Facebook & Instagram Direct Messaging

Velaro connects to your Facebook Page and Instagram Business account so visitors who send you a message through Facebook Messenger or Instagram DM land in the same unified inbox as your web chat, SMS, and WhatsApp conversations. Agents manage every channel in one place without switching platforms.

Connecting Facebook Messenger

1. Go to Settings → Integrations → Facebook.
2. Click Connect Facebook Page.
3. Log in with the Facebook account that manages your Page (you must be a Page Admin).
4. Select the Facebook Page to connect. If you manage multiple pages, each can be connected as a separate channel.
5. Grant the permissions: pages_messaging, pages_manage_metadata.
6. Click Save. Incoming Facebook Messenger messages now route to Velaro.

Connecting Instagram DM

1. Your Instagram account must be a Business or Creator account linked to a Facebook Page.
2. Go to Settings → Integrations → Instagram.
3. Click Connect Instagram Account and follow the same Facebook OAuth flow.
4. Select the Instagram account linked to your Facebook Page.
5. Grant permission for instagram_manage_messages.

Routing and Team Assignment

Configure separate routing for Facebook and Instagram in Settings → Channels → [Facebook / Instagram] → Routing. Options:

• Route all messages to a specific team (e.g., a Social Media team).
• Apply keyword-based routing rules to separate sales, support, and general inquiries.
• Assign to a bot for initial triage and FAQ handling before transferring to a human agent.

What Agents See

Facebook and Instagram conversations appear in the inbox with the channel icon. Agents can:

• Reply with text, images, stickers, and GIFs (within platform limits).
• See the visitor's public Facebook or Instagram profile in the sidebar.
• View the full message history including any conversation that occurred before Velaro was connected.
• Use canned responses, transfer to another agent, and close the conversation.

24-Hour Messaging Window

Facebook and Instagram enforce a 24-hour standard messaging window. After a visitor sends a message, you have 24 hours to reply with any content. After 24 hours without a reply from the visitor, only template-approved messages can be sent. Velaro shows a countdown timer in the conversation header when you are approaching the 24-hour window so agents know when they need to respond.

Message Tags

When the 24-hour window has closed, Facebook allows sending certain message types using tags (Post-Purchase Update, Confirmed Event Update, Account Update). If you need to send an outside-window message, Velaro shows tag options for eligible conversations. Select the appropriate tag before sending — sending without a valid tag will result in the message being rejected by Facebook.

Bot Support

Your AI bot works on Facebook Messenger and Instagram DM the same way it does on web chat. Channel-aware workflow overrides let you configure shorter, more casual responses appropriate to social messaging. Configure under Workflows → [Workflow Name] → Channel Overrides → Facebook / Instagram.