Channels
One AI front desk: WhatsApp today, more chat apps coming soon
WhatsApp is live on every plan: the AI answers, books into Google Calendar and hands chats to your team. Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger and Telegram are coming soon and will share the same knowledge base and calendar.
WhatsApp today, more chat apps soon
WhatsApp is live on every plan. Instagram, Messenger and Telegram are coming soon and will use the same services, hours and answers.
- WhatsApp: Live on every plan, with Coexistence so you keep the Business app on your phone.
- Instagram: Coming soon: DM replies for people who find you through posts, stories and ads.
- Messenger: Coming soon: answers in your Facebook Page inbox with the same services and hours.
- Telegram: Coming soon: bookings and answers for customers who prefer Telegram.
- Instagram AI agentOur Instagram AI agent for booking DMs is coming soon. See what it will do, how to prepare your account and how to book…
- Messenger chatbot for businessAn AI Messenger chatbot for Facebook Page bookings is coming soon to NextReply. See what it will do, how to prepare and…
- Telegram bot for businessA no-code Telegram bot for business that answers and books customers is coming soon to NextReply. See how to prepare…
Setup guide video · 2 min
See the whole setup in 2 minutes
A two-minute walkthrough of the real app: connect WhatsApp, set up your receptionist, start the free trial and go live.
What the video shows
- Connect your WhatsApp number through Meta
- Set up your AI receptionist: name, tone, language, opening hours and handover to a person
- Choose a plan ($29, $59 or $99 a month) and start the 7-day free trial, with checkout by Stripe
- You’re live: the AI replies 24/7 and books appointments into your calendar
What an omnichannel AI receptionist does
Your customers do not pick one app and stay there. A new client finds your salon on Instagram and sends a DM. Her mother messages your Facebook Page. Your regulars use WhatsApp. A student who follows your academy's channel writes on Telegram. An omnichannel AI receptionist is meant to answer all of them the same way: it knows your services, prices and hours, offers real free slots, books the appointment and hands anything tricky to a person.
NextReply is an AI front desk for WhatsApp, and that is the part that works today, on every plan. We are building the same assistant into Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger and Telegram. Those three channels are coming soon; none of them is live yet. When they launch, the plan is that you set the assistant up once and it replies in each customer's language, books into one Google Calendar and notifies your team, whichever app the chat started in.
This page explains where each channel stands, what each app is good for, the rules each app sets for businesses, and what you can do today. If you are still deciding which apps matter for your customers, read our comparison of WhatsApp vs Instagram vs Messenger vs Telegram. To hear when a new channel launches, email hello@nextreply.io.
- WhatsApp: Live / Instagram: Coming soon / Messenger: Coming soon / Telegram: Coming soon
- NextReply AI agent: Live on WhatsApp
- Google Calendar: No double bookings / CRM by webhook: Business plan / Your team: Takes over when needed
Channel status at a glance
| Channel | Status | What works |
|---|---|---|
| Live on all plans | 24/7 AI replies, booking into Google Calendar, voice notes and photos, replies in the customer's language, handoff, owner notifications, Coexistence | |
| Instagram DMs | Coming soon | Planned: DM answers and booking for followers |
| Facebook Messenger | Coming soon | Planned: Page inbox answers, bookings and viewings |
| Telegram | Coming soon | Planned: a no-code bot for questions and bookings |
Two other points worth knowing. Voice notes, photos and booking currently work on WhatsApp only. And appointment reminders are built but not live yet: they are waiting on Meta's template approval, so treat them as coming soon too.
Four apps, four different jobs
Each app plays a different part in how customers reach you. Treating them the same is a common mistake with any AI chatbot for social media DMs.
| Channel | Typical job | Who starts the chat | Later follow-ups |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookings, confirmations, regular customers | Usually the customer; the business can start with approved templates | Yes, with opt-in template messages (Meta charges per template) | |
| Instagram DMs | New clients discovering you through posts, reels and ads | The customer | Only inside 24 hours of the customer's last message |
| Facebook Messenger | Page messages, click-to-Messenger ads, older and local audiences | The customer | Only inside 24 hours, plus limited human follow-up |
| Telegram | Communities, students, customers who prefer it | The customer must start your bot | Only to customers who have started the bot |
The short version: DMs bring people in, WhatsApp keeps them booked. That is why we built NextReply on WhatsApp first, and why the other apps are planned as front doors into the same calendar.
WhatsApp: live today on every plan
WhatsApp is where most service businesses already take bookings, and it is the only one of the four apps where a business can reliably message a customer later, through template messages customers have opted in to. Since July 2025 Meta charges per delivered template rather than per conversation, while free-form replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are how most booking chats run.
