Try your bot and turn on customer replies

Connecting a line lets messages reach omotto. It does not make the bot answer customers. You choose when to turn it on. A new workspace starts with the customer bot paused.

Going live is the last step of guided setup. The Coach waits while required setup in the pre-launch areas you chose is incomplete. Optional follow-up tasks do not delay the go-live card. Connecting a calendar is not enough: finish the booking details, or ask the Coach to defer or drop that work if you want to launch first. The Coach can then show the go-live card. Choosing a channel or connecting it never turns replies on by itself.

How it works

A line is one connection customers write to, such as a WhatsApp number or a Telegram bot. There are two separate switches: Bot status for the whole business, and Bot on this line for one line. Both must be on for ordinary bot replies. A staff takeover or manual timeout or Pause on suspected misuse can still keep a conversation silent.

Neither switch disconnects the channel. If the connection is working and receiving messages, new messages still appear in the Inbox, where your team can reply. Reminders and confirmations still go out. These switches are not a stop-all-messages control for automations or other operational messages.

Where to find it

During setup: the launch card sits below the greeting on Home. What’s left opens its checklist. A status pill at the top of every page shows whether replies are off, lines are not answering, or customers still need an answer. Choose the pill to open Home with that panel expanded. Home’s See what’s left opens the same panel. The pill cannot be dismissed. The banner remains after launch while earlier customers still need a reply or selected launch follow-through remains.
Business-wide switch: Settings → Bot → Handbook → Where [bot name] communicates → With customers. Click the value in The bot is live, answering customers to open the status controls. You need access to the Handbook and permission to edit the bot’s settings; connection-management access is not required for this business-wide control. If you can manage chat connections, you can also find the same card under Settings → Chat services → a channel, such as WhatsApp.
One line’s switch: the same Handbook section, in the named line’s row, or Settings → Chat services → the channel. For WhatsApp, select the intended line’s name in the lines overview to reach Bot on this line. The overview’s Bot status card controls the whole business, not one number.
Test conversations: Bot → Rehearsals, if you have access.

Set it up

Try a rehearsal first

You can ask the Coach for a test conversation where you play a customer. Try questions about your business, a question with missing information, and a request that needs your team. The Coach’s test-chat card uses Dry-run writes.

To start your own test:

Open the rehearsal screen listed above.
Choose New rehearsal.
Choose a connected Channel.
Under Writes, choose Dry-run to try actions without making real changes.
Choose Start rehearsal.
Write as a customer and check the replies.

Check Writes before starting: New rehearsal defaults to Dry-run before your business’s first launch, and Real afterward—even if customer replies are paused again.

A rehearsal can answer before the business goes live and while that line’s bot switch is off. It does not turn on real customer replies. omotto does not send the rehearsal’s messages to customers, team members or Experts. Real writes can still affect connected services, and those services may notify real people. Choosing a real customer does not make those external actions harmless.

Before your first real-write rehearsal, choose Review and confirm… and read the warning. Each person confirms for themselves. You do not need that confirmation for Dry-run. See Rehearsals for the full testing controls and plan and usage limits.

Turn on replies for the business

During setup, the launch card on Home has one Turn on automatic replies action. The same action from the Coach opens the confirmation on Home, even on your first visit. It brings the confirmation into view; it does not skip setup. If launch checks are missing, it lists them and asks you to choose Turn on or Not yet. You do not need to write a reason here. Opening Home or the confirmation does not turn replies on.

If We couldn’t check what’s set up appears, choose Retry to check again. If checks are still unavailable, the same Turn on automatic replies action asks you to confirm that setup could not be checked. Choose Turn on to accept that for this launch, or Not yet to leave replies off; no written reason is required. If checks recover and show missing items before the write, you must review and confirm those items instead.

Open the launch card using one of the setup entries above.
Read What’s left and follow any links you want to address first.
Choose Turn on automatic replies when you are ready.
If a confirmation appears, review any checks shown and choose Turn on, or choose Not yet to leave replies off. When checks are ready, it asks only whether to turn replies on. Opening the confirmation never turns replies on by itself.

While this setup card applies, Turn on automatic replies… in the business-wide settings or Handbook opens the same Home confirmation instead of a second reason form. If you cannot change bot settings, the card asks you to contact your admin. If you have permission to reply and customers are waiting, Reply to waiting customers ([count]) opens their filtered Inbox list. After a successful launch, Next: links to the first remaining follow-through item when one exists.

Outside this setup flow, the existing business-wide switch and Why go live now? / Go live anyway reason form remain unchanged. Turning replies off and each line’s own switch also keep their existing behavior.

Before the first launch, the Coach panel minimizes when you open a channel’s go-live page or its bot-status section, so you can use the controls. You can reopen it yourself. This does not change your saved panel preference.

Once saved, the business-wide status is live. Home can still show blocked lines, waiting customers or remaining follow-through. This is a business-wide change, even if you started from a channel page. It enables replies on every eligible line whose own bot switch is on, not just the page you opened.

