> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dmly.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Channels overview

> What a channel is, which ones you can connect to DMLY, and what each one can and cannot do.

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](/inbox/overview), its contacts land in
[Contacts](/contacts/overview), and your [flows](/automation/overview) can answer on it.

Start with WhatsApp. It is the channel DMLY is built around, and the only one with
[message templates](/broadcasts/message-templates), voice calling, and a catalogue.

## Read this before you plan anything

<Warning>
  **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](/broadcasts/whatsapp-rules-and-limits).
</Warning>

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.

## The channels

These six have a guide of their own. DMLY also has an **SMS** channel (connected under
Integrations → SMS, with Twilio, Plivo, or a custom HTTP gateway) and a **TikTok** channel,
both listed in the table below.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="WhatsApp" icon="whatsapp" href="/channels/whatsapp">
    Your business number. Inbox, broadcasts, templates, voice calling, catalogue. Start here.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Facebook Messenger" icon="facebook-messenger" href="/channels/facebook-messenger">
    Chats from your Facebook page, answered in the same Inbox.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Instagram" icon="instagram" href="/channels/instagram">
    Instagram DMs from your business account.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Telegram" icon="telegram" href="/channels/telegram">
    A Telegram bot for customers who prefer it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="LiveChat widget" icon="comments" href="/channels/livechat-widget">
    A chat bubble on your own website. Good for visitors who are not on a messaging app.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Google Business Profile" icon="google" href="/channels/google-business-profile">
    Your Google listing — reviews and posts, not customer chat. Powers [Reputation](/reputation/overview).
  </Card>
</Columns>

## What each channel can do

| Channel                     | Broadcasts | Message templates                 | When you can send freely                                                                                        |
| --------------------------- | ---------- | --------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **WhatsApp**                | Yes        | Yes — required outside the window | 24 hours after the contact's last message. No extension.                                                        |
| **Facebook Messenger**      | Yes        | No                                | 24 hours for flows, broadcasts, and any automated send. 7 days for a reply a person types by hand in the Inbox. |
| **Instagram**               | Yes        | No                                | 24 hours for flows, broadcasts, and any automated send. 7 days for a reply a person types by hand in the Inbox. |
| **SMS**                     | Yes        | No                                | Any time — no window.                                                                                           |
| **TikTok**                  | **No**     | No                                | 48 hours after the contact's last message.                                                                      |
| **Telegram**                | Yes        | No                                | Any time — no window.                                                                                           |
| **LiveChat widget**         | **No**     | No                                | Any time — no window.                                                                                           |
| **Google Business Profile** | No         | No                                | Not a chat channel — see [Reputation](/reputation/overview)                                                     |

<Warning>
  **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."
</Warning>

<Note>
  WhatsApp gives you the same 24 hours whether the reply comes from a bot or from you —
  there is no human-agent extension.
</Note>

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](/growth/overview).

## How to choose

<Steps>
  <Step title="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](/channels/whatsapp).
  </Step>

  <Step title="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.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect Google Business Profile for reviews">
    Not for chat — for collecting and replying to Google reviews. See
    [Connect Google Business Profile](/reputation/connect-google-business-profile).
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  You do not have to pick one. A [Contact](/contacts/overview) is one person in your
  Workspace even if they reach you on two channels — the Inbox threads their conversations
  under the channel they used.
</Tip>

## 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.

## 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. Work through [No inbound messages](/channels/no-inbound-messages)
before reconnecting anything.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="WhatsApp limits" icon="gauge-high" href="/channels/whatsapp-limits">
    Messaging tiers, quality rating, and what caps how many people you can start chats with.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Account disabled" icon="triangle-exclamation" href="/channels/account-disabled">
    What to do when Meta blocks your number or your channel loses its connection.
  </Card>
</Columns>