Inbox bots: what they do and how to get one

An inbox bot answers the people who write to you in a direct message — WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger DMs, website chat, email and any other connected account that can send replies. It writes back in the same thread, in the customer's language, until the customer's request is done or it hands the conversation to your team. Bots do not reply to public comments.

Your team sees everything the bot says in the normal Inbox thread, with the bot's name as the author, and every booking it makes on the Bookings page.

Who sets up bots

Bots are built and tested by OmniBrand engineers in OmniBrand's own tools. There is no screen in your workspace to create a bot or change what it says — to change its questions, answers, hours or texts, ask OmniBrand support (how to contact support). Once a bot made for your business is ready, you connect it, choose when it answers, pause it and disconnect it yourself on the Inbox bots page. For a booking bot, who customers can book, the services and your hours you set yourself: see Requests: set up your booking calendar.

Your bots on the Inbox bots page

The Inbox bots page (/app/bots, in the menu under Engage) lists, under Your bots, every bot OmniBrand made for your business, and any other bot connected to this workspace. Each card shows the bot's name, its business type, Languages: (the languages it speaks), Last published with the date, and its state:

• Being prepared by OmniBrand — our engineers are still building it. The card says "Being prepared by OmniBrand - you'll be able to connect it when it's ready." and has no buttons yet. You get a notification (Your inbox bot is ready) when it is ready.
• Ready to connect — it is ready but answers nobody yet.
• Live on and the channel names — it answers customers on those channels.
• Paused — it is connected but switched off.
• Not answering — it is switched on but its channel is disconnected or was removed (see below).

A bot OmniBrand started for your request is not shown while it is untouched and another bot is already live for you: your request was answered with that bot, and Your requests says it is ready.

Waiting for your details beside a channel means the bot's settings still hold the template's example text (such as "Your business name" or "Your opening hours, e.g. Monday to Friday 9:00-18:00"). The bot stays off there, so no customer ever reads that text. The card lists those settings under Your own details are not in this bot yet: send OmniBrand your real details with Request bots on this page. Resume cannot be pressed until they are filled in; trying to switch it on another way says "This bot still has example details (such as "Your business name"). OmniBrand fills in your own details first; you can switch it on after that."

Under the card each channel the bot is on is listed with Running, Paused or Channel disconnected, not answering, and when it answers.

To try a bot (anyone in the workspace): select Try it. A test chat opens; pick the Language, write a message as a customer would, select Send, and tap the bot's buttons to follow the conversation. Nothing is sent to your customers and nothing is booked. Where the bot would answer a question from your information with AI, the test chat shows "Here the bot answers from your information (not shown in the test)." instead; your customers get the real answer. Start again clears the chat; Close closes it.

When the bot books, takes an order or opens a ticket in the test chat, that reply shows the tag Test - not saved: nothing is saved in Requests.

To connect a bot (Owners and Admins only):

1. On the bot's card select Connect to a channel (Connect to another channel when it already answers on one).
2. In Channel, choose the WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram or website chat account it should answer. Other kinds of account cannot run a bot. If the workspace has none of these, the card says so with a link, Open Accounts, to connect one first (Accounts).
3. In Answers, choose when it answers: Every new conversation, Outside working hours only, First-time customers only or When a customer uses a keyword. For keywords, type them in Keywords, separated by commas (for example: price, booking, opening hours); at least one is required.
4. Select Connect. The card changes to Live on with that channel.

To change it later (Owners and Admins): beside the channel, Pause switches the bot off on that channel (Resume switches it on again); When it answers changes the Answers choice (select Save); Disconnect removes it from the channel after you confirm in the dialog Disconnect this bot? — it stops answering and its open chats end, but its setup is kept (its settings, working hours, who it hands over to and its data sources): select Connect to a channel on the card again later and it answers as before, and its bookings keep their calendar. Disconnect is shown only for a bot made for your business. A bot OmniBrand connected for you shows "OmniBrand connected this bot for you. You can pause it here; to remove it, contact OmniBrand support." — use Pause, and ask OmniBrand support to remove it (how to contact support). Members who are not Owners or Admins see "Only an owner or admin of this workspace can connect, pause or disconnect bots."

