Gecko supports numerous channel types, making communicating with your students easy. The number of channels you can create is unlimited.
Channels can be created/edited/deleted by navigating to Conversations > Channels.
Live Chat
Live Chat channels allow students to instant message you from anywhere your live chat channel is embedded.
To get started, head to Conversations > Channels and click [+ Create new channel] in the top-right corner, before clicking Create on the Live Chat card.
Channel name - What would you like your channel to be known as internally? This is never visible to students.
Select a chatbot - Which of your AI Chatbots would you like to assign to the channel? Once assigned, your bot will automatically reply to any incoming messages.
Chat intro message - Is there a default introduction message you'd like to display in the live-chat widget when opened? Add it here:
Only trigger when all these agents are not available - If you've selected a chatbot and this field is empty, then the chatbot will always automatically reply to incoming questions on your channel. Suppose agent(s) or team members are added to this field. In that case, Gecko will check to see if any selected users or team members are available. If they are, the bot will not be assigned to the conversation. If they are offline, the bot will pick up the conversations.
Channel availability - The setting controls when the widget should display to visitors to your website. The widget will boot if at least one selected agent or team member is available. If no agents or team members are available, the widget will not appear.
Pre-chat form - Which Gecko form would you like to use to capture data from the student before the conversation begins? Forms fully support conditional logic, parent-child fields, workflows and integrations.
Enable AI suggested replies - If you'd like your AI agent to offer suggested replies to your team, toggle this to 'on'. Once enabled, if the agent clicks the Generate a response icon in the Conversations > Inbox view, this feature will ask your Chatbot to read the conversation and draft a response to the student's last message that can be reviewed and edited before being sent.
To deploy and use your Live Chat channel, navigate to Conversations > Widgets and click [+ New widget] in the top-right corner.
Give your widget a name, select the channel you'd like to pair with your widget and freely customize the branding via the Widget icon and Theme colour.
Once done, click Save. Doing so will generate the JavaScript snippet needed to embed your widget on your website. It'll look a little like this:
<script type="text/javascript"> window.GeckoChatSettings={ widgetId: "XXXXXx00xXXxXXxX-00xXXXXXx0x0xx0x0XXX0Xx00XX", accountName: "gecko-academy-example", }; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://chat-widget.geckoengage.com"></script>
Copy this to your clipboard, embed on your webpage and away you go! Your embed code can be found again at any time by visting the Conversations > Widget page.
Email channels allow you to send and receive emails directly through Gecko, making managing your bustling inbox easier than ever before. There's no limit to the number of email channels you can create and no cap on the number of emails you can send.
💡 To maximize the chances of your emails successfully being delivered to strudents, we strongly recommend you first verify your domain.
To get started, head to Conversations > Channels and click [+ Create new channel] in the top-right corner, before clicking Create on the Email card.
Channel name - What would you like your channel to be known as internally? This is never visible to students.
Sending email address - The email address you'd like it to appear your email is being sent from. e.g.,
admissions@gecko-university.eduSender name - The name of the email address owner. e.g.,
AdmissionsReply-to option - If you send a student an email from Gecko using your email channel, what should happen if the student clicks 'reply'? Leaving this field blank will ensure the reply is sent to Conversations > Inbox and added to your conversation thread. Adding an external inbox will ensure the reply is sent there instead.
Enable AI suggested replies - If you'd like your AI agent to offer suggested replies to your team, toggle this to 'on'. Once enabled, if the agent clicks the Generate a response icon in the Conversations > Inbox view, this feature will ask your selected Chatbot to read the conversation and draft a response to the student's last message that can be reviewed and edited before being sent.
SMS
SMS channels allow you to send and receive text messages from students.
To get started, head to Conversations > Channels and click [+ Create new channel] in the top-right corner, before clicking Create on the SMS card.
Channel name - What would you like your channel to be known as internally? This is never visible to students.
Phone number - Pick which VoIP number already assigned to your account you'd like to use to send/receive messages. If you're interested in using an existing real-life telephone number associated with your institution as an SMS channel, contact your account manager to discuss number porting.
Forward incoming calls to - If a student sends a text message to your Phone number, it'll appear in your Gecko Conversations > Inbox view. But what should happen if the student instead tries to call you? Set up a redirect to a real-life number using this field.
Select a chatbot - Which of your AI Chatbots would you like to assign to the channel? Once assigned, your bot will automatically reply to any incoming messages.
Only trigger when all these agents are not available - If you've selected a chatbot and this field is empty, then the chatbot will always automatically reply to incoming questions on your channel. However, if you've added agent(s) or team(s) to this field, then Gecko will first check to see if anybody is available. If at least one agent is available, the chatbot will not be assigned. If nobody is available, the chatbot will be assigned.