Turn the bot off on one line

Open the Handbook section listed above.
Find the line by name.
Click its reply-switch value.
Turn off The bot answers on this line.

Do not use the overview’s Bot status card to silence just one WhatsApp number: that pauses the whole business.

Pause the bot across the business

Open either business-wide switch location listed above.
In the Handbook, click the status value in The bot is live, answering customers; on a channel page, find Bot status.
Turn off the live switch.

Settings

Launch setting	What it does	Default for a new workspace or line
Bot status	Turns ordinary customer-bot replies on or off across the business. Off is shown as Bot paused; on is The bot is live.	Paused for a new workspace. Connecting a channel does not change it.
Bot on this line → The bot answers on this line	Allows ordinary bot replies on this line only. Turning it off leaves the other lines unchanged.	On for a new line, but the business must also be live.
Why go live now?	Your explanation in the existing reason form outside the Home setup flow. The Home confirmation records the missing items you accepted without asking for free text.	Empty; required for an incomplete launch through that existing reason form.

You need permission to edit the bot’s settings to change Bot status. The line switch needs permission to manage chat connections. Being able to view a page does not necessarily let you change its switches. Ask the workspace owner about access permissions if a control is unavailable.

Readiness checklist

On a channel page before the first launch, the checklist separates what is needed for answers from recommendations and things you can do later. It shows completed items too; it is not a list of every possible feature. After the first launch, this checklist no longer appears, even while the bot is paused.

Customers can’t get answers until this is done needs a usable customer line with its bot switch on. A connected line with that switch off links to the line’s own switch. The business-wide live switch does not turn that line on for you.

Recommended, not required covers:

Business name. The name of your business, not just the bot’s name.
What the business does. A description of your business.
You confirmed the business details. During setup, this may appear as Confirm your business name and description, with a link back to the Coach.
At least one knowledge source with content. The content must be available to the customer bot. A file still processing, or knowledge only available to staff, does not meet the document check. A usable live web source can also count.

Can do later includes unresolved setup choices and outside alerts for customers waiting before launch. By default, owners get an in-app alert once per unanswered stretch. Email and push start on, with at most one alert per workspace per 30-minute window sent outside the app to the selected recipients and their devices; personal opt-outs still apply. These optional items do not block going live. Missing launch checks still need your confirmation. In the Home setup card, Turn on records the missing items you accepted; outside that flow, the existing Go live anyway reason form remains. Neither completes the missing items.

Follow the links in the card to resolve the missing items. Use your setup checklist, knowledge and Web sources for more detail. Passing this check is not a review of every answer, business rule or integration. Rehearse the situations that matter to your business before launching.

Rehearsal options

Rehearsal option	What it does	Starting value
Name (optional)	Gives the rehearsal a name so you can find it later.	Blank.
Channel	Uses the bot’s setup for that connected channel.	The first available channel.
Play as	Starts with a blank test customer, or lets you choose a real customer whose available details and memories are read for the test. It does not write changes back to that customer’s profile.	Blank test customer.
Writes → Dry-run	Actions that would change business data or connected services report simulated success instead of making the change. Read-only lookups can still use connected services.	Selected before the business’s first launch.
Writes → Real	Changes can really happen: for example, orders, discounts, refunds, bookings or business memories.	Selected after the business’s first launch, including while paused.

What happens when…

You launch before setup is complete

In the Home setup card, review the missing items and choose Turn on to accept them, or Not yet to cancel. If a new item becomes missing before you confirm, the card shows the updated list and asks again. It does not silently accept a different set of missing checks.

Outside this setup flow, the existing settings controls still ask for Why go live now? and Go live anyway when readiness is incomplete. Cancel closes that reason form without launching.

Either confirmation allows this launch only. It does not fill in missing information, turn on a line’s bot switch, reconnect a channel or end a customer’s pause.

A pause or connection problem keeps the bot silent

The table describes each state on its own. Several can apply at once. “Staff can reply” assumes the person has permission and sending is otherwise available. Consent and the channel’s sending rules still apply.

A manual timeout or suspected-misuse pause applies to one contact—the customer’s identity on a channel—not their whole customer profile. Pausing their WhatsApp contact does not pause a separate Telegram or website contact, even if both belong to the same customer profile.

State	New customer messages stored in omotto?	Staff can reply?	Ordinary bot replies?	Scheduled or operational messages?
Business Bot paused	Yes, if the channel is receiving.	Yes.	No, across the business.	May continue.
Bot on this line off	Yes, on a working connection.	Yes.	No on this line; other lines are unchanged.	May continue on this line.
Assistant paused: usage cap reached	Yes, if the channel is receiving.	Yes.	No new reply work until the cap is raised or removed.	Billed automations pause; runs included in your plan can continue.
Staff has taken over	Yes.	Yes.	No in the held conversation.	May continue.
Manual timeout	Yes.	Yes.	No in conversations linked to that contact until resumed or expired.	May continue.
Pause on suspected misuse	Yes.	Yes.	No in conversations linked to that contact while paused.	May continue.
Pause new messages on website chat or Instagram	No: incoming messages are refused or discarded, not queued for later.	Yes, in existing chats if sending still works.	No reply to the refused or discarded messages.	May continue; this is not an outbound stop switch.
Channel disconnected or unusable	New messages do not reach the Inbox through an unusable connection.	Restore the connection before relying on delivery.	No normal service until the connection works.	Delivery can fail; reconnect before relying on it.