Every connect, change and disconnect is recorded with your name in your account's activity log and in OmniBrand's own records, so our team can see who changed what.

A bot that answered one account which was then removed from the workspace (Accounts, Remove) shows Account removed and Paused: removing an account switches off the bots tied to it. Connect the account again and ask OmniBrand support (how to contact support) to point the bot at it.

A bot whose account is still in the workspace but disconnected (its sign-in was revoked or expired, or reading it fails; the account shows Disconnected or Sign-in expired on Accounts) shows a red Channel disconnected, not answering instead of Running: no message reaches it and none of its answers can go out. Owners and Admins see Reconnect beside it, which opens that account on Accounts; once the account is reconnected the bot shows Running again (An account says Disconnected, Sign-in expired or Messages: Not arriving).

Price

Inbox bots are an add-on to any paid plan (pricing): $49 a month per bot, plus a one-time $99 build, added to your plan (SAR 183.75 a month and SAR 371.25 for the build when your account is billed in riyals). The price is per bot, however many channels it answers on. On a yearly plan the add-on is billed for the year on the plan's terms (10 months for 12) and the build fee is waived. If our team agreed a different price with you, that price applies. Discounts apply to the plan, not to bot add-ons. Bot add-ons are added to your plan's invoice once the OmniBrand team confirms your bot is live; we tell you before the first charge.

The ready-made bots (business types)

Engineers start from one of these catalog bots, each able to answer in your customers' languages, and fill in your own details. They can also build a bot made only for your business.

• Clinic appointments — book, view and cancel appointments by department and doctor; hours; insurance questions; hand-over to reception.
• Restaurant reservations — table bookings by party size against the seats you have; menu link; hours; cancel or keep a reservation.
• Salon & spa booking — service, specialist and time slot; view or cancel; prices from your service list.
• Hotel reservations & concierge — collects a complete room request (dates, nights, guests, room type) for your reservations team; check-in information; facilities questions.
• Travel agency — qualifies trip requests (flights, hotels, packages: destination, dates, travellers, budget), answers visa questions, passes booking-status questions to an agent.
• Real estate leads & viewings — qualifies buyers and renters (type, district, bedrooms, budget, payment) and books a viewing.
• Online store support — order status and returns requests with the order number; product questions answered from your store FAQ.
• School & training admissions — programs and fees from your prospectus, enrolment enquiries with student details, campus visit booking.
• After-hours reply & lead capture — outside working hours, says when you are back, answers from your FAQ or takes a message with name and number for the morning team.

