Questions, answered.

Tephlo is an AI customer-support platform for WhatsApp, Telegram, your website widget, and API-connected applications. It uses your own knowledge base and structured business data to resolve routine questions and complete the next steps your workspace has enabled. People remain responsible for decisions that need judgment or authority.

Your team remains responsible for oversight, approvals, and work that needs a person. With an eligible handoff route configured, conversations can move to the team queue with their context. Team members can also take over from the conversation screen.

WhatsApp Business, private chats with your Telegram bot, an embeddable website widget, and the commercial API for your own applications. Each needs its own connection and access checks. Provider messaging rules still apply, and production API access requires workspace approval.

Your server uses scoped API keys to submit customer messages. Assistant replies are generated asynchronously: your application fetches the conversation messages and displays the reply in its own interface. Optional signed webhooks notify your server when a reply is available; the notification contains references, not the reply text. Keep secret keys on your server, never in a browser or mobile app.

After signing up you are taken through setup in three stages. The first two decide whether customers can reach you and whether the assistant sounds like your business, and your console opens once they are done. The third — documents, photos, appointment hours, who gets told when work arrives — improves what the assistant can answer and is meant to be done with real content over time; it never blocks you, and the checklist stays in your console until it is finished. Teammates you invite are never taken through setup: they go straight to the areas their role opens.

Your workspace's administrators are emailed a notice saying why, and anyone who signs in sees a page explaining the suspension instead of the console — with a form to appeal. We read every appeal and reply by email; if the suspension is lifted you are told and can sign in again. Your data is kept throughout.

Where embedded signup is available, use Connect WhatsApp in your dashboard and sign in with your Meta account. Follow the provider setup and the dashboard's readiness checks. Manual connection settings are also available for supported setups; your WhatsApp Business account remains under your organization's control.

Check the connection status and any reported blockers in your dashboard. Provider requirements can include a payment method, business verification, or display-name review. Complete the required steps and verify the channel before enabling customer messaging.

For a supported location message, Tephlo can use your configured places to return the nearest eligible branch, store, or pickup point with distance and directions. Contact cards are acknowledged without automatically saving or contacting the person. You manage locations from the dashboard.

Voice transcription, image understanding, document extraction, and voice replies depend on platform availability, workspace settings, supported formats, and provider readiness. Check the controls shown in your workspace before offering these features; unsupported or unavailable processing can return a fallback notice.

Yes, for Android and iPhone, installed from the browser rather than an app store. Open the install page on your phone: on Android tap Install; on iPhone tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. Each teammate signs in with their usual account and sees only the work their role allows — customers waiting, orders to approve, appointments to confirm — and can turn on notifications for their own phone. Setting up the assistant, channels, roles and billing stays in the desktop console. See the phone app guide.

Yes. Affiliates share a link, and earn a commission on what the businesses they bring actually pay, for a set number of months, paid against a monthly statement. See the affiliate programme. A workspace’s own referral credit and an affiliate’s commission never apply to the same new business.

Guided setup proposes an assistant profile from your organization type and intended tasks. Review its capabilities and data requirements before activating it. Your Capabilities screen shows both your selections and whether the necessary data and services are ready.

Open Knowledge base and drop a file onto the upload panel or choose it — PDF, DOCX, XLSX, CSV, TXT or MD, up to 5 MB — or paste text. Each document is checked first (what it is, which columns it carries) and uploaded only when you confirm. While a new version of a document is processing, the current version keeps answering. Uploading a revised file under the name it already has replaces the old version; giving it a new name adds a second document instead, and both stay live. If a file looks like a newer version of a document you already have, the upload check says so and offers to replace it. If two live documents do describe the same item differently -- its price, its stock, whether it is available -- the assistant stops stating that detail and offers to check with your team rather than guessing between your own files.

Yes. Download the Word or Markdown setup template, fill it in, and upload it. Uploading alone changes nothing: review the extracted values and select what to apply. Blank sections keep existing settings. Guidance proposed by the template is a separate draft requiring its own review and activation.

Where an organization default has been assigned, eligible settings inherit it until you make an explicit workspace choice. The settings pages show where values come from and which can be reset to the organization default. Goals, behavior, and templates do not independently grant new action permissions.

Knowledge holds articles, policies, and supported imports. Review products detected in a catalog import, or add and edit them directly in Catalog. Photos in Media are added for a catalog product or something else you sell, and deleting a product or the document it came from removes its photos too. Each area has its own review and readiness state, so adding content alone does not make every related feature available.

Content Home brings together failed uploads, pending approvals, expiring or quarantined sources, broken product-media links, and unfinished or stale Smart Updates. Open an item to review it in the relevant content area.