NextReply on WhatsApp answers 24/7, understands voice notes and photos, replies in the customer's language, books into Google Calendar, hands chats to your team and supports WhatsApp Coexistence, so you keep the WhatsApp Business app on your phone with the same number. Since 15 January 2026 Meta's terms bar general-purpose AI chatbots on WhatsApp. NextReply is a business assistant for your services, bookings and customer questions, with human handoff, which is the use Meta allows. See the full list on the features page.
Instagram DMs: coming soon
For salons, spas, aesthetic clinics, gyms and cafés, Instagram is the shop window. Followers see a reel and send a DM: "price?", "free Saturday?", "do you do balayage?". If nobody answers for six hours, the moment has passed.
The Instagram AI agent is coming soon. It is planned to answer DMs from your own price list, offer open slots and book them into your calendar, and it will need an Instagram professional account. Until it launches, add a WhatsApp button to your Instagram profile and run ads that open WhatsApp, so followers land where NextReply already books.
Facebook Messenger: coming soon
Facebook Pages still bring a steady flow of messages, especially from local and older customers and from click-to-Messenger ads. In some markets, such as the Philippines, Messenger is where most customers start. The Messenger AI chatbot is coming soon to answer Page messages, book appointments or viewings and pass chats to staff. Today, you can switch your Page button to WhatsApp and point ads at WhatsApp so those enquiries reach NextReply.
Telegram: coming soon
Telegram is strong with students, tech-savvy customers and some regional markets. A Telegram AI bot is coming soon to give those customers the same front desk. Telegram's rule is simple: a bot cannot message someone who has not started it, so it will work as an inbound channel. Until then, pin a WhatsApp link in your Telegram channel for bookings and questions.
One Google Calendar, starting with WhatsApp
The practical benefit of one AI across several apps is a single source of truth for availability. On WhatsApp today, every booking lands in your Google Calendar and the slot disappears for the next customer. When the other channels launch, they are designed to book into the same calendar, so a DM on Instagram and a WhatsApp message a minute later can never take the same Saturday slot.
Every booking collects the same details: name, service, date and time, plus the staff member if you work by staff calendars. The AI confirms instantly in the chat and your team gets an owner notification. Read how slots, durations and buffers work on the appointment booking page.
- Customer message: “Any slot tomorrow afternoon?”
- AI receptionist: Reads service, date and time
- Checks your calendar: Offers only free slots
- Confirms in the chat: Name, service and time
- Booked: In Google Calendar, owner alerted
One knowledge base, one set of handoff rules
You describe your business once: services and prices, opening hours, team, policies, FAQs and the tone you want. The AI uses that on WhatsApp now, and the plan is for every new channel to read from the same knowledge base, so a customer gets the same price on Instagram as on WhatsApp.
Handoff works the same way. You decide which chats need a person, such as complaints, refunds, medical questions, large group bookings or anyone who asks for a human. Your team gets an instant notification and replies in that chat.
- Unusual request: Complaint, refund or special case
- AI receptionist: Knows when to step back
- Answers from your FAQs: Services, hours and prices / Hands the chat over: Your team is notified
- Your team replies: Same chat, full history
The rules each app sets, in plain words
A multichannel AI chatbot for small business has to respect four different rulebooks. These shape how NextReply works on WhatsApp now and how the other channels will work:
- WhatsApp: free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message; outside that, only approved templates the customer opted in to. No general-purpose AI chat, per Meta's 2026 terms.
- Instagram: replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message. A human can follow up later under Meta's human-agent tag, but automated or promotional messages after the window are not allowed.
- Messenger: the same 24-hour window and human-agent follow-up, with no promotional follow-ups outside it.
- Telegram: bots can only message users who have started the bot.
These rules are why scheduled messages, including the appointment reminders that are coming soon, are planned for WhatsApp. Our guide to the Instagram and Messenger 24-hour window covers the Meta side in detail.
Which channels will suit which businesses
- Salons, spas and aesthetic clinics: Instagram for discovery once it launches, WhatsApp for booking now.
- Medical and dental clinics: WhatsApp first; Messenger later for family members who use the Facebook Page.
- Gyms and studios: WhatsApp for taster classes and renewals; Instagram DMs when they arrive.
- Restaurants and cafés: WhatsApp for reservations; Instagram and Messenger for local regulars later.
- Real estate and home services: WhatsApp for ad leads, viewings and site visits; Messenger later for Page leads.
- Tutoring and education: WhatsApp for parents; Telegram for students when the bot launches.