What a bot can do

• Answer questions from the FAQ text you give (it uses AI and answers only from that text; when the text does not cover the question it hands over instead of guessing).
• Offer menus: on WhatsApp as tappable buttons or a list (opened with Options / الخيارات); on other channels as a numbered list. The customer can tap, type the number, or type the option's words.
• Collect details and check them: free text, numbers (with a minimum and maximum), phone numbers, email addresses, dates, and yes/no. A phone number can be from any country: with its country code (for example +44 7400 123456), or a local number, which is read in your organisation's country (the Country in Company details, /app/settings/company; with no Country set, in the country of your workspace's time zone); it is saved with its country code. On request, a bot can instead accept only Saudi mobile numbers or Saudi national ID and Iqama numbers. A wrong answer is asked again; after three wrong answers in a row the bot hands over.
• Know your working hours: hours per weekday, split shifts, shifts that run past midnight, closed dates (for example Eid or National Day) and one season with its own hours (for example Ramadan), all in your time zone. A bot can answer differently inside and outside working hours.
• Book appointments, tables, rooms or visits on OmniBrand's built-in calendar: it offers days that still have room, then free times, respects how many bookings each doctor, stylist, area or agent can take at the same time, and never books outside your hours. It also shows customers their upcoming bookings and lets them cancel.
• Look up information or send documents from your own systems (optional), such as an invoice status or an invoice PDF — see Bots that use your own systems and documents.
• Tag the conversation and hand it over to a person, with a note summarising what the customer said — see What your team sees while a bot answers.
• Use and fill in your contact records: greet a customer by name, answer differently for a VIP or a lead at a certain stage, and save answers (membership number, preferred branch…) into your own custom fields — see Where the bot saves what customers tell it.
• Send your WhatsApp templates (WhatsApp only): an approved template with its picture, buttons, a coupon code or an offer that ends, filled with the customer's own details. The same consent rules as the inbox apply — see Where the bot saves what customers tell it.
• Speak your customers' languages: English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Turkish, Indonesian, Hindi and Urdu — the languages you ask for. See "Languages" below.
• Send a payment link: a message with the amount (for example Amount: SAR 250.00) and your own payment page's link, such as Pay now: https://…. The customer pays on your payment page; nobody pays inside the chat, and OmniBrand never sees card details.
• Ask where the customer is: on WhatsApp the customer can share a location pin (📎 → Location); on every channel they can also type an address. The bot keeps the address, and for a pin a map link your team can open.
• Ask for a photo or a document: for example a picture of a damaged item or a copy of a prescription. The file stays in the conversation for your team; a text instead of a file is asked again, then the bot hands over.

How to request a bot

1. Open the workspace the bot is for, then open Inbox bots in the menu (/app/bots). You must be an Owner or Admin of the workspace; other members see Only an owner or admin of this workspace can request bots. Ask them to open this page and choose Request bots. (it names Request another bot once the workspace has a bot or a request).
2. Select Request bots (or Request another bot if you already have one).
3. Choose your Type of business (17 types, including B2B sales and lead qualification), add a Phone for our team to call if you prefer a call, and in What should the bot do? describe the job in a sentence or two. Type of business is required: without it Send request sends nothing and "Choose the type of business, so our team knows what to prepare." appears under the box. The other two are optional. Write the phone number in full, starting with + and the country code (a local number is read in your account's country). If it is not a phone number, That does not look like a phone number. Enter the full number starting with + and the country code. appears in red under the box and the request is not sent until you fix it or empty the box.
4. Select Send request. The request appears under Your requests with "Request received - our team will contact you.", and it reaches OmniBrand's team with your account, workspace and email attached. If the request cannot be sent, the reason appears in red just above Send request; the form stays open with what you wrote, so you can fix it and send again. The note belongs to this workspace: the other owners and admins of this workspace see it too, and your other workspaces do not.
5. Our team contacts you to agree the setup and the price, and asks for the information listed below. The more precise it is, the fewer questions we need to ask.
6. While OmniBrand engineers build the bot, the request shows "Your bot is being prepared." and the bot appears under Your bots as Being prepared by OmniBrand. They test it in a simulator that sends nothing to real customers.
7. When it is ready, the Owners and Admins of the workspace get the notification Your inbox bot is ready, the request shows "Your bot is ready - you can try it and connect it above." and the bot shows Ready to connect. Select Try it, then Connect to a channel (see "Your bots on the Inbox bots page" above). Send a message to your own account from another phone or account to see it working. If our team cannot take a request, it shows "This request was closed. Send a new request if you still need a bot."
8. Once you have a bot, the request card is titled Need another bot?. For any change to what a bot says later (new doctor, new hours, Ramadan, new FAQ, switching the bot off), write to support (how to contact support).

Not a customer yet? The public Inbox bots page explains the add-on, and its Talk to us button sends your details to our team: fill in Your name and Work email and click Send; Type of business (optional) offers the same 17 types. Phone (optional) takes 7 to 15 digits (a leading +, spaces, dashes, dots and brackets are fine); anything else shows "Enter a phone number with 7 to 15 digits, like +44 20 7946 0000, or leave it empty." under it, and nothing is sent until you correct or clear it. The form then says "Thank you. We have your details and will contact you soon." with a Close button. To send another message or a correction, close it and click Talk to us again: the form opens empty except for your name, email, phone and company.

