Connect a Telegram bot for your customers

Connect a Telegram bot so customers can write to your business on Telegram and your team can manage the conversation in the Inbox. This connects a bot account, not an employee’s personal Telegram account. Customers write to the bot’s own username.

How it works

The Customer-facing bot receives customer messages in omotto so staff or the bot can reply. Connecting it does not turn automatic replies on: both business Bot status and The bot answers on this line must allow them.

It is not the team channel used for staff conversations, or a bot used for personal notifications. Use a separate Telegram bot for each purpose. A token already saved by another omotto connection cannot be reused here, including in another workspace.

During setup, this page also shows whether the line is set to answer customers, or the current line-level blocker. Turn on for this line opens the Telegram line switch; Switch the bot on opens the business-wide switch. Neither link changes the setting by itself. If a real test message waits without a reply, check both switches and the line explanation, not just the connected badge.

Where to find it

Open Settings → Chat services → Telegram → Customer-facing bot. Guidance, when offered, is under Settings → Bot → Handbook → Where [bot name] communicates → With customers.

Set it up

Required: a customer bot’s token and a successful connection in omotto. Create a bot in BotFather only if you do not already have a suitable one; do not reuse a bot that is still connected to another service.

Optional: check delivery with a test conversation, customize line guidance or enable automatic replies. A connected Telegram bot does not require you to turn on customer bot replies immediately.

Before you connect

You need a Telegram account to talk to BotFather, Telegram’s bot-management account. You also need permission to manage chat connections in omotto. Changing business Bot status or Telegram guidance requires permission to edit the bot’s settings as well. If you cannot open the settings or change the controls, ask your workspace owner to check your permissions.

A bot token is the private access key BotFather gives you. Anyone who has it can control the bot. Paste it only into the designated Bot token field in omotto. Do not send it in a conversation, put it on your website, or include it in a support screenshot.

Check Bot status before connecting. A new workspace starts paused, but a business you already launched may be live. A new line’s The bot answers on this line switch starts on. If the business is already live, a successful connection can therefore allow replies straight away. If you are not ready, pause Bot status before connecting; this pauses ordinary bot replies across the business, not just Telegram. See testing and going live.

During setup, the Telegram card in the Coach starts with the new-bot instructions. If you already have a bot, paste its token in the card instead. You do not need to create another bot or request another token.

If needed: create a customer bot in Telegram

Open BotFather in Telegram.
Send /newbot.
Follow BotFather’s request for the bot’s display name. Choose the name customers should see.
Follow its request for a username. Telegram requires a username ending in bot, such as your_business_bot.
Copy the token BotFather gives you.

The display name and username are different. Telegram uses the username for search and the bot’s link. Its username must have 5–32 characters and contain only Latin letters, numbers and underscores. Choose an available name that identifies your business.

These steps follow Telegram’s BotFather instructions. If you already have a bot dedicated to customer conversations, use its token instead of creating another. Do not connect a bot that is still handling messages through another service: changing where it receives messages can interrupt that service.

Required: connect the chosen bot in omotto

Open the Telegram page described above.
Paste the full token into Bot token.
Choose Connect. If a connection was saved previously, the button is Update token instead.
Wait for the page to return and check the status.
Check that the displayed @username is the customer bot you intended to connect.

omotto checks the token with Telegram and sets up message delivery automatically. You do not need to create another secret or enter a connection address in Telegram yourself.

Check the connection status

Status	Meaning and next step
Connected	The connection setup completed. The bot’s username appears beside the status. You can check delivery with the optional test below. This status does not mean automatic replies are on.
Not connected	No connection has been completed, or you disconnected it. A connection attempt can also remain here if it did not finish. Connect or retry with Update token if that button is shown.
Error	The saved connection has a problem. Read the explanation if one is shown, check the token, and retry.

Optional: test receiving and sending

Keep ordinary bot replies paused while you check the connection:

In Telegram, open the customer bot using the displayed username.
Press Start if Telegram shows it.
Send a normal test message, such as a question about your opening hours.
Open the Inbox in omotto.
Find the Telegram conversation and check that the message arrived.
Type and send a short reply directly in the conversation’s message box.
Check that the reply arrived in Telegram.

