Customers reach your support desk through five channels — an embeddable web chat widget, your support email inbox, a “Contact us” web form, WhatsApp, and SMS. Whichever they use, it becomes one ticket in a single queue your team works — from Microsoft Teams or a web browser.
The channels
Web chat
A chat bubble you add to your website with one <script> tag. The AI replies in the widget; an agent’s reply shows up there too. See the web chat widget.
Support email
Mail sent to your support address — a shared mailbox like support@yourcompany.com — becomes a ticket; replies go back to the sender by email. See support email.
Web form
A hosted “Contact us” form (or your own form posting to AB Support). The reply is emailed to the address the visitor left. See web forms.
A customer messages your desk’s WhatsApp number and it becomes a ticket, threaded like any other. The agent’s reply goes back out on WhatsApp. Needs a one-time business verification first — see below.
SMS
The same for plain text messages: a customer texts your desk’s number, it becomes a ticket, and replies go back to them by SMS. A US number has to be registered first — see below.
Before a US number can carry messages
Your desk’s Settings will tell you when this applies: the WhatsApp & SMS section shows a warning against a US number that still needs registering, and replies you send meanwhile are marked on the ticket timeline. There are two ways through it:
| Number type | What it needs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| US toll-free (800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, 833) | Toll-free verification — a single submission for the number | The simpler path. One form, one review. |
| US 10-digit local (a normal area code) | A2P registration for business messaging | More involved than toll-free. If you have the choice, take a toll-free number. |
| Non-US numbers | Varies by country | Ask us for the country you need. |
Either way, contact us and we’ll take you through it — you don’t deal with the carriers yourself.
What each one takes to switch on
Three of the five you can set up yourself in a few minutes. Two involve someone else, so plan for them:
| Channel | What’s involved | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Web chat | Paste the snippet from Settings onto your site | Minutes |
| Web form | Link the hosted form, or POST your own to the endpoint | Minutes |
| Support email | A Microsoft 365 admin grants consent once, then you save the mailbox | As long as your admin takes |
| SMS | Enter the number and enable inbound — but a US number must be registered first (above) | Minutes to configure; registration takes days |
| A one-time business verification with Meta — contact us and we’ll take you through it | Usually a few days |
Quick reference
| Channel | How it reaches you | How replies go back |
|---|---|---|
| Web chat | Chat widget embedded on your site | Live, in the widget |
| Your support mailbox | By email to the sender | |
| Web form | Hosted or your own “Contact us” form | By email to the submitter |
| Your desk’s WhatsApp number (via Vonage) | Back to the customer on WhatsApp | |
| SMS | Your desk’s SMS number (via Vonage) | Back to the customer by SMS — once the number is registered |
You turn each channel on from your desk’s Settings — the web-chat embed snippet, the support mailbox, the hosted form link, and the WhatsApp and SMS numbers all live there.