No. An eligible article can create a Smart Update draft linked to that source revision. Choose its topics, add a link if you have one, then approve the update separately. Sending also requires platform availability, workspace opt-in, customer consent, and an eligible messaging window. A changed or withdrawn source can make the update unsendable.

Tephlo combines retrieval from workspace sources with permission checks and checks on business facts and action results. These controls are designed to reduce unsupported answers and false completion claims. AI can still make mistakes, so keep sources current, test important workflows, and review conversations that need attention.

It reads your uploaded material for every message before it answers, and it looks before it says no: a business fact you have not filled in, such as contact details or opening hours, is searched for in your uploaded material before the assistant tells a customer it does not exist, and when it cannot make that check it says so instead of saying no. Then it tells the customer honestly and tries only the approved next steps that can make progress. A single knowledge gap is not automatically sent to your team. Repeated loops, an explicit request for a person, or a decision requiring human authority may escalate when policy permits and a verified route is available; otherwise the assistant records an eligible request or explains the limit without making a promise.

Yes, when the workspace has an active structured catalog. Product names, prices, currency, stock, and specifications come from those server-owned fields rather than free-form model memory. If the catalog cannot support the answer, the assistant must not manufacture a figure. There is no live stock lookup: a stock number is true as of the upload that carried it, so past a week the assistant states how old the catalog is, and past a month it stops presenting availability as certain. If your customers call a product by another name — a colour, a nickname, the word in another language — an Aliases column in the catalog teaches the assistant those words without loosening how exactly it matches everything else.

Yes, where the workspace has published them. When a customer asks about a specific product, the assistant is told what the photo library holds for that exact product, and it decides whether a picture helps — a question about delivery or a customer who has already seen the item does not need one. When it offers a photo unprompted it sends a single image and says how many more it has; when the customer asks to see something, it still leads with up to three. If there are no photos of that product on file, it says so in the same reply rather than leaving the customer to ask and then be told no. It never describes a photo it cannot send, and it remembers what this customer has already been sent: asking to see more moves through the gallery rather than resending the same picture, and once somebody has been shown photos of an item the assistant stops offering them unprompted.

No. When the assistant offers a set of options it owns — available appointment times, the services you can book, or the products it is proposing — those arrive on WhatsApp and Telegram as buttons the customer taps, or as a picker list when there are more than three. Pressing a product is also more exact than typing its name, because the button carries the catalogue entry itself rather than the shortened label on its face. A question that only needs a yes — adding something to a saved cart, cancelling an appointment, asking to be told when an item is back — arrives with that one word as a button. For those, saying no is still typing: the button is there for the answer the customer already asked for. The one exception is permission to send updates — that is the only thing the assistant asks for rather than being asked, so it offers declining just as plainly as accepting, or offers neither. And a customer with two bookings who says “cancel my appointment” is shown both and asked which, instead of being asked for a reference number. The message still lists every option in writing and still says how to answer in words, so anyone can type instead, and nothing is lost on a channel that cannot draw buttons. Tapping is also more precise than typing: the button carries which offer it answers, so a customer who scrolls up and presses an option from a list that has since been replaced is not treated as choosing from the current one.

Yes. On WhatsApp and Telegram the customer sees the same “typing…” indicator they would from a person, for as long as the reply is being written, so a message that takes a few seconds to research does not look like a bot that stopped responding. On WhatsApp the indicator is carried by the read receipt — the provider offers no way to show one without the other — so customers also see their message marked read. The indicator disappears the moment the reply arrives.

With customer memory enabled and workspace consent in place, Tephlo can save relevant preferences and context for later conversations. This is separate from the working state of an active conversation, and stored memory is included in customer privacy controls.

With an eligible catalog and the relevant capabilities enabled, Tephlo can present products, compare options, and collect a saved cart or potential order. Its goals and guidance help shape the conversation; your workspace's permissions and current data determine which actions are available.

Smart Updates is off by default. It requires platform availability, workspace opt-in, approved content, and explicit customer consent for the topic. Eligible sends are limited to twice a month and at least 14 days apart, with complaint, human-handoff, and messaging-window checks. Customers can request a lower frequency, pause, or reply STOP to opt out. Editing an approved update requires renewed approval.

Yes, when Smart Updates is on and the channel can reach them later. If a customer wants a specific product your catalogue doesn't have — a model, a version, a price — and turns down the alternatives, the assistant asks once: "Would you like me to let you know here if it's added?" Nothing is recorded unless they say yes. When a matching product is in stock, they get one message and the request closes. Nothing counts stock down as items sell, so if that catalogue row is more than a week past its last update the message says how old the listing is instead of telling them it is there today. And if your catalogue records no stock for that product at all, the message says the item is now listed and that its availability is not recorded, rather than claiming it is available. It is not asked during casual browsing, a complaint or an order, never asked twice for the same thing, and a STOP cancels it. On the Smart Updates page you can see what customers are waiting for, how often the assistant asked and how often it followed up.