With permission to reply, you can send directly while Bot status is paused or Bot on this line is off. Take over is not offered in those states. Once the bot is live and handling replies, use staff takeover to answer yourself.

A real Telegram chat checks message delivery. A rehearsal checks the bot’s answers without sending those test-chat messages to a customer. Use Dry-run when you do not want the rehearsal to make real changes in connected services.

If you want automatic replies, follow the launch checklist and enable Bot status for the business, and make sure The bot answers on this line is on. Return the test conversation to the bot if you took it over, then send a new message in Telegram to check an automatic reply. Turning the bot on is not a request to answer every earlier message.

Settings

On-screen name	What it does	Starting or saved state
Bot token	Holds the private key for the customer bot. It is not a phone number or a username.	Empty before setup. After saving, dots stand in for the saved token; the page does not reveal it.
Connect	Checks the token and sets up the connection.	Shown when no connection has been saved.
Update token	Checks and applies a replacement token, or reconnects using the saved token if you leave the field untouched.	Shown once a connection has been saved, including after disconnecting.
Disconnect	Stops this Telegram connection in omotto after confirmation.	Available once a connection has been saved. It keeps the saved token.
Bot on this line → The bot answers on this line	Allows ordinary bot replies on this Telegram line. Changes save automatically.	On for a new line. The business must also be live.
Bot status	Enables or pauses ordinary bot replies for the whole business, across channels.	Paused for a new workspace. Connecting Telegram does not change this switch.
Show advanced options / Hide advanced options	Shows or hides additional settings, including the guidance editor when it has not been replaced by a Handbook link.	Hidden initially; your choice is remembered for you across Chat services pages. It does not turn the bot on or off.
Advanced	Expands the read-only connection details described below.	Collapsed initially.

Turning off The bot answers on this line does not disconnect Telegram. On a working connection, customer messages still reach the Inbox and staff can reply. Reminders and confirmations still go out. It is not a stop-all-messages switch. Other lines are unchanged. See lines and bot pauses.

Guidance for Telegram replies

When the page offers a link to the guidance area listed above, follow it to edit Every Telegram bot in the Handbook, under Show advanced options. The link depends on your access and the available settings.

Otherwise, use Show advanced options to find Bot guidance on this channel → Guidance. Existing non-empty guidance can remain visible even with advanced options hidden.

Purpose: extra instructions for Telegram only, such as shorter replies or how to format links. They do not change the connection token or the bot’s Telegram username.
Length limit: up to 10,000 characters. Shorten longer guidance before entering or saving it.
Default: blank, meaning no extra Telegram-specific guidance.
Saving: the connection-page field saves automatically after editing or leaving the field. There is no separate Save button.
Removing: clear the guidance field to remove these extra instructions. This is different from clearing the token field.

Keep guidance that applies everywhere in your general bot settings and Handbook rather than copying it into every channel.

Advanced: connection address and secret indicator

The Advanced section contains:

Webhook URL: the address Telegram uses to deliver messages to omotto. It is shown for diagnosis; it is not an editable setting or a link to give customers.
Webhook secret set ✓: an indicator that omotto has created the extra protection used for incoming messages. It does not display the secret itself. The indicator is shown only when that protection is stored.

You do not invent, paste or rotate this extra secret during normal setup. Use the customer bot’s Telegram username or https://t.me/your_business_bot link for customers, not the address in Advanced.

What to configure next

Choose only the options that fit what you want this feature to do.

Write knowledge and Handbook guidance, including the Telegram-only guidance described under Settings.
Practice with a rehearsal, then turn on answers with the launch checklist.
Decide who handles what the bot cannot: your Support Team, and a team channel if staff prefer to answer from a staff group.
Check notifications so the right people hear about new work.

What happens when…

You keep, replace or reconnect a saved token

To keep the saved token, leave the dots untouched. Reloading the page still shows dots, not the real token. Do not erase them to mean “keep what is saved.” Submitting an empty token can fail the connection check; it is not a way to disconnect or reliably remove the saved key.

The current on-screen hint is misleading. It says Token saved — leave blank to keep, clear to remove. Follow the procedure above instead: leave the dots untouched to keep the token. Use Disconnect to stop the connection, not an empty token field.