Enable AI suggested replies - If you'd like your AI agent to offer suggested replies to your team, toggle this to 'on'. Once enabled, if the agent clicks the Generate a response icon in the Conversations > Inbox view, this feature will ask your selected Chatbot to read the conversation and draft a response to the student's last message that can be reviewed and edited before being sent.
👷 This channel type will be coming soon!
Facebook Messenger
💡 Note: for this channel to function, you will need a Facebook business page or account connected to an Instagram business account.
The Facebook messenger channel allows any DMs sent to your FB business page to be pushed into Chat. Any replies you send back from Chat are sent to the student on Facebook messenger.
To get started, head to Conversations > Channels and click [+ Create new channel] in the top-right corner, before clicking Create on the Facebook messenger card.
Click [Connect with Facebook] and enter the email and password of an account that is an administrator of the Facebook business page you wish to connect. Once configured, a window will open in Chat, asking you to provide a Channel Title and to specify which eligible Facebook page(s) (if you're the admin of multiple pages) you'd like to integrate. Back on Gecko, complete the following:
Channel name - What would you like your channel to be known as internally? This is never visible to students.
Select a chatbot - Which of your AI Chatbots would you like to assign to the channel? Once assigned, your bot will automatically reply to any incoming messages.
Only trigger when all these agents are not available - If you've selected a chatbot and this field is empty, then the chatbot will always automatically reply to incoming questions on your channel. However, if you've added agent(s) or team(s) to this field, then Gecko will first check to see if anybody is available. If at least one agent is available, the chatbot will not be assigned. If nobody is available, the chatbot will be assigned.
Enable AI suggested replies - If you'd like your AI agent to offer suggested replies to your team, toggle this to 'on'. Once enabled, if the agent clicks the Generate a response icon in the Conversations > Inbox view, this feature will ask your selected Chatbot to read the conversation and draft a response to the student's last message that can be reviewed and edited before being sent.
🔎 Issue: Why can't I send replies to old FB messages from Gecko?
To explain, if a student sends you a message on Facebook Messenger or Instagram, this begins a 24-hour countdown. During this 24-hour countdown, you can respond to the student without restrictions. Each time the student sends a new message, it resets the 24-hour countdown.
When the 24-hour countdown elapses, you cannot send any additional messages to the student. Any subsequent messages that you try to send from a Meta channel will be blocked until the student messages you once again.
tl;dr - if a student last messaged you on Facebook Messenger or Instagram more than 24 hours ago, you'll be unable to respond.
💡 Note: for this channel to function, you will need an eligible Instagram business account connected to a Facebook page or account. Additionally, to allow messages to sync to/from Instagram x Gecko, you must: 1. Log into your Instagram Business Account, 2. Select the hamburger drop-down menu in the top-right, 3. Navigate to Settings > Privacy > Messages, 4. Toggle Allow access to messages to 'on'.
To get started, head to Conversations > Channels and click [+ Create new channel] in the top-right corner, before clicking Create on the Instagram card.
Click [Connect with Instagram] and enter the email and password of an account that is an administrator of the Instagram business page you wish to connect. Once configured, a window will open in Chat, asking you to provide a Channel Title and to specify which eligible Insta page(s) (if you're the admin of multiple pages) you'd like to integrate. Back on Gecko, complete the following:
Channel name - What would you like your channel to be known as internally? This is never visible to students.
Select a chatbot - Which of your AI Chatbots would you like to assign to the channel? Once assigned, your bot will automatically reply to any incoming messages.
Only trigger when all these agents are not available - If you've selected a chatbot and this field is empty, then the chatbot will always automatically reply to incoming questions on your channel. However, if you've added agent(s) or team(s) to this field, then Gecko will first check to see if anybody is available. If at least one agent is available, the chatbot will not be assigned. If nobody is available, the chatbot will be assigned.
Enable AI suggested replies - If you'd like your AI agent to offer suggested replies to your team, toggle this to 'on'. Once enabled, if the agent clicks the Generate a response icon in the Conversations > Inbox view, this feature will ask your selected Chatbot to read the conversation and draft a response to the student's last message that can be reviewed and edited before being sent.
🔎 Issue: Why can't I send replies to old FB messages from Gecko?
To explain, if a student sends you a message on Facebook Messenger or Instagram, this begins a 24-hour countdown. During this 24-hour countdown, you can respond to the student without restrictions. Each time the student sends a new message, it resets the 24-hour countdown.
When the 24-hour countdown elapses, you cannot send any additional messages to the student. Any subsequent messages that you try to send from a Meta channel will be blocked until the student messages you once again.
tl;dr - if a student last messaged you on Facebook Messenger or Instagram more than 24 hours ago, you'll be unable to respond.
Any questions? Start a live chat with a support team member, or feel free to explore the rest of our academy. Spotted an error or want to suggest a future article for the academy? Let us know here.