How to set up the Telegram channel

Henry_Dornier
updated 13 days ago

Overview

Front’s Telegram channel allows you to connect a Telegram bot as a channel to Front. If you’re not familiar with Telegram bots, they are easy to set up and essentially serve as an alias for your business or profile.

The Telegram channel is a premium channel only available via a plan add-on. For more details on how to purchase the add-on, see the Pricing section below. You'll need to purchase the add-on before continuing with the set up instructions.

Instructions

Step 1

Click the gear icon on the top right of Front and into the Company or Personal settings tab, depending on which space you are working with. Admins can also access user settings by following these steps.

Step 2

Click on Inboxes on the left menu and Add an individual inbox or Add a shared inbox, depending on which space you're in.

Step 3

Fill out the name and description of your inbox. Click Create.

Step 4

Choose Telegram from the channel menu.

Step 5

Click Connect to Telegram, and paste your Telegram bot token on the setup page. Instructions for how to retrieve a Telegram bot token can be found here. Then click Connect.

Step 7

At this point, the channel should be connected to Front. You can select who on your team has access to this inbox, and click Create inbox.

How it works

Message imports

Historical messages will not be imported into Front, but any new conversations will be imported.
Messages from either 1:1 conversations or Telegram groups will be imported. Messages from Telegram “Channels” will not be imported.
When a message is imported from a particular Telegram user, their contact in Front will include their first and last name (if it exists), as well as their Telegram handle/username.
Attachments will be imported as standard attachments in Front, unless the attachment is particularly large (more than 20MB). In this case, a placeholder message will be sent instead and the attachment will have to be opened in Telegram.

Sending messages

Messages can be sent with rich-text formatting (italics, bolding, links etc.) and attachments.
Attachments up to 25MB can be sent using the channel.
Only replies to inbound messages can be sent from Front. The channel cannot be used to start new conversations with external recipients.

Pricing

Usage of the Telegram channel requires purchasing the Telegram channel add-on. Currently, the add-on is only available to customers on the Scale plan or above. The add-on costs a flat $100 per month, for an unlimited number of channels and users. If you have any questions, contact your account manager or reach out to accountservices@frontapp.com.

To enable the add-on, you must be an admin of your Front instance and you must be on the Scale plan or above. Click the gear icon on the top right of Front and select the Company settings tab, then select Billing. Once in the Billing page, click Update plan and you should see an option to add the Telegram channel. Once you've updated your plan, you can follow the setup instructions above to begin sending and receiving messages.