Nine places your customers write from. One place you answer.
Below is what each one actually carries and how long you have to reply. Two of them carry public comments and not private messages, and it says so — that is a thing worth knowing before you buy, not in your second week.
| Channel | Carries | Time to reply |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp Business | Private messages, both ways Through the official WhatsApp Business Platform, on your own number and your own Meta account. Text, images, files, voice notes and locations. Several numbers on one inbox, each one its own line. 24 hours from the customer's last message, then an approved template | 24 hours from the customer's last message, then an approved template |
| Messenger | Private messages, both ways Every message to your Facebook Page arrives in the same inbox, beside that customer's WhatsApp history rather than in a separate tab. 24 hours from the customer's last message | 24 hours from the customer's last message |
| Private messages and comments Direct messages go to the inbox; comments on posts go to the comments screen, where they can be answered in public, answered privately, or hidden. 24 hours from the customer's last message | 24 hours from the customer's last message | |
| Telegram | Private messages, both ways Through your own bot. Telegram puts no window on replying, so a conversation from last month can still be answered today. No time limit | No time limit |
| TikTok | Private messages, both ways TikTok counts replies as well as hours. The inbox counts them with it and says how many are left, rather than letting a message fail at TikTok where a refusal looks the same as a delivery that broke. A limited number of replies per message the customer sends | A limited number of replies per message the customer sends |
| Messages, both ways Collected over IMAP and sent over SMTP from your own mailbox. Threaded by subject and reference, so a reply lands under the message it answers instead of starting a new conversation. No time limit | No time limit | |
| Website chat | Messages, both ways One line of script on your site. A visitor who writes from the website becomes a conversation like any other, and if they later message on WhatsApp both sit under one customer. No time limit | No time limit |
| Facebook comments | Public comments only Comments on your Page's posts. Answer in public, answer privately, or hide. Not private messages — those arrive through Messenger above. No time limit | No time limit |
| YouTube comments | Public comments only Comments on your channel's videos. YouTube has no private-message API at all — not a restricted one, not one behind an approval — so a channel that carries only comments is exactly what this is. No time limit | No time limit |
The reply window is not ours. WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram each close free replying twenty-four hours after the customer's last message, and TikTok counts replies as well as hours. The inbox shows the time left on every conversation and refuses a message that would be rejected, rather than letting it fail where a refusal looks the same as a delivery that broke.
One customer, whichever door they come through
Somebody who asked about a price on Instagram in March and sends their passport on WhatsApp in June is one record with one history. Whoever picks up the second conversation can read the first.