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Guides, walkthroughs and reference for getting the most out of Chatlane. Articles are grouped by topic and ordered by importance.
Getting started
Set up your inbox and connect your first channel.
Inbox channels
Connect email, SMS, WhatsApp, phone, social and chat.
- 6 minWebsite Chat Widget Popular
Add chat to your site
- 8 minConnect your channels
Email, SMS, WhatsApp, phone, Facebook, and Instagram
- 4 minContact Cards
Let your visitors know how to reach you
- 8 minEmbedded Inbox
Embed Chatlane inside your own internal tools and reply in context.
- 5 minWhich WhatsApp option is right for you
Chatlane connects WhatsApp three ways — via Chatlane, via Meta, and via Twilio. Compare number ownership, setup effort, calling, Coexistence, templates, and billing to pick the right one.
- 7 minConnect WhatsApp (Meta)
Connect a WhatsApp Business number to Chatlane — keep using the WhatsApp Business app on the same number, or set up a brand-new number.
- 7 minContact integrations
Pull customer data into the inbox
- 10 minPhone calls
Take inbound phone calls through a Twilio Voice number — ring your team in the browser or on the Chatlane mobile app, hold callers in a queue agents pick from, send to voicemail, or forward to another number — plus greetings, recording, transcripts, and AI summaries.
- 6 minConnect Outlook
Connect a Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft 365 account to Chatlane as an email channel — Chatlane sends replies from your account and sets up forwarding for you automatically.
- 6 minDisplay templates for contact integrations
Customise how external data appears
- 8 minPhone calls via Chatlane
Get a phone number instantly from Chatlane — no Twilio account needed. Search and provision a number, keep your existing line by forwarding it in, call internationally across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and present your own number as the caller ID on outbound calls.
- 6 minWhatsApp calling
Let customers call your WhatsApp number and answer live in the browser — plus call customers back with their consent.
- 6 minConnect Gmail
Connect a Gmail or Google Workspace account to Chatlane as an email channel — Chatlane sends replies from your address and walks you through a one-time forwarding setup, confirming Google's verification automatically.
- 4 minContact integration demo example
A worked example you can copy from
- 12 minCustom inbound domains
Receive email on your own domain — orders@yourdomain.com instead of orders-abc123@inbound.chatlane.io
- 5 minSMS via Chatlane
Text customers from a Chatlane-provided number — no Twilio account needed. Get a new SMS number in a couple of clicks, or enable texting on the Chatlane phone number you already have.
- 7 minWhatsApp via Chatlane
Get a WhatsApp Business number through Chatlane — we provide the number and register it with Meta for you. Connect your WhatsApp Business Account in one guided signup; verification is automatic.
AI agents
Configure agents, give them knowledge, and review their work.
- 7 minLet your AI agent take action Popular
Update status, tags, contacts, and external systems
- 6 minGive your AI agent a knowledge base Popular
Upload files and use message attachments
- 10 minConnect your AI agent to external APIs with webhooks
Step-by-step guide to setting up webhook agent actions to retrieve and post data to your CRM, pricing engine, Shopify, or any HTTP API.
- 5 minImprove your AI agent
Give feedback and review agent logs
- 4 minSelf-learning FAQ
Let your AI agent learn from your best conversations
- 6 minTest your AI agent in a sandbox
Preview how your agent will respond without reaching real customers
Productivity
Move through conversations faster and stay on top of new ones.
Analytics
See how your support team and agents are performing.
Other guides
More documentation across the product.
Live chat
Open the widget on any page and we'll be right with you. Mon–Fri, 8am–8pm CET.
Start a chatEmail us
Drop us a line at support@chatlane.io and we'll typically reply within a few hours.
support@chatlane.io