Unlike email, nobody will guess it. Link to it from your website, your other channels and your social profiles.
• Telegram is not universal. It is popular in some countries and among technical users, and almost unused elsewhere. Check that your customers actually use it before adding it.
• The bot name is what customers see. Choose something that is clearly official. A vague handle looks like an impostor, which is the opposite of reassuring.