Initiate a chat with an external user

If you have connected messengers or an email account to a live chat, operators of this live chat can create new sessions and initiate conversations with clients and partners.

For example, if you know a customer's phone number, you can send them a message to WhatsApp. Also, you can reopen an old session and message the customer.

Initiate a session

To create a new session:

1. Go to the Live Chats workspace. In My sessions, click +New Session.
   
2. In the provided window, specify the name of the live chat to which you are assigned as operator.
3. Click on the magnifying glass icon and add a user from the To bind account app specified in the live chat's settings. For example, the Tech Support live chat may be bound to the Contacts app that stores profiles of all the users who have ever contacted you. To start messaging a new customer who doesn't have a profile in the app, you can add a new item to the To bind account app by clicking +Create.
4. Specify the customer's account: their phone number for messengers or their email address. The type of account must match the type of communication channel that you have chosen. For example, you cannot create a session a live chat that is connected to an email inbox if you filled out the Account field with the customer's phone number instead of their email address.
   
5. After having filled out the form click Create.

The session that opens is automatically assigned to the operator who initiated it. You can start messaging the customer right away.

Important connection details

There are some things you need to remember when creating sessions in live chats connected to external communication channels:

• You cannot create a new session if you already have an opened session with the same person.
• In live chats connected to a TelegramBot you can initiate a session only with a person who has contacted you before.
• When initiating a session via WhatsApp enter the customer's phone number in the full international format including the plus (+) sign followed by the country code.
• When creating a session in a live chat connected to an inbox, you can specify the customer's email address from fields of the Account and Email types.

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