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

# Channels overview

> Every channel the agent answers on, what each one supports, and the rules that differ between them.

Customers reach you on voice, WhatsApp, the web widget, Instagram DM, Facebook Messenger, or email.
All six reach the same agent, the same knowledge and the same inbox.

## Customer channels

| Channel                                       | Inbound | Agent replies | Outbound initiation                                    | Notes                                        |
| --------------------------------------------- | ------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- |
| [Voice](/channels/voice)                      | Yes     | Spoken        | Yes, with consent gates                                | Multiple numbers, inbound and outbound roles |
| [WhatsApp](/channels/whatsapp)                | Yes     | Yes           | Inside the 24-hour window, or via an approved template | Connected directly through Meta              |
| [Web chat](/channels/web-chat)                | Yes     | Yes           | No, the visitor starts it                              | Embeddable widget, anonymous visitors        |
| [Instagram DM](/channels/instagram-messenger) | Yes     | Yes           | Inside the 24-hour window                              | One Meta connection with Messenger           |
| [Messenger](/channels/instagram-messenger)    | Yes     | Yes           | Inside the 24-hour window                              | Shares the Instagram connection              |
| [Email](/channels/email)                      | Yes     | Yes           | Yes                                                    | Triage decides what the agent answers        |

## Team channels

Your staff do not have to use the dashboard. See [Team assistants](/assistants/overview).

| Surface                                    | What it is for                                                                      |
| ------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Telegram](/assistants/telegram)           | Escalation alerts, replying to customers, asking the workspace questions, approvals |
| [WhatsApp for staff](/assistants/whatsapp) | The same, for teams already living in WhatsApp                                      |
| [MCP](/assistants/mcp)                     | Connect any compatible AI client directly to your workspace                         |
| Slack                                      | Escalation and alert destination                                                    |
| Microsoft Teams                            | Escalation and alert destination                                                    |

## What is the same everywhere

* **The agent.** Same routing, same sub-agents, same knowledge, same guardrails.
* **The memory.** One persistent state per customer, shared by every channel. A fact learned on a
  phone call is available on WhatsApp, and a commitment made over email is known on the next call.
  See [Memory and state](/agent/memory).
* **The customer.** One person messaging you on two channels is one customer, not two tickets.
* **The inbox.** One queue, filterable by channel.
* **Your rules.** Hours, forbidden phrases, handoff triggers and tool permissions apply everywhere.

<Note>
  Channels are transports. None of them holds the agent, and none of them holds the memory. Adding a
  channel does not create a second brain to configure or a second history to reconcile.
</Note>

## What differs by channel

**Tool surface.** Not every tool makes sense everywhere. A voice call can transfer to a human mid-call;
an Instagram DM cannot. Channels with a narrower surface are told so in their prompt rather than
being allowed to offer something they cannot do.

**Messaging windows.** WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger all enforce a 24-hour window after the
customer's last message. Inside it you can send freely. Outside it, WhatsApp requires a template
Meta has approved, and the Meta DM channels cannot re-open the conversation at all. This is Meta
policy, not a Vorel limit.

**Formatting.** Voice replies are written to be spoken, so no bullet lists, no URLs read aloud
character by character, and numbers phrased the way a person would say them.

**Identity.** Voice and WhatsApp identify a customer by phone number. Instagram and Messenger use an
opaque per-app id that Meta issues, which cannot be matched to a phone number. Email uses the
address. Web chat visitors are anonymous until they give you something.

## Turning a channel on

Channels are connected under **Settings, then Channels**. Each row shows its connection state and
what is still required. Some channels need approval from Meta before they can send, and the console
tells you which step you are waiting on rather than failing silently.

<Card title="Set up a channel" icon="plug" href="/channels/whatsapp">
  Start with WhatsApp, the most involved of the messaging channels.
</Card>