What you will get
A Telegram bot with its own name, photo, description and commands, ready to connect to Dhalinta AI Automation and look after your customers. You do it in Telegram, with the official bot @BotFather; it is free, needs no coding and takes about 10 minutes.
What you need: a Telegram account (the mobile app or web.telegram.org) and a clear idea of how you want your business to appear to your customers.
What a Telegram bot is (explained for people who do not use Telegram)
If you have never used a bot, this clears up the most common doubts.
- A bot is a separate account, not your Telegram. It has its own name, photo and link (
t.me/your_bot). When someone writes to it, the message does not reach the owner’s phone: it goes to a service that picks it up. In our case, that service is Dhalinta AI Automation. - A bot cannot be “read” from your phone like a normal chat. If it is not connected to a service, the messages it receives stay unread and it replies to nothing. That is why you have to connect it (connection guide).
- A business without automation usually uses its personal or business Telegram account, with its phone number: messages reach its phone and it replies. A bot works differently: it is the official way to automate customer service, and it does not replace that account.
- The bot does not see the customer’s phone number or the rest of their Telegram; only their name, their username (if any) and what they write to it.
How messages reach you and how you reply with Dhalinta AI Automation
- The customer opens your bot, taps “Start” and writes to you.
- The message appears in your Dhalinta AI Automation inbox and, if you have an AI agent assigned, it can reply.
- If something needs a person, and you have Telegram alerts connected, an alert reaches your personal Telegram, from a different bot (the alerts bot), with what the customer wrote.
- Tap “Reply” on that message and type: your answer reaches the customer from your bot, and the AI pauses in that conversation. You can also reply from the panel inbox.
1. Create the bot
- In Telegram, search for @BotFather. It is the one with the blue verified tick. Open it and tap “Start”.
- Send
/newbot. - It asks for the bot’s name: this is what your customers will see, and it can contain spaces. For example,
Your Business. - Then it asks for the username. It must be unique across Telegram, end in “bot”, be 5 to 32 characters long and use only letters, numbers and underscores. For example,
your_business_bot. If it is taken, @BotFather tells you: try another one. - @BotFather confirms the bot is created and gives you the token: a long text with numbers, a colon and letters, like
123456789:AAH…. It also gives you your bot’s link,t.me/your_business_bot.
2. Make it look good
Send /mybots to @BotFather, choose your bot and, if it offers it, tap “Edit Bot”. You will see these buttons:
| Button | What it is for | Limit and tip |
|---|---|---|
| Edit Name | The name your customers see. | Your business name. |
| Edit About | The short line on the bot’s profile, also shown when it is found or shared. | Up to 120 characters. One sentence: who you are and what it is for. |
| Edit Description | The large text customers see before tapping “Start”. | Up to 512 characters. What the bot does, which languages it speaks, that an AI replies and that it can hand over to a person. |
| Edit Description Picture | The large image above the description. | Optional. Size 640×360 pixels. |
| Edit Botpic | The bot’s profile photo (shown round). | A square image, for example your logo. Send it as a photo, not as a file. |
| Edit Commands | The bot’s command menu. | One line per command: command - description, with the command in lowercase and without the slash. |
| Edit Privacy Policy | The link to your privacy policy. | The full address, starting with https://. |
Example texts
About:
Your Business assistant: information, requests and customer service. We reply right away.
Description:
Hi! I’m the assistant of Your Business. I can help you with your questions or take care of requests. I reply using artificial intelligence and, if you prefer, I can pass you to someone on the team. Privacy: https://your-website.com/privacy
Commands:
start - Start help - How I can help you info - Business information contact - Contact details human - Talk to a person
In Dhalinta AI Automation, commands reach your AI agent as text. “/start” (what Telegram sends when someone taps “Start”) is already treated as a welcome greeting; for the other commands, explain in the agent’s instructions what to do with each one.
3. What is worth knowing about Telegram bots
- A bot cannot write first. The customer has to open it (through your link or by searching for it) and tap “Start”.
- It cannot see the phone number of whoever writes to it: Telegram does not show it to bots.
- It only handles private chats. If it is added to a group, it ignores the group’s messages.
- One token, one service. A bot can only send its messages to one service at a time: do not connect it to Dhalinta AI Automation and to another tool at once.
- How people find it: with the link
https://t.me/your_bot(put it on your website, social media, email signature or business card), with a QR code of that link, or by searching for its username.
Change or revoke the token
If you have lost the token or think someone has seen it: in @BotFather send /mybots, choose the bot, tap “API Token” and then “Revoke current token” (the /token command also works). The old token stops working and you get a new one. Then paste it into the channel page in Dhalinta AI Automation.
Checklist
- ☐ Bot created and token saved somewhere safe.
- ☐ Name, About and Description written.
- ☐ Bot photo set (your logo).
- ☐ Commands added (optional).
- ☐ Link to your privacy policy (recommended).
Next step
With the bot ready, connect it to Dhalinta AI Automation step by step. To see everything the channel can do, read Telegram channel: connect your bot and reply with AI.