Connect social channels
Link WhatsApp and email channels, let the AI auto-reply, and assign a supervisor.
Families message your school in lots of places — WhatsApp, school email. As a school admin, you can connect those channels here so your school sends and receives from one spot, and decide whether the AI answers common questions for you. This guide walks you through connecting a channel and tuning how it behaves.
Before you start
You need permission to manage Socials. If you don't see "Socials" in the sidebar, ask another school admin to grant it. You'll also need the sign-in details for the account you're connecting — the WhatsApp number or the email account.
Step 1: Open Socials
In the left sidebar, under Overview, click Socials. You land on the Social Connections page, where each channel shows as its own card: WhatsApp, Microsoft 365 email, and Gmail.
Each card shows a small status under its name:
- Connected — the account is live and working.
- Not connected — no account linked yet.
- Connecting… — a sign-in is in progress.
- Action needed — something went wrong and the channel needs your attention.
- Disconnected or Paused — the channel was switched off.
- Coming soon — that channel isn't available to connect yet.
Step 2: Open a channel
Click the card for the channel you want to set up. A panel slides in from the right with the channel name at the top, a short line describing what it does, and (once connected) its details.
Step 3: Connect the account
In the panel, click Connect followed by the channel name — for example, Connect WhatsApp. This sends you to a secure sign-in page run by that provider, where you log in and approve access. When you're done you're brought back to the Social Connections page and shown a message confirming the account connected.
If it didn't go through
If you cancel the sign-in or it fails, you'll see "Connection cancelled or failed" and the card stays Not connected. Just open the channel again and click Connect to retry.
Step 4: Turn on AI auto-replies
Once a channel is connected, open it again. The panel now lists the account name, the date it was Connected on, and when it was Last updated.
Find the AI auto-replies row and switch it on. With this on, the AI reads incoming questions on that channel and answers the common ones for you, so families get a quick reply even outside school hours.
The switch only works when connected
You can only turn on AI auto-replies for a channel that's currently Connected. If the channel needs reconnecting, the switch stays greyed out until you fix it.
Step 5: Assign a Supervisor
In the Supervisor row, click Unassigned (or the name already shown). Type a name in the Search staff box and pick the staff member who should keep an eye on the AI's answers for this channel. They're the person who reviews what the AI is handling and steps in when a question needs a human.
Step 6: Disconnect or reconnect later
You can come back to a channel any time:
- On a connected channel, click Disconnect to switch it off. The linked account is removed and any AI features using it stop until you reconnect.
- If a channel shows Action needed, Disconnected, or Paused, open it and click Reconnect to sign in again, or Remove to clear it out completely and start fresh.
What happens next
- The channel's card shows Connected with a green dot, and your school can now message and email from that account.
- If you turned on AI auto-replies, the AI starts answering common questions that arrive on the channel.
- The questions the AI handles show up under Inbounds → Inquiries → AI enquiries, where your Supervisor can review them. See Handle inquiries.
WhatsApp also sends automatic messages
Connecting WhatsApp does more than let staff reply to families. It is also what lets the Hub send automatic messages to guardians — for example, the welcome message a guardian receives when you create their account, carrying their name and access code.
No WhatsApp connection means no guardian messages
While WhatsApp shows anything other than Connected, those automatic messages are not delivered — and guardians are not told. If a guardian says they never received their access code, check this page first.
Two things decide whether a guardian receives one:
- The school's WhatsApp channel is connected here. One connection serves the whole school.
- The guardian's phone number is on their profile and is on WhatsApp. A missing or mistyped number, or a number with no WhatsApp account, is skipped silently. See Add guardians and guests.
Messages are paced deliberately — around 30 a minute — so a large intake is sent gradually over a few minutes rather than all at once.