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Setting Up Telegram Personal

Connect your Telegram account to Intercom using a QR code or phone number, then reply to customers from your inbox.

Written by Yousef Negmeldin

Before you start

Telegram Personal connects the Telegram account your customers already message. Your team replies from Intercom, and customers receive those replies from your Telegram account.

You need:

  • An existing Telegram account that you control, signed in on your phone.

  • An Octopods admin account with access to the Intercom workspace you want to connect.

  • Access to your Telegram app to scan a QR code or receive a login code.

  • Your Telegram two-step verification password, if enabled, and access to your login email if Telegram asks for it.

Important: Use Telegram Personal for real conversations with people who contact you. Bulk sending and spam are not allowed and can lead to Telegram restricting your account.

For a bot connection using BotFather and a bot token, follow Setting Up Telegram. Choose Telegram Personal for the QR-code and phone-number flows in this guide.

Step 1: Open Telegram Personal setup

  1. Open your Intercom workspace in Octopods and go to its channel list.

  2. Click Add Channel. If this workspace has no channels yet, use the channel choices already displayed on the page.

  3. Under Popular Channels, select Telegram Personal, labeled Your own Telegram account.

  4. Read Before you connect and select I consent. No bulk sending or spam, only real conversations.

  5. Click Continue to QR code.

Step 2: Connect with a QR code

  1. Keep the Scan to connect page open in Octopods.

  2. On your phone, open Telegram with the account you want to connect.

  3. Go to Settings → Devices → Link Desktop Device.

  4. Scan the QR code displayed in Octopods and complete any confirmation Telegram shows.

  5. Wait while Octopods displays Waiting for Telegram. If an additional sign-in screen appears, complete it using the instructions below.

The QR code updates automatically while the page is open. When sign-in and connection are complete, Octopods opens the channel’s details page.

Alternatively: Connect with your phone number

  1. On Scan to connect, click Use your phone number.

  2. In Phone number, enter the number for your existing Telegram account, including + and the country code.

  3. Click Send login code.

  4. Open the chat from Telegram in your Telegram app on a device where you are already signed in.

  5. On Enter the code., enter the five-digit login code. You can paste the complete code into the first box.

  6. Click Connect and complete any additional sign-in prompts.

Note: Check your Telegram app for the login code. The setup screen directs you to the Telegram chat, rather than an SMS inbox.

To change the number during sign-in, click Use a different number. From the phone-number screen, Back to the QR code starts a new QR-code attempt.

Complete any additional sign-in prompts

Telegram may ask for more information after you scan the code or enter your phone number. Complete the screen you see, then click Connect:

Screen

What to enter

Enter your cloud password.

Your Telegram two-step verification password. This is your Telegram password, separate from your Octopods password.

Enter your login email.

The email address tied to your Telegram account.

Enter the email code.

The code Telegram sent to that email inbox.

If you need to restart a sign-in that began with a QR code, click Start over on the additional sign-in screen.

Step 3: Verify the connection

  1. On the channel’s details page, look for Connection health.

  2. Confirm that it says Signed in to Telegram. Click Check now to check again if needed.

  3. From a different Telegram account, send a new private message to the account you connected.

  4. Open the Intercom inbox for the connected workspace and find the conversation.

  5. Reply from Intercom, then confirm the reply arrives in the sender’s Telegram chat from your connected account.

Channel details shows the display name and username when available, plus the connection date. A Telegram account without a username does not show a Username row.

Telegram Personal supports private, one-to-one conversations. Group and Telegram channel messages are not synced through this connection.

If sign-in fails or the health card shows another status, follow Troubleshooting Telegram Personal.

What’s next

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