> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cntillion.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Connecting a channel > How messaging connections work, and what is true of all of them Connecting a channelOne agent, answering on WhatsApp, SMS, Messenger, Instagram, Slack, email and phone. Besides your own website, an agent can answer on WhatsApp, text messages (SMS), Messenger, Instagram, Slack and email, and pick up phone calls. You connect accounts under **Channels**. For WhatsApp, import the account from **WhatsApp** in the workspace sidebar, then add it to an agent. For website installation, open **Channels → Install** and choose **Website widget**, **Website iframe** or **Shopify**. The same Install menu is available as a shortcut in **Playground → Chat bubble**. See [Website setup](https://cntillion.com/docs/channels/website.md). Connected channels require Hobby or above. API access and Zapier require Standard or above. The website widget is available on Free. All automatic answers use the workspace's [message credits](https://cntillion.com/docs/workspaces/billing.md). Read this page once. The channel pages after it only cover what is different about each. ## How connecting works Connected text conversations use [release assignments and specialist workflows](https://cntillion.com/docs/agents/releases-and-workflows.md) when configured. A conversation keeps its version as traffic changes. Specialist transfers retain their own model and instructions. Voice specialists run as consultations with the same voice. [Shopify](https://cntillion.com/docs/channels/shopify.md) is a storefront connection on this page. It adds the chat bubble through a theme app embed and gives enabled actions access to the store. Its setup and pause controls are separate from the messaging connections described below. **Salesforce** shares the agent's [CRM connection](https://cntillion.com/docs/customer-data/crm-integrations.md#salesforce-support-workflows). Choose **Setup → Connect**, then **Manage** to open its Overview, Configs and Actions tabs. In Configs, install the Salesforce package, assign a reply user, and choose automatic email replies or drafts for review. **Unassign user** stops automatic generation while keeping manual drafts available. Salesforce also supports [case escalation and live chat](https://cntillion.com/docs/helpdesk.md#salesforce-support). **WhatsApp** accounts belong to the workspace. Open **WhatsApp** in the workspace sidebar and choose **Import account** to connect through Meta. Then choose **Add account** on an agent's WhatsApp card. Imported accounts stay available until assigned, and an account can answer through only one agent at a time. See [WhatsApp](https://cntillion.com/docs/channels/whatsapp.md). The **Phone** card opens the agent's phone numbers page. Choose **Add number** to assign an available workspace number or import one from Twilio or a SIP trunk. At workspace level, **Phone Numbers** holds the inventory and lets you choose which agent answers each number. See [Phone numbers](https://cntillion.com/docs/channels/phone.md). Phone calls have no replies switch: an assigned number answers, and an unassigned one does not. [Zapier](https://cntillion.com/docs/channels/zapier.md) connects the agent to automated workflows. Choose **Set up Zapier** to create an agent-scoped API key, preview form records, and see workflow guides. Its Form Submission trigger and Send Prompt action are managed by publishing or turning off Zaps in Zapier. The **iOS SDK** and **Android SDK** cards add the agent to your own native app. They are not account connections: choose **Setup** to open the channel in the Playground, download the SDK and copy the agent ID, then turn on Visibility in **Overview**. A card shows **Enabled** once its platform is visible. Connected Google/Microsoft inboxes and messaging accounts use the provider's sign-in flow. The authorization is stored encrypted and tied to that account. Email also supports a generated agent address and company addresses that forward into it. Follow [Email settings](https://cntillion.com/docs/channels/email-settings.md) for forwarding and domain authentication. The Centillion team assigns SMS numbers as described on the SMS page. Owners and Members can connect, configure, and disconnect channels. Viewers can read their status but cannot change connections. See [workspace roles](https://cntillion.com/docs/workspaces/members.md). If the provider refuses the connection, Channels says why. For example, Meta refuses a Messenger connection when no Facebook Page you can manage messages for was chosen. Fix that and connect again. You can also choose each channel in the Playground's channel menu. For a messaging channel, its **Connections** tab lists the connected accounts with their status and the same replies switch. The other tabs hold that channel's own settings, such as its instructions. ## Every connection starts paused A new connection is saved with automatic replies **off**. Nothing is answered until you turn them on. This is deliberate, and it is the moment to check that the account you just linked is the one you meant, and that the agent behind it has been trained. When you do switch replies on, the agent answers **new** messages only. A backlog of older conversations is left alone, and any history imported during setup is never replied to. ## One account, one agent A connected account can answer through one agent at a time. You cannot point the same WhatsApp number at two agents, and nobody else can connect an account already held by your workspace. To move a WhatsApp account, open **More → Channels → WhatsApp**, choose **Remove agent**, then assign the account to the other agent. Its credentials stay in the workspace, automatic replies pause, and existing conversations stay with the previous agent. You do not need to repeat Meta's sign-up. For