FAQ: channels and messaging
Which channels can agents use?
WhatsApp (through the official Business Platform or a linked phone), email (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or almost any other mailbox over IMAP/SMTP), a chat embed on your website, and voice on a hosted talk page and in booked meetings.
My email isn't Gmail or Microsoft 365. Can I still connect it?
Yes. Choose Other email (IMAP/SMTP) and connect with the address, an app password and your mail server's settings, which are filled in for you for common providers such as iCloud, Yahoo, Fastmail and Zoho. New mail is checked every minute. This option is in beta.
Is linking my own WhatsApp safe?
It works, but it's unofficial: it's against WhatsApp's terms of service and WhatsApp can permanently ban the number. Appricity paces a linked number carefully and caps new conversations, but it can't remove the risk. For a company line, use the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Why do I need templates on WhatsApp Business?
WhatsApp only allows free-form messages within 24 hours of the contact's last message. The first message to a new contact, and anything after the window closes, must use a template WhatsApp has approved. You create templates in WhatsApp's manager and sync them into Appricity.
Will the agent answer newsletters and automated email?
No. Bulk and automated mail is ignored by default. It never becomes a conversation and never counts as an opt-out.
Will it answer my friends if I connect my personal inbox or phone?
Not if you use Smart triage, the recommended setting for mailboxes and linked phones. It answers known contacts and genuine enquiries about what you sell, screens out personal mail, and flags anything unsure for you to decide. Nothing is sent to a flagged sender until someone decides.
How fast does the agent reply?
Usually within a minute. You can set a target for the first reply, and business hours with a holding message outside them.
Can my team take over a conversation?
Yes, at any time. Take over stops the agent immediately; you write from the workspace, and Hand back returns it to the agent with the full history.
What happens when someone says stop?
The agent records an opt-out, and by default the person isn't contacted again on any channel. Opt-outs are checked by the platform before every message.
Does it hand pricing questions to a person?
Yes, by default. Pricing, legal questions, an unhappy contact, an unclear request to stop, a request for a person and repeated failure all hand over to your team, with a polite message to the contact. You can change the list.
Does it follow up leads that don't reply?
Yes. A playbook sends one follow-up after 48 hours by default, up to five if you choose, and stops after five days.
Does it respect time zones?
Yes. Contact hours apply in each recipient's own time zone, and meeting times are offered in the contact's time zone.
Can it make or answer phone calls?
It can make them (beta). Connect a number from your Twilio or Telnyx account under Channels → Phone, and agents call from it. Every call opens with the spoken AI disclosure, and its transcript and outcome land in Activity. Agents don't answer incoming calls yet. They also talk by voice on the hosted talk page and in meetings booked through scheduling.
Is there a limit on how much it sends?
You decide. Set workspace limits per day, per hour and per person in Governance, and per connection on each channel.