# Channels and capabilities

Source: https://docs.revoplyai.com/get-started/channels-and-capabilities/

> The channel types events carry, and what each channel can send and report back.

Every conversation is on one channel, and every event names its type as `channelType`.
The list may grow: treat a value you do not know as another channel, never as an error.

| `channelType` | Channel                                                                                                                     |
| ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `whatsapp`    | A WhatsApp Business number connected through Meta (the Cloud API), including numbers also used in the WhatsApp Business app |
| `whatsapp_qr` | A WhatsApp number linked by scanning a QR code                                                                              |
| `telegram`    | A Telegram bot                                                                                                              |
| `messenger`   | A Facebook page's Messenger                                                                                                 |
| `instagram`   | Instagram direct messages                                                                                                   |
| `web_widget`  | The [website widget](/widget/)                                                                                              |
| `website`     | A website channel; nothing can be sent through it                                                                           |
| `voice`       | A phone number the assistant answers by voice                                                                               |

## What each channel can do [#what-each-channel-can-do]

Generated from the channel rules the platform enforces:

| `channelType` | Replies                                                                                                                | Templates | Starts conversations | Media | Receipts                      | Longest text |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- | -------------------- | ----- | ----------------------------- | ------------ |
| `whatsapp`    | Within 24 hours of the customer's last message; after that, only a template.                                           | Yes       | Yes                  | Yes   | `delivered`, `read`, `failed` | 4,096        |
| `whatsapp_qr` | Only when the customer wrote within the last 72 hours, paced 8 to 20 seconds apart and at most 250 an hour per number. | No        | No                   | Yes   | None                          | 4,096        |
| `telegram`    | At any time, in a conversation the customer started.                                                                   | No        | No                   | Yes   | None                          | 4,096        |
| `messenger`   | Within 24 hours of the customer's last message.                                                                        | No        | No                   | Yes   | `delivered`, `read`           | 2,000        |
| `instagram`   | Within 24 hours of the customer's last message.                                                                        | No        | No                   | Yes   | `read`                        | 1,000        |
| `web_widget`  | At any time, in a conversation the visitor started.                                                                    | No        | No                   | Yes   | None                          | 4,096        |
| `website`     | No                                                                                                                     | No        | No                   | No    | None                          | —            |
| `voice`       | No                                                                                                                     | No        | No                   | No    | None                          | —            |

* **Replies**: when a message that is not a template may be sent to the customer.
* **Templates**: whether Meta-approved templates can be sent. Only `whatsapp` numbers
  can; see [WhatsApp messaging rules](/get-started/whatsapp-messaging-rules/).
* **Starts conversations**: whether a business can message a customer who has never
  written. Only with a template, on `whatsapp`.
* **Receipts**: the delivery statuses the provider reports for messages the business sends.

[Flow triggers](/flow-triggers/) start flows on `whatsapp` numbers only, because a flow
started by your system must open with a template.