To replace a token:

Get the replacement for the same bot from BotFather. Telegram documents /token for generating a new token if the old one is lost or compromised.
Replace the entire Bot token field with the new value.
Choose Update token.
Check Connected and the expected username.
Repeat the receiving-and-sending test.

If you suspect someone else has the token, generate a replacement in BotFather promptly. Disconnecting omotto alone does not invalidate that token at Telegram.

To reconnect after Disconnect, open the same page and choose Update token without changing the masked field. If you changed the token in BotFather, paste the replacement first.

You disconnect Telegram

Open the Telegram page described above.
Choose Disconnect in Danger zone.
Read Disconnect Telegram?.
Confirm Disconnect.
Check that the status becomes Not connected.

This stops Telegram messages through this omotto connection. It keeps the connection and saved token for reconnecting; it does not delete the bot in Telegram. omotto also tries to stop Telegram forwarding messages here. If that cleanup fails, the forwarding arrangement may remain at Telegram even though omotto has stopped using the connection. Contact support if you are moving the bot elsewhere and delivery remains confused.

Disconnecting also does not make the saved token available for another omotto connection. Use separate bots for the team channel and notifications.

You want to send a customer the first message

omotto does not apply the WhatsApp template and reply-window flow to Telegram. There is no equivalent reply timer on this connection.

That does not mean you can message any Telegram customer. Telegram’s rule is that a bot cannot start a conversation with a customer. For customer service, have the person open your bot and send it a message first. Knowing someone’s phone number or username is not enough to start a private bot conversation with them.

Troubleshooting

Telegram says this bot is connected to another service

Check the address shown in the warning. Choose Connect here anyway only when you want this workspace to use the bot instead of that service. The other service will stop receiving messages for that bot. Editing the token cancels the pending confirmation. A bot already used elsewhere in this workspace must be disconnected there first.

A connected Telegram bot moved to another service

omotto marks the connection as an error and stops taking it back automatically. To reconnect here, use Update token with the same token, then confirm Connect here anyway if asked. You do not need a new token. If the other service releases the bot, omotto may recover automatically. If it does not, reconnect here; for a team bot, check that its group is registered too.

Problem	What to do
The token is rejected, or the status is Error.	Copy the full current token from BotFather again. Do not paste the bot’s username. If you generated a replacement, use that replacement in omotto.
The token is already used by another connection.	Use a bot dedicated to customer chats. Check whether you used the team bot, a notification bot or a token saved in another workspace. Disconnecting the other connection does not necessarily free it.
Choosing Connect or Update token appears to do nothing.	Reload and check the saved status. Check the same token-reuse cases above. Do not assume the bot connected just because you clicked the button.
Could not reach Telegram — try again. appears.	Retry. If it persists, contact support with the time and the visible status, without sharing the token.
A warning says The provider is currently refusing our requests while the status can still be Connected.	This is a separate temporary-fault warning, not a request to reconnect. It usually resolves on Telegram’s side and clears automatically after the first successful exchange. No connection change is normally needed. If the warning or delivery failure persists, contact support.
A notice says A temporary provider fault resolved itself.	The temporary fault cleared automatically; no action was needed. The recovery notice can remain visible for up to 24 hours.
This connection stopped working — reconnect to restore service. appears.	Unlike the temporary-fault warning, this calls for reconnection. Use Update token with the saved dots untouched, or paste the current token if you replaced it. Then repeat the sending-and-receiving test.
Connected, but the test message is missing from the Inbox.	First check for the temporary-fault warning above. Otherwise, check that you wrote to the exact displayed username. Open the bot, press Start if offered, and send a normal message. Retry the connection if needed. If it still fails, contact support.
The message arrives, but the bot is silent.	Check business Bot status, The bot answers on this line, any takeover, and any manual timeout or Pause on suspected misuse. Read the Inbox’s explanation. A connected Telegram bot can intentionally be staff-only.
Staff cannot change the settings.	Ask the workspace owner to check chat-connection permissions.

When contacting support, include the bot’s username, the visible status, when you tested, and whether the message appeared in the Inbox. Never include the bot token.