What to prepare

• Business name as customers should see it.
• Which inbox and which accounts the bot should answer (one account, or all accounts of that inbox).
• When the bot should answer: every new conversation, only outside working hours, only when the customer uses certain words (tell us the words, in both languages), or only first-time contacts.
• Working hours for each day of the week (for example Monday–Friday 09:00–13:00 and 16:00–22:00), your time zone, the dates you are closed, and Ramadan or seasonal hours with their first and last date. If you send no hours, the bot starts with 09:00–17:00 on your country's working days — Sunday to Thursday where the weekend is Friday and Saturday, Monday to Friday everywhere else or when no country is set — in your workspace's Timezone (Settings, section General, /app/settings). The country is the Country in Company details (/app/settings/company).
• What customers book: the doctors, stylists, seating areas, agents or rooms; the services (with prices if the bot should mention them); the length of one appointment in minutes; how many days ahead people may book; and how many bookings can share the same time for each one (for example 10 tables in the indoor area).
• Your FAQ: the questions customers ask and your answers, as plain text — prices, insurance, parking, delivery, policies. The bot answers only from this.
• Texts to show: opening hours and location, menu link, check-in information and anything similar.
• Who takes over when the bot hands a conversation to a person: one named member of your team, or the whole team.
• Your own systems (only if the bot should look up data or send documents): see what we need from you.

Good to know

• The bot answers in the customer's language, among the languages your bot is written in (see "Languages" below).
• When someone in your team has claimed the conversation, or it is assigned to someone, the bot does not answer in it.
• The name and phone number a customer gives the bot are saved on their contact (Contacts) when the contact has none yet; the bot never replaces a name or number the channel or your team gave. The contact page then lists their bookings, orders and tickets (Contacts).
• A ticket the bot opens when it hands a chat over is named after what the customer said they need (for example "Call-back: a question about braces"), and carries the name of the chat when the bot did not ask for one.
• Answers from your FAQ use your workspace's AI setup (AI settings). When they run on OmniBrand's AI rather than your own key, each answer counts toward your plan's AI allowance (plans).
• On WhatsApp a bot, like a person, can only reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message. If a reply cannot be delivered for this or any other reason, the bot hands the conversation to your team with the tag bot-error and a note saying why.

Languages

A bot can be written in any of the app's ten languages: English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Turkish, Indonesian, Hindi and Urdu. Tell OmniBrand which ones your customers use; the bot's questions, buttons and its own messages ("Please pick one of the options below.", "Let me connect you with a member of our team.") are then in each of them. Arabic and Urdu are written right to left.

How the bot chooses the language of a conversation, in this order:

1. The language saved on the contact (Contacts, the person's Language). When a customer picks a language in the bot, it is saved there, so their next conversation starts in it.
2. The customer's first message: Arabic or Urdu letters, Hindi (Devanagari) letters, or common words of French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Turkish, Indonesian or English.
3. Your bot's language setting, or else the language of your organisation's Country (Company details, /app/settings/company).
4. English.

A language your bot is not written in is skipped. When the bot is not sure (for example the first message is only "👍"), a bot with a language question asks: each language is shown in its own script — English, العربية, Français, Español, Português, Deutsch, Türkçe, Bahasa Indonesia, हिन्दी, اردو — as buttons (up to three) or a list on WhatsApp. The customer taps one, types its number or types its name.

At any time the customer can type the word language (or اللغة, langue, idioma, língua, Sprache, dil, bahasa, भाषा, زبان) to choose again; the bot then asks its last question again in the new language. Dates, times and amounts are written in the customer's language with Western digits (0–9), so a time or a price can be copied. Customers may type numbers in Arabic-Indic, Urdu or Hindi digits too.

Related

• What your team sees while a bot answers
• Where the bot saves what customers tell it
• Bots that use your own systems and documents
• The Bookings page