Use the control that matches your goal:

Let people keep writing, but let staff answer: pause Bot status, or turn off Bot on this line.
Answer one conversation yourself: use a takeover.
Silence the bot for one contact temporarily: use a manual timeout. That article also explains Pause on suspected misuse and how their recovery differs.
Stop accepting new messages: website chat and Instagram have a separate Pause new messages control. Choose Resume to receive messages again. This does not recover messages ignored during the pause. See website chat or Instagram.
Fix a broken connection: follow WhatsApp connection troubleshooting, Telegram connection, or the guide for the affected channel. A live bot switch does not repair a connection.

For website chat, the greeting you wrote can still appear while the bot is paused. A visible greeting is not proof that automatic replies are on.

Setup offers a launch card

After a line connects during setup, a launch proposal can appear in your conversation with the Coach, even while launch checks are still missing. Try it first opens Rehearsals, where you choose the write mode before starting. Receiving a proposal does not turn replies on. In this setup flow, incomplete launch checks are reviewed through the shared Home confirmation described above, rather than a separate reason form in each screen.

Use What’s left in the Home launch card to review the working customer line, recommendations and optional setup. Missing facts keep their repair links without being repeated in several checklist groups. Optional reminders do not block launch; accepting a missing check does not complete it.

Is my bot answering on this line?

During setup, the line’s settings can show Set to answer customers on this line. This means its connection, incoming-message setting, plan availability and bot switches allow replies. It is not proof that a reply was delivered. A takeover, customer pause or other conversation-level restriction can still prevent a reply. On WhatsApp, a provider connection problem takes priority: resolve that explanation first.

If a line is not set to answer, the explanation points to its current blocker. Turn on for this line takes you to Bot on this line; it does not turn on the business-wide switch. Switch the bot on takes you to Bot status; it does not enable a line whose own switch is off. Other explanations can point to reconnecting, resuming incoming messages, website chat settings or your plan. Following a link opens the relevant control; it does not change the setting for you.

A real test message sent to a connected line can reach the Inbox without a bot reply while either switch is off. The launch banner shows each connected line that is not answering, its own reason and an authorized fix link. Inbound-message pauses and unavailable website chat have their own explanations; turning on business-wide replies does not repair those blockers. Rehearsals are not included in waiting counts. You see switch links only with the required permissions.

Conversations were waiting before the first launch

The Home launch card counts conversations that first needed an answer before launch, plus waiting customers on connected lines that are not answering. It shows the oldest unanswered message and 99+ when the count is above 99. Reply to waiting customers ([count]) opens exactly those conversations in the Inbox. The Inbox shows the filtered count too; Clear removes that filter. The reply link appears only when customers are waiting and you have permission to reply.

Only people with permission to view conversations see waiting counts and ages. Without that permission, replies being off is shown without a count or an Inbox link; no number is not a claim that nobody is waiting.

Turning replies on does not clear this list. The card refreshes after launch and as waiting conversations change, and checks again when you return to the page or browser tab. A conversation leaves when your team replies, takes over or assigns it, or closes its current ticket. The banner cannot collapse while customers are waiting. With no waiting customers it can collapse to a one-line strip; What’s left opens it again.

Going live enables new replies. It does not make the bot review every earlier chat. Answer those conversations in the Inbox. There is a specific exception: answers your team already gave the bot to pass on, held because the business or line was off, can resume delivery when that switch turns on. Other blockers, such as a takeover or customer pause, still apply.

A timeout ending is different from a business launch. Do not assume that ending any kind of pause sends old answers. See timeout and abuse-pause recovery.

Troubleshooting

Check Bot status for the business.
Check Bot on this line for the affected line.
Check the conversation for a staff takeover or customer pause.
Check that the channel is connected and not set to Pause new messages.
Read the explanation shown in the Inbox; other sending or plan restrictions may also prevent replies.

Loading bot status… means the saved status has not arrived yet. The switch is not shown until that read succeeds. If Couldn’t load the bot status appears, choose Retry. If retrying still fails, contact support; do not interpret an unavailable control as confirmation that the bot is paused or live.

If the switch changes back or shows Couldn’t change the bot status, do not assume the bot is live. Reload the page and check the saved state. If you cannot edit it, ask the workspace owner to check your permissions. You can ask the Coach about missing setup items. Contact support if the state will not save, the readiness list seems wrong after a reload, or the bot remains silent after you resolve the displayed blockers.

Pending suggestions and tests

During setup, a Coach suggestion is not a saved setting. Rehearsals show an informational notice when suggestions are still pending and run with the settings already saved. Use Review beside a pending setting to open the original Coach card; saving it and turning on customer replies are separate actions.