You will not need all four. WhatsApp is the starting point for everyone, and it is the one you can switch on today.
How to cover every app with WhatsApp today
You can catch most enquiries from other apps right now by giving each one a clear route to WhatsApp:
- Instagram: add the WhatsApp button to your professional profile and a wa.me link in your bio. Click-to-WhatsApp ads run from the same Meta Ads Manager. Our guide to click-to-WhatsApp ads explains the setup.
- Facebook: set your Page action button to "Send WhatsApp message" and use a Messenger instant reply that shares your WhatsApp link.
- Telegram: pin a WhatsApp booking link in your channel.
- Offline: print a WhatsApp QR code for reception, receipts and flyers.
Once a customer is on WhatsApp, NextReply answers in seconds, understands voice notes and photos, and books the appointment.
Every language, every hour
Most messages to service businesses arrive outside opening hours: evenings, Sundays, public holidays. On WhatsApp, a message at 11pm already gets the same quality of answer as one at noon, in the customer's own language. That matters most for businesses with international or multilingual customers, and it will carry over to every new channel. See how businesses roll this out on our after-hours replies page.
A week of messages, today and after launch
Picture a busy beauty clinic using NextReply today. On Monday night a new client sees a reel about laser hair removal and taps the WhatsApp button on the clinic's Instagram profile; the AI quotes the course price and books a patch test for Thursday. On Tuesday a husband taps the Facebook Page's WhatsApp button to book his wife's facial as a surprise; the AI books it and notes the gift. On Wednesday a regular sends a WhatsApp voice note asking to move her appointment; the AI understands it and passes the request to the team with her booking details. On Saturday a student from the clinic's Telegram channel follows the pinned WhatsApp link to ask about the student discount; the AI answers and books an evening slot.
Four customers, one calendar and no messages waiting until Monday. The team handled only the two chats the AI handed over: a complaint about a previous treatment and a question about whether a medication affects laser sessions. When Instagram, Messenger and Telegram launch, those customers will be able to stay in the app they started in.
How to tell if it is working
Track a few numbers for the first month on WhatsApp:
- Where chats come from: Instagram button, Page button, ads, QR code or direct. Pre-filled messages in your links make this easy.
- Bookings made outside opening hours, usually the clearest sign of value.
- Handoffs by reason, to spot missing information in your knowledge base.
These numbers also tell you which coming-soon channel to switch on first when it launches.
How setup works
- Connect WhatsApp, using Coexistence to keep your WhatsApp Business app and number.
- Add your services, hours, team and FAQs once.
- Connect Google Calendar so bookings land in real availability.
- Set handoff rules and notifications, then test with real messages.
- Add WhatsApp links to your Instagram, Facebook and Telegram profiles.
Every plan includes WhatsApp and starts with a 7-day free trial. Plans are priced in US dollars: Starter $29, Pro $59 and Business $99 a month, for up to 500, 1,500 or unlimited bookings. Prices are in US dollars. At checkout, your card or bank may show an estimate in your local currency. Local taxes may apply. Details are on the pricing page, and the product overview is on the home page.
Questions people ask
Which channels work today?
WhatsApp, on every plan. Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger and Telegram are coming soon. Voice notes, photos and booking currently work on WhatsApp only.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, so you can connect WhatsApp and watch the AI answer and book real customers before you pay.
What is an omnichannel AI receptionist?
One AI assistant that answers customers on several messaging apps with the same knowledge base, calendar and handoff rules. NextReply does this on WhatsApp today, with Instagram, Messenger and Telegram coming soon.
How will I know when Instagram, Messenger or Telegram launch?
Email hello@nextreply.io and tell us which channel you want. We will let you know when it goes live.
Can I reach Instagram and Facebook customers before those channels launch?
Yes. Add WhatsApp buttons and links to your Instagram profile and Facebook Page, and run ads that open WhatsApp. NextReply answers and books those chats on WhatsApp.
Does NextReply send appointment reminders?
Not yet. Appointment reminders are coming soon; they are built and waiting on Meta's template approval. Today NextReply confirms each booking in the chat and adds it to your calendar.
Can a Telegram bot message my customers first?
No. Telegram bots can only message people who have started the bot, so Telegram will work as an inbound channel when it launches.
Is an AI assistant allowed on WhatsApp in 2026?
Meta's terms bar general-purpose AI chatbots on WhatsApp. A business assistant for your services, bookings and customer questions, with human handoff, is the allowed use, and that is what NextReply is.
Every WhatsApp message answered, every free slot offered
Start your 7-day free trial, connect your WhatsApp number and add your services and hours. NextReply answers and books around the clock.