Connect is where every surface your customers can reach you on is plugged into Natiq. Each connected channel is one line: the Inbox routes its conversations, campaigns send through it, and you decide what answers it. This article covers the flow that is the same for every channel; the per-channel details are in their own articles.
What you need
- The Connect entry on the rail. You see it with the
channels:readpermission. Adding, editing, disabling and reconnecting channels needchannels:write; with read access you can browse and view details only. - The provider details for the channel you're adding, such as the WhatsApp phone number ID or a Telegram bot token.
The three tabs
- 1Tabs
- 2Add channel
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Connected | Your working channels, grouped by type. A channel nobody answers is pinned at the top under Unrouted. |
| Catalog | Every channel Natiq offers, with Ready or Coming soon on each. See The channel catalog. |
| External bots | Chatbots that run outside Natiq. See Connect an external bot. |
If your organisation already has channels, Connect opens on Connected; otherwise it opens on Catalog. The search box at the top filters whichever tab you're on.
Add a channel
Open Connect from the rail and select Add channel, or go to the Catalog tab.
Select a tile marked Ready. Tiles marked Coming soon can't be selected.
In the Connect drawer, give the channel a name. It appears across the Inbox, campaigns and reports, so pick something your team will recognise, for example "Support line".
Fill in Connection details. Fields marked optional can be left empty. Secrets such as access tokens carry an Encrypted badge.
Choose who answers the channel and which queue its conversations land in. See Choose who answers a channel.
Check the What happens when you save summary, which restates your choices in plain words, then select Save channel.
Telegram is the exception to steps 4 to 6: it has its own guided flow. See Connect Telegram.
Web Chat has no setup here
Web Chat is created for you each time you publish an agent. See Add Web Chat to your website.
Read a channel's status
Every row on the Connected tab shows a status pill:
| Pill | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ready | An agent is assigned and nothing is wrong. |
| Live agents | People answer this channel on purpose. |
| External bot | An outside chatbot answers it. |
| No agent | Nothing is assigned, so messages go unanswered. Pick an agent, or choose Live agents to hand the channel to people. |
| Verify token missing | A WhatsApp channel without a verify token. |
| Duplicate route | Another active channel of the same type has the same agent, so messages would go to whichever was set up first. |
| Cannot deliver | The channel type isn't ready to carry conversations. |
| Disabled | The channel is switched off. |
Use the dropdown beside the search box to switch between Active, Disabled and All channels.
Change, disable and reconnect
Select the eye icon (View details) to open a channel read-only, or the pencil (Edit) to change it. A stored secret is never shown back to you: leave its field blank to keep the stored value.
To switch a channel off, select Disable and confirm. It stops sending and receiving, but you can bring it back later: set the dropdown to Disabled and select Reconnect on its row.
One credential, one channel
Credentials are unique across all of Natiq, not just your organisation. Saving fails with a message that the credentials are already in use if another active channel of the same type, in any organisation, already uses the same phone number ID, verify token, Page ID, Instagram account ID, inbound mail address, Web Chat widget key or Telegram bot. Access tokens and API keys aren't checked.