When enabled, an unfinished conversation can qualify for one follow-up attempt: options shown, a price or quote given, a booking, viewing, enrolment or application left open. Before sending, the system rechecks whether the customer replied or declined, whether a person took over, and whether the channel's messaging window remains open. On a workspace with an adopted sector programme the message is written for that sector and situation. Timing and delivery depend on the service and channel. You can disable this under Assistant behavior.

Four documents, all linked from the signup form so you can read them first: the Terms of Service, the Privacy Policy, the Acceptable Use Policy and the Data Processing Agreement. You accept them on behalf of your organization, and we record which version you agreed to and when — so if we ever change one materially, we ask again rather than assuming. Colleagues you invite later agree to the Terms and Acceptable Use for themselves; they are not asked to accept the Data Processing Agreement, because that one is between us and your organization, not them.

Six languages are certified for workspace responses: English, French, Nigerian Pidgin, Yorùbá, Hausa and Igbo. The assistant answers in the language the customer writes in and keeps their tone — a message in Pidgin gets Pidgin back, not a formal English paraphrase — and the same code-level honesty checks read the reply in all six. Every fixed message it sends — confirmations, notices, reminders, Smart Updates, the sector programmes' refusal lists and emergency lines — exists in all six. Enable the languages appropriate to your audience and review examples in each. Unsupported or uncertain languages receive a language-selection notice naming only the languages you enabled. Your team does not have to: a request, complaint, order note or message written in a language a teammate does not read can be rendered into their own reading language with one click, and the original stays beside it.

Configure your handoff route, team availability, and the message customers receive while waiting. The queue preserves conversations for your team to review. Response timing depends on your staffing and configured workflow; it is not guaranteed by the assistant.

Review recurring and unanswered questions, update the relevant sources, and test the changed content. Where approved-answer reuse is enabled, current content, privacy, and capability checks still apply. An updated document does not automatically approve a separate guidance document or Smart Update.

You tell Tephlo what your organization is for — a shop, a school, a service business, a support desk, a nonprofit — and it works within that profile. A shopper can be narrowed to the right product and build a saved cart; an appointment customer can choose among configured services and available times. Short replies such as "yes" or "the second one" are interpreted against the current structured state rather than treated as a new request. A bare number in reply to a numbered list, or a plain yes to a question it asked, is honoured at once without another model call; the reply that shows free times names the service with its price and duration; and the reply that confirms an item was added asks whether to send the saved cart to your team as a potential order, so a decided customer's order request is on record in three replies. In our September 2026 lab runs against a live model on a seeded shop and salon, 11 of 14 buying and booking journeys reached an order request or a booking within one conversation: every booking in two or three replies, a decided order in three to four. The three that did not are documented with their reasons; we publish the bar, not a promise.

Yes. Tephlo keeps short-lived structured state for facts such as the selected product, quantity, open question, or proposed time. That lets a reply such as "two of them" or "the second one" continue the active flow. This working state is separate from long-term customer memory and still passes current authorization checks before an action.

Business workflows record separate states for captured requests, saved carts, potential orders, and confirmed appointments. Completion checks use the underlying action result or stored state. Review the resulting record when an outcome matters; recording a refund request does not issue or approve a refund.

Yes. Use goals, behavior settings, and the Never say list for wording and situations that should reach your team. Guidance documents can shape communication after review and activation. These settings work within the assistant's existing permissions, and a handoff still requires an eligible route.

When media delivery is enabled and ready, Tephlo can share published photos from your workspace library. Add photos for each catalog item and say whether they show the exact item or the same model; the assistant tells the customer which. Media shows delivery readiness separately from publication. Automatic social-account imports are not advertised as a current integration.

A built-in analytics view shows your automation rate, busiest hours, why conversations escalate, what your team found when they took over, tickets captured, and the languages your customers use.

Nine kinds of business have a written program: retail, services, hospitality, education, real estate, nonprofit, healthcare, financial and a general one for everything else. A program adds short written direction and, in six of the nine, refusals our code checks for in the drafted reply before your customer sees it. Three carry direction only, and the refusal register on the homepage says which. A program can only ever make the assistant do less, never more. There is no healthcare assistant and no financial-services assistant to buy here: those two programs only reach a workspace an operator has pinned to them.

Check Capabilities for the current profile's available actions, your workspace selections, and readiness blockers. Availability also depends on your plan and platform rollout. A feature described on this website may require setup or may not yet be available to your workspace.

