3 min lesson
Setting up channels
Talk to Max on WhatsApp and Slack. Teams is coming soon. Learn how each channel differs from connectors and from in-app chat.
Channels are how you reach Max when you are not in the Frontline window. WhatsApp. Slack. Teams is coming soon. You send a message or a voice note, and it is the same Max: same memory, same CRM, same connectors.
A channel is not a connector, even when the logo matches. WhatsApp as a connector syncs client chats into Contact sync. WhatsApp as a channel is you talking to Max. Slack as a connector gives him tools in the workspace. Slack as a channel is a DM or a place he can reply. Set both on purpose. Connecting Slack for tools does not mean he is listening in every channel.
On WhatsApp you message Max the way you message anyone. Text, images, files, audio notes. “Log a call with James. He wants the IPS before funding.” That is often faster than opening Chat after a walk-out.
Use a number you control. Personal WhatsApp can be both your channel to Max and a sync source for clients. Keep those jobs separate in your head. Manual review and ignore rules still apply to client sync. Chatting with Max does not add your mother as a Contact.
Modes here are practical. You can live in WhatsApp and rarely open the app. You can use WhatsApp only for quick captures and keep long work in main chat. You can let Max notify you on WhatsApp when a routine finishes. Pick the mode that matches how you already text.
Slack
Slack is the desk version of the same idea. Connect Slack, then talk to Max in a DM, or in a channel you have allowed. Files and audio notes work. “Summarize overnight mail on Harrington” can land in Slack while you stay in a client channel.
Modes matter more here. A private DM is you and Max. A shared channel is visible to whoever is in it. Do not put household details in a public Slack channel and ask Max to update the deal unless that audience should see the answer. Use a DM for book work. Use a channel when the update is for the team.
Notifications from tasks can go to Slack as well, to you or to a channel you choose. That is a delivery mode, not a second Max.
Teams, coming soon
Microsoft Teams will be another channel, in the same family: talk to Max where the firm already lives. It is not in this setup yet. If the team is on Teams today, use in-app chat and Slack or WhatsApp until that channel ships. Do not invent a workaround that copies chats into a table.
What stays the same on every channel
Auto and Ask first still apply to what Max is allowed to do. Permissions still apply to what he can see. Your conversation with Max still does not write itself onto James’s timeline. A voice note is still a good way to log a call. If Max is paused, or the trial ended and no seat is assigned, the channel will tell you he