Telegram channel: connect your bot and reply with AI

What the Telegram channel is

The Telegram channel connects your own Telegram bot to Agent8Ai. Your customers write to the bot from Telegram and the conversation lands in the unified inbox, next to WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Email. You can reply yourself or let your AI agent reply, with the same tools as in the other channels: bookings, tickets, information about your business…

• Free: Telegram does not charge for bot messages.
• No 24-hour window or templates: you can always reply, even if the customer wrote a week ago.
• In 5 minutes: create the bot, paste its token into Agent8Ai and you're done. No business verification.

What a Telegram bot is (explained for people who do not use Telegram)

If you have never used a bot, this clears up the most common doubts.

• A bot is a separate account, not your Telegram. It has its own name, photo and link (t.me/your_bot). When someone writes to it, the message does not reach the owner’s phone: it goes to a service that picks it up. In our case, that service is Agent8Ai.
• A bot cannot be “read” from your phone like a normal chat. If it is not connected to a service, the messages it receives stay unread and it replies to nothing. That is why you have to connect it (connection guide).
• A business without automation usually uses its personal or business Telegram account, with its phone number: messages reach its phone and it replies. A bot works differently: it is the official way to automate customer service, and it does not replace that account.
• The bot does not see the customer’s phone number or the rest of their Telegram; only their name, their username (if any) and what they write to it.

How messages reach you and how you reply with Agent8Ai

1. The customer opens your bot, taps “Start” and writes to you.
2. The message appears in your Agent8Ai inbox and, if you have an AI agent assigned, it can reply.
3. If something needs a person, and you have Telegram alerts connected, an alert reaches your personal Telegram, from a different bot (the alerts bot), with what the customer wrote.
4. Tap “Reply” on that message and type: your answer reaches the customer from your bot, and the AI pauses in that conversation. You can also reply from the panel inbox.

How your customers find you

A Telegram bot has no phone number: your customers reach it by its username or a link.

• Direct link: https://t.me/your_bot. Put it on your website, social media, email signature or business card.
• QR code: generate a QR code for that link for your premises or leaflets.
• Telegram search: by typing the bot's username.

When someone opens the bot for the first time and taps “Start”, the AI treats it as a greeting and welcomes them.

Your customers' phone numbers

For privacy, Telegram never shows bots the phone number of the person writing to them. That is why in Agent8Ai the contact is saved with their name and Telegram username (for example “Ana López · @ana_lopez”). Even if they change their name on Telegram, it stays the same contact.

When the phone number is needed (for example, to confirm a booking), the AI shows Telegram's official “📱 Share my phone number” button. If the customer taps it:

• Their number, verified by Telegram, is saved on their record.
• If that number already belongs to another contact (for example, the same customer on WhatsApp), Agent8Ai suggests merging the two contacts in Contacts → Duplicates. They are never merged automatically: you decide.

The button appears when the AI agent uses tools (bookings, tickets…). If the customer sends someone else's contact card, it stays as a message and is not saved on their record.

Prefer a more detailed guide? Create your Telegram bot with BotFather (name, photo, description and commands) and Connect your bot to Agent8Ai step by step.

Creating your bot (2 minutes)

1. In Telegram, open @BotFather (Telegram's official bot for creating bots) and send /newbot.
2. Type the name your customers will see, for example “Ana's Salon”.
3. Choose a username ending in “bot”, for example anas_salon_bot.
4. @BotFather replies with a token, a long text like 123456789:AAH…. Keep it safe: it is the key to your bot.
5. Optional: /setuserpic sets its picture and /setdescription the text customers see before writing to it.

Connecting it to Agent8Ai

1. Go to Channels → Create channel and choose Telegram.
2. Paste the bot's token and click Save.
3. Agent8Ai checks the token with Telegram and connects the bot straight away. The channel page shows the t.me/your_bot link.
4. To test it, open the link on your phone and write to it: the message will appear in your inbox.

For the AI to reply, assign an agent on the channel page under Configure AI → AI agent, as with the other channels.

What you can receive and send

While the AI prepares its reply, your customer sees “typing…” in Telegram.

Why a bot and not my personal Telegram account?

On Telegram, the only official, permitted way to automate customer service is a bot. Personal accounts (tied to your phone number) have no business API: connecting them with unofficial software breaks Telegram’s rules and can get the account banned. So, unlike WhatsApp or Instagram (where you connect your business account through Meta’s official API), every Telegram channel in Agent8Ai is a bot.

The upside: a bot is free, needs no company verification and keeps your personal Telegram separate from your business. Customers find it through its t.me/your_bot link or its username.

Telegram and WhatsApp: differences

The ideal is to have both: WhatsApp for most of your customers and Telegram for those who prefer it, all in the same inbox.

Privacy and security

• Your bot token is stored encrypted and is never shown in the panel.
• We only accept messages that come from Telegram with a secret key unique to your channel; anything else is rejected.
• Messages and files are stored encrypted in Agent8Ai, as with the other channels.
• Private chats only: the bot handles one-to-one conversations. If it is added to a group, group messages are ignored.
• If you delete the channel, the bot is disconnected from Agent8Ai and stops receiving messages here.

Common problems