Workspace administrators can disable eligible capabilities in Capabilities. Enabling one requires a verified second factor, and the action still needs the appropriate data and service readiness. Turning on a setting alone does not make an unavailable feature ready.

The assistant can explain the limitation or use another next step allowed by your workspace. Missing permissions, source data, channel readiness, or an unavailable service can prevent an action from completing; the resulting request or conversation remains available for review where it was recorded.

Manage product records in Catalog, or import supported catalog content through Knowledge and review the detected products. Appointment services are configured separately in Booking setup, along with providers or resources, durations, booking hours, and time off.

When the workspace profile permits it, Tephlo can collect catalog items and quantities into a saved cart and show the customer what it contains. Submitting that cart creates a potential order for workspace review; it does not place the order.

No. A potential order is not a placed, paid, or shipped order. The built-in assistant workflow does not collect card numbers or other card data. Your workspace reviews the request, contacts the customer where needed, confirms the order, collects payment, and manages fulfillment outside the built-in flow.

Booking setup offers three choices: collect requests without offering times; offer available times for your team to confirm; or confirm bookings automatically. Manual review records an appointment request. Automatic confirmation reports a booking only after the slot is reserved successfully against current availability and conflict checks. When a customer asks for a visit the assistant could not book, the request appears on Appointments, where your team can pick an open time and confirm it in one step; the customer is told without anyone opening the conversation. If the customer changes their mind before anyone picks it up, the existing request is updated rather than a second one added, and if they cancel it is closed and leaves the list, so your team sees one row per thing asked for and none for things nobody wants any more. Once one of your team is assigned to a request, a later change or cancellation reaches them as a new request instead of altering theirs.

Set the workspace timezone, services and durations, providers or resources, booking hours, and time off. Choose minimum notice, how far ahead customers can book, and your confirmation mode. The guided setup shows readiness before you rely on the calendar. Turning bookings on or allowing automatic confirmation requires a verified second factor.

The calendar supports appointment confirmation, cancellation, and rescheduling. A change takes effect when the stored appointment changes successfully. Booking hours can be linked to business hours where configured; time-off exceptions and existing reservations still affect availability.

The workflows described here use the built-in catalog, saved carts, potential orders, and scheduling. External catalog and calendar adapters are not advertised as available integrations. Customer payment collection and fulfillment are handled outside the built-in order-request flow.

Tephlo scopes customer data and actions to the workspace. Channel credentials are encrypted at rest, and administrative actions have audit records. Review the security documentation for details about controls and operational dependencies.

Yes. Built-in privacy tooling lets you export or delete a customer's data on request.

Ask for a reset on the sign-in page. A one-time code is emailed to your sign-in address, and that is the only place it goes. It expires, works once, and setting a new password signs you out everywhere.

Both, under Account. To change the email you sign in with, re-enter your password and we send a one-time code to the new address; nothing changes until you enter it, and your previous address is told. Renaming the workspace is for the workspace owner only — it changes what customers are greeted with, while your workspace ID stays the same.

Yes. Directory visibility and join codes govern the shared bot — who can find you there and select you with a routing tag. Your own WhatsApp number, your own Telegram bot and your website widget identify the workspace by themselves, so a customer who messages them reaches you directly, with no tag and no join code, whatever your visibility is set to.

Yes, from Account & security. You're signed out everywhere, the account can't be restored, and its email can't be used to open a new account. If your workspace still has teammates and you're its last owner or administrator, you hand that role over first; if you're the only member left, the workspace closes with your account and its subscription won't renew.

Sensitive administrative actions, including enabling capabilities and increasing booking authority, require a verified second factor. Role permissions and channel verification apply separately; check your account and workspace settings for the controls relevant to your role.

Every new workspace starts with 5 free conversations, with no card required. When they are used up the assistant pauses and you tell us what you need from Plan & usage; nothing is charged until a plan is agreed. Check pricing for the published plans, market currency, included usage, and available billing options.

Yes, from Plan & usage. Paying for a different plan, or replacing your card, starts a new period that day, and the unused days of the period you were in come back as account credit towards a later invoice. You won't be charged twice for the plan you already have, and if a payment reaches us but can't be applied, it shows as being checked and nothing more is taken until our team settles it.

Usage is counted in customer sessions per channel. An inbound message opens a session when there is no active one, and further inbound messages extend its inactivity window. The default window is 24 hours; a later message after it expires can open another billable session. Your Usage page shows the period, allowance, and recorded usage.

Your plan determines the allowance and whether additional usage is supported or capped. Where configured with an eligible route, the workspace can hand limited conversations to its team. Review Usage and the usage-limit fallback setting before relying on that handoff.