XBASE service channels

A channel is how the customer talks to your business: WhatsApp, Instagram, the chat on your website or email. In XBASE, they are all connected in the Inboxes tab of the Integrations screen, and conversations arrive in Chatcenter (in the simple menu, Conversations), where the team and the AI agents handle them.

To start with your website, follow How to add the XBASE chat to your website.

Channels you can connectCopy Anchor Link

The Inboxes tab of the Integrations screen shows a card for each channel, with the Connected or Disconnected status and the Connect button (or Manage, when it is already connected).

WhatsApp only works through Meta's official API: there is no WhatsApp Web QR code connection. To use the phone number, see WhatsApp coexistence.

Where to connect each channelCopy Anchor Link

Open Integrations in the menu: the Inboxes tab, the first one, has the channels. The screen only shows up for people with permission to manage integrations; if you don't see it, ask whoever manages the account.

• WhatsApp: on the Official WhatsApp (WABA) card, click Connect and choose Connect my WhatsApp Business App number or Connect a number not yet registered on WhatsApp. Meta's window opens. The step-by-step guide is in How to connect the WhatsApp Business phone app.
• Instagram: on the Instagram DM card, click Connect, log in with the Facebook account that manages the profile and, in the Choose the Instagram accounts window, select the accounts this workspace will handle and click Connect.
• Website chat: on the Live Chat card, choose the agent, enter the website address, click Turn on Live Chat and copy the script to the website. See the website chat tutorial.
• Email: on the Email card, click Connect. Enter the HubMail API key, choose the Email inbox and, if you want, an agent in AI-automated support. Click Connect HubMail.
• More than one email inbox: click Add inbox and choose Email. Each address becomes its own inbox, with its own conversations, and the reply goes out from the address of the conversation's inbox. To change an inbox's email, key or agent, use Configure inbox in its card menu.
• Write a new email: in Chatcenter, click New conversation and choose Email. Choose the inbox in From, type the address in To (XBASE suggests contacts that already have that email), fill in Subject and Message and click Send. If the address is not a contact yet, it is created.

What an inbox isCopy Anchor Link

Each connected WhatsApp number and Instagram account becomes an inbox. Inboxes show up in the Inboxes tab of the Integrations screen, below the cards, in the All Inboxes, Active and Inactive tabs.

• You don't create the inbox by hand: it is created automatically when the channel is connected.
• In the WhatsApp inbox menu (the three dots), there are Rename, Pause inbox and Remove inbox. Pausing does not disconnect the number.
• Disconnecting the number also deactivates its inbox. The conversations stay saved.
• Multiple Instagram accounts show up together on a single card, Instagram. To see or change the accounts, use Manage accounts in that card's menu.
• The website chat does not become an inbox: its conversations go straight to Chatcenter.

How conversations reach ChatcenterCopy Anchor Link

Conversations from every channel are in Chatcenter.

• WhatsApp: in the number's inbox, Open Chatcenter opens only that number's conversations. Day-to-day use is covered in WhatsApp in Chatcenter.
• Instagram: direct messages are answered in Chatcenter (the inbox's Open Direct button). Comments are in View comments. The older Direct history, read straight from Instagram, is in History. When the contact replies to one of your stories, the message shows the story thumbnail: click to see the video or photo right there, or View on Instagram to open the story. XBASE keeps a copy of the story when the message arrives, because Instagram only keeps stories for 24 hours. When the contact shares a post or reel in Direct, the message shows the post thumbnail and caption. Click the thumbnail or Open on Instagram to watch the reel or swipe through the carousel on Instagram. With more than one Instagram account connected, the conversation header and the list show which account it came in on (for example, @yourcompany).
• Website chat: each visitor comes in as a new contact, named Website visitor # followed by a code. The conversation shows up in Chatcenter.

AI agent on each channelCopy Anchor Link

• Website chat: only the AI agent replies. The team follows the conversation in Chatcenter, but a person's reply does not reach the visitor. Only active Native agents handle the website chat; External agents do not show up in the list.
• WhatsApp: in Channels, the number's inbox shows who handles it (for example, No AI agent or Handled by, followed by the agent's name). The Connect AI agent (or Manage agent) button chooses the agent. The team can take over the conversation at any time: see WhatsApp in Chatcenter.
• Instagram: the Direct agent is chosen per account, through the AI agent on Direct item in the Instagram inbox menu.

Rules and limitsCopy Anchor Link

• Permission: connecting channels requires permission to manage integrations.
• One workspace per Instagram account: an Instagram account is connected to one workspace at a time. To have more people handle it, invite them to the workspace where it is connected.
• 24-hour window on WhatsApp: outside it, you can only send a template approved by Meta. Details in WhatsApp in Chatcenter.
• WhatsApp costs: messages follow Meta's pricing. See WhatsApp billing.
• AI credits: without credits, the agent stops replying. In the website chat, the visitor gets no reply, and the team sees the AI paused: out of credits notice in the conversation.

Frequently asked questionsCopy Anchor Link

See alsoCopy Anchor Link