# How channels work

Every place customers write to you, from your website to Zalo, Facebook and email, lands in one inbox. See what you can connect and how.

A channel is a place where customers write to you: the chat widget on your website, your Zalo Official Account, a Facebook Page, a support mailbox and so on. Once a channel is connected, its messages land in the **Inbox** next to every other channel, so your team answers everything from one screen, and each customer keeps one profile whatever app they wrote from.

## What you can connect

You manage channels under **Customer Support → Channels**. Click **Add channel** to open the catalogue.

![The Add channel catalogue, grouped by kind of channel](https://hatang.dev/help/img/en/channels/add-channel.webp)

| Group | Channels | How you connect |
|---|---|---|
| Websites & apps | Website (the chat widget), Mobile app | Paste a snippet on your site, or add the SDK to your app |
| Social | Facebook & Instagram, TikTok, X, TikTok Shop | Sign in to the platform and allow access (X uses your own X app) |
| Messaging apps | Zalo OA, Zalo personal, WhatsApp, Telegram, LINE | Sign in, scan a QR code, or paste a token, depending on the app |
| Email | Support mailbox such as `support@shop.vn` | Forward your mail to Ha Tang, or point an MX record at it |

Each channel has its own guide:

- Vietnam: [Zalo OA](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/zalo-oa), [Zalo personal](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/zalo-personal), [TikTok](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/tiktok), [TikTok Shop](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/tiktok-shop)
- Social and messaging apps: [Facebook Messenger and Instagram](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/messenger-instagram), [WhatsApp](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/whatsapp), [Telegram](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/telegram), [LINE](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/line), [X](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/x)
- [Support email](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/email-channel)
- The website chat widget: [Install the chat widget](https://hatang.dev/help/widget/install-widget)
- Mobile apps are connected by your developers with the Ha Tang SDK: see the [SDK overview](https://hatang.dev/docs/guides/sdks/overview). Users signed in to the app should be verified with the same identity secret: see [Recognise logged-in users](https://hatang.dev/help/widget/identify-users).

## Who can manage channels

You need the **Manage** level on the Customer Support module (owners and admins always have it). Without it, **Channels** does not appear in the sidebar. Agents with the **Work** level answer conversations from every channel in the **Inbox** without seeing these settings. See [Module access](https://hatang.dev/help/account/module-access).

## Every channel belongs to a website

Conversations from a social or messaging account belong to one of your websites. The website decides which reports, distribution rules and automation apply to them. That is why the business needs at least one website before you connect anything else: if it has none, the connect page asks you to add one first (click **Add site**). The website does not need the widget installed for this.

When the business has several websites, the connect page shows **Attach new connections to site**. Pick the website the new account belongs to before you connect it. To move an account to another website later, connect it again with that website selected.

## The Channels page

![Customer Support → Channels with a website, social accounts, messaging apps and a mailbox](https://hatang.dev/help/img/en/channels/overview.webp)

Each connected account is one row, grouped like the catalogue. A row shows the account's name, the kind of channel and its handle, phone number or domain. An Instagram account shows the Facebook Page it came with (**via** *Page name*). When you have several websites, each row also names its website.

The badge on the right is the channel's status:

| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Active** | Messages arrive and replies go out. |
| **Needs reconnecting** | The platform stopped accepting Ha Tang's access. New messages may not arrive and replies fail. See [Reconnect a channel](https://hatang.dev/help/channels/reconnect-channel). |
| **Not installed** | A website whose widget has not loaded on any page yet. |
| **Not used yet** | A mobile app that has not connected yet. |
| **No messages yet** | A mailbox that has not received any mail yet. |
| **Off** | The channel was turned off or its access was removed on the platform's side. |

At the bottom, the **Zalo ZNS** card opens **ZNS settings**, where you send templated Zalo notifications to customers' phone numbers through your Zalo OA. See [Zalo ZNS](https://hatang.dev/help/automation/zns).

## A channel's own page

Click a row to open the account's page:

- **Connection** shows the account's ID, when it was connected, the last message or event received, and the website it belongs to.
- **How it works** sums up how the platform behaves, such as reply windows and limits.
- **Disconnect** stops new messages from reaching the inbox and removes the channel from the list. Past conversations and customers are kept.

Facebook Pages, Instagram, TikTok and X accounts also have an **Auto-reply to comments** tab. See [Comment auto-replies](https://hatang.dev/help/automation/comment-auto-replies).

An account can belong to only one business at a time. Connecting the same account again in the same business keeps its conversations and settings.

## What every channel shares

- **One inbox.** Conversations from every channel are listed together. Filter by channel when you want to focus on one.
- **One customer profile.** Names, phone numbers and history from each channel go to the customer's profile in **Customers**.
- **The same tools.** Canned responses, conversation tags, distribution rules, flows, the AI assistant and reports work on every channel. Distribution rules can match the channel, for example to send Zalo conversations to one team: tick the channel under the rule's **Channels (none ticked = any)**.

What differs is what each platform allows: some only let you reply for a while after the customer's last message (24 hours on Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, 48 hours on Zalo OA), and some charge for messages. Each channel's guide lists its limits.