# Channels and web chat

> Set up the channels students use to reach your institution through Unifuse: an SMS number and the embeddable web chat widget, with allowed origins, greetings, key rotation and limits.

Source: https://docs.unifuse.ai/integrations/channels/

Students reach the assistant by texting your institution's number or through a chat widget
on your website. Both are **deployments**, managed under **Administration → Channels**. The
**Channels** page in the sidebar shows every channel, whether it is configured, and recent
redacted conversations.

## Before you start

- Managing deployments needs *manage channels*.
- Answers to anonymous visitors come only from knowledge-base sources marked **public**. Mark
  the right sources before going live; see [Integrations overview](/integrations/overview/#sensitivity).
- Decide whether replies should wait for a person (**Calibration**, the default) or go out
  directly (**Auto**). See [Contact policy](/administration/contact-policy/#assistant-replies).

## Add a deployment

1. Select **Add deployment**.
2. Choose the **Channel**: **SMS number** or **Web chat widget**.
3. Enter a **Name**.
4. For SMS, enter the **Phone number** in international format. Unifuse provisions the number
   with its messaging provider during onboarding.
5. For web chat, enter the **Allowed origins**: the sites the widget may load on, up to 20.
6. Optionally enter a **Greeting**, up to 500 characters, shown when the widget opens. The
   default tells the visitor that a person reviews the assistant's answers.
7. Select **Add deployment**.

The table lists each deployment's channel, name, address, an **Active** toggle, and for web
chat **Copy snippet** and **Rotate key**. Deployments can be deactivated but not deleted.
Every change is recorded in the audit log.

## Embed the widget

Paste the snippet from **Copy snippet** before the closing `</body>` tag of each page. Your
site's content security policy must allow the Unifuse origin in `script-src` and `frame-src`.

The widget is a chat button fixed at the bottom right of the page, isolated from your site's
styles, which opens a panel titled "Chat with us". It respects reduced-motion settings and
resizes on small screens.

**Rotate key** issues a new key and stops the old snippet immediately. Use it if a snippet
has been copied somewhere it should not be.

## What visitors experience

- The panel header shows your institution and the deployment name. In calibration mode it
  shows **Answers reviewed by a person**, and a pending line while a reply is in the Review
  Queue.
- Messages are limited to 2,000 characters.
- Rate limits apply per visitor and per deployment; a visitor who exceeds them is asked to wait
  a moment.
- The conversation lives only in that browser tab.
- A visitor who matches a student record must verify with a one-time code before the
  assistant looks anything up about them.
- Texting STOP opts a number out; START opts it back in.

## Other channels

The Channels page also lists Email (outbound only; inbound email is not a channel yet),
Microsoft Teams, Slack, WhatsApp and Voice. These show as not configured unless Unifuse has
set them up for your institution.

## Related

- [Review Queue](/student-success/review-queue/)
- [Contact policy](/administration/contact-policy/)