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A channel is one place your customers reach you: a WhatsApp number, a Facebook page, an Instagram account, a Telegram bot, an SMS number, or the chat widget on your website. Connect a channel and its conversations land in the Inbox, its contacts land in Contacts, and your flows can answer on it. Start with WhatsApp. It is the channel DMLY is built around, and the only one with message templates, voice calling, and a catalogue.

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Read this before you plan anything

You cannot message a WhatsApp contact whenever you like. Free-form messages are only allowed for 24 hours after the contact’s last message to you. Outside that, WhatsApp delivers only templates that Meta has approved in advance.A brand-new lead who has never messaged you has no open window at all; an approved template is the only way to reach them. This applies to everything: flows, broadcasts, sequences, appointment reminders, and manual replies you type in the Inbox. See WhatsApp rules and limits.
Two other things that surprise people:
  • The LiveChat widget and TikTok cannot send broadcasts. If a campaign needs to reach widget visitors, it has to reach them on a channel they also use. DMLY says it plainly: “Broadcasts aren’t available on Live Chat or TikTok. Switch to WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, SMS or Telegram.”
  • Facebook Messenger and Instagram have no templates. They have their own reply window instead; see the table below.

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The channels

Each of these has a guide of its own.

WhatsApp

Your business number. Inbox, broadcasts, templates, voice calling, catalogue. Start here.

Facebook Messenger

Chats from your Facebook page, answered in the same Inbox.

Instagram

Instagram DMs from your business account.

Telegram

A Telegram bot for customers who prefer it.

LiveChat widget

A chat bubble on your own website. Good for visitors who are not on a messaging app.

SMS

Twilio, Plivo or a custom HTTP gateway. No sending window and no templates.

TikTok

DMs and video comments in your Inbox. No broadcasts, and a 48-hour reply window.

Google Business Profile

Your Google listing: reviews and posts, not customer chat. Powers Reputation.

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What each channel can do

Messenger and Instagram have two different windows, and broadcasts get the short one. The 7-day allowance covers only manual replies typed by a person in the Inbox. Flows, broadcasts, and automated sends get 24 hours. When you build a Messenger or Instagram broadcast, the audience option is labelled “Messaging window open (24h)”. Pick it and DMLY counts the people who messaged in the last 24 hours, not 7 days.DMLY’s own wording: “Messenger & Instagram send a plain message (no templates). Meta only delivers to people who messaged you in the last 24 hours — contacts outside that window are skipped unless they opted in to notifications.”
WhatsApp gives you the same 24 hours whether the reply comes from a bot or from you; there is no human-agent extension.
Growth tools work differently per channel too. On WhatsApp, a click-to-WhatsApp link opens a chat with a prefilled code, and your flow starts when the contact sends that first message, which is also what opens the 24-hour window. See Growth.

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How to choose

1

Connect WhatsApp first

It is where most SMB customers already are, and it is the only channel with approved templates, the way to reach a contact once the 24-hour window has closed. Everything else in DMLY (appointment reminders, invoices, review requests) assumes it. See Connect WhatsApp.
2

Add the channel your customers already message you on

If your enquiries come through your Facebook page or Instagram DMs, connect those next so they stop living in a separate app. Both land in the same Inbox with the same contacts, tags, and flows.
3

Add the widget if people browse your site before they buy

The LiveChat widget catches visitors who will not open a messaging app. Remember it cannot be broadcast to.
4

Connect Google Business Profile for reviews

Not for chat, but for collecting and replying to Google reviews. See Connect Google Business Profile.
You do not have to pick one. A Contact is one person in your Workspace even if they reach you on two channels; the Inbox threads their conversations under the channel they used.

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Your plan decides what you can connect

Channels are plan-gated. If your plan does not include a channel, connecting it is blocked with a message telling you to upgrade.

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If a channel is connected but nothing arrives

This is the most common channel problem, and it is almost never something you did wrong in DMLY. Which page you need depends on the channel, because the causes have nothing in common: No inbound messages for WhatsApp, and Fix a silent Facebook Page or Instagram account for Messenger and Instagram. Read the right one before reconnecting anything.

WhatsApp limits

Messaging tiers, quality rating, and what caps how many people you can start chats with.

Account disabled

What to do when Meta blocks your number or your channel loses its connection.

Messenger and Instagram silence

Four causes that all look the same, and which you can fix yourself.