other channels, disconnect the account and connect it again from the other agent. ## Reading Recent activity Every connection has a list of what has happened recently. | Connection | Meaning | | - | - | | **Replies on** | Connected and answering | | **Replies paused** | Connected, answering nothing | | **Needs attention** | The provider rejected something, usually expired access. Reconnect. | | **Disconnected** | The link is gone, at your end or the provider's | | Message | Meaning | | - | - | | **Queued** | Received, waiting its turn | | **Preparing reply** | The agent is working on it | | **Sending** | Handed to the provider | | **Reply sent** | Done | | **No auto reply** | Deliberately skipped. An out-of-window message, an opt-out, a paused conversation. | | **Needs review** | Something a person should look at. See below. | | **Reply failed** | The provider refused the message | On WhatsApp you also get the provider's own receipts: accepted, sent, delivered, read. SMS reports sent, delivered and failed. Email shows provider delivery receipts and failures; a queued AI reply can also show its configured delay. ## When a person takes over Some things stop the agent answering a conversation, on purpose: * A customer asking for a human. * Your team replying in the provider's own app. A reply you send from the WhatsApp Business app or as your Facebook Page is imported, and the agent stops answering over the top of you. * A public comment, on Messenger or Instagram. Comments are never answered automatically. A paused conversation stays paused until your team resumes it. For a Helpdesk live chat, choose **Allow AI replies** in the ticket menu when your team is done; this also closes the live-chat ticket. Other paused conversations can be resumed from Channels. Pausing one conversation does not affect the rest. To route live requests into your inbox, enable [Centillion live chat](https://cntillion.com/docs/helpdesk.md#centillion-live-chat) under **Tools** and select the connected channels. It supports email, WhatsApp, Messenger direct messages and Instagram direct messages. The handoff keeps the conversation history in a ticket labeled **Live chat**, pauses AI replies, and lets your team answer from Helpdesk while the customer stays in the original channel. If the agent's [live alerts](https://cntillion.com/docs/helpdesk.md#live-alerts) post to Slack, the handoff appears there too, and your team can [answer from its thread](https://cntillion.com/docs/helpdesk.md#answering-a-handoff-from-slack). The handoff confirmation skips a mailbox's configured AI reply delay. A customer's opt-out still prevents delivery. Once an email conversation is a live chat, later replies continue in its ticket even if the mailbox does not import every incoming email as a ticket. Email can also use a [Zendesk handoff](https://cntillion.com/docs/helpdesk/zendesk-email.md). The linked Zendesk ticket owns the paused thread until it becomes Solved or Closed, unless a newer manual takeover keeps the conversation with your team. ## Needs review A message marked **Needs review** is one the agent chose not to finish. The reason is on the message. The common ones: * **"Delivery could not be confirmed."** The send may or may not have arrived, and Centillion will not risk sending it twice. Check the conversation in the provider's app before replying again. * **Hourly limit reached.** Each connection sends up to about 200 automatic replies an hour. Beyond that, messages wait for a person. * **Monthly credit limit reached.** You set that limit yourself, in Settings. * An attachment the agent cannot read, such as a video or a location pin. ## How fast a reply arrives Normally a few seconds. The agent looks through your knowledge, writes an answer and hands it to the provider. It can take longer. Messages are worked through a few at a time, so a busy minute queues. An attempt that fails while the reply is being written is retried after about a minute, then after about two, and the third failure is the last. When the provider turns a reply away because too many are going out at once, the reply is kept and sent again on the same schedule. Email can have a deliberate delay on top, which you set yourself to give your team a chance to get there first. ## Conversation memory The agent sees up to 24 earlier messages from the same conversation. Older context has to be in the agent's knowledge, not in the thread. [Procedures](https://cntillion.com/docs/agents/procedures.md) keep their active instructions and execution progress with the conversation. Up to five free-form procedures can remain active. A structured procedure runs one step at a time; Ask waits for the customer's answer before continuing. Finishing a procedure leaves the turn open. Referenced actions must be available on the conversation's channel. ## Turning it off **Pause automatic replies** on the connection stops new answers and leaves everything else intact. Messages still arrive and are still recorded, so your team can answer by hand. **Disconnect** removes the link and deletes the stored credential. For a connected email inbox, Slack, Instagram and Messenger it also withdraws Centillion's access at the provider, so there is nothing left to tidy up there. The generated agent email address stays with the agent and cannot be disconnected. Pause its automatic replies, remove unused custom addresses, and update the forwarding rules at your mail provider when retiring a support route. WhatsApp is the exception, and deliberately so. Your WhatsApp access is granted to a whole business rather than to one number, and withdrawing it would cut off every other number sharing it. Disconnecting removes that account from your workspace and leaves the business connection alone. Remove it from WhatsApp Business settings as well if you want it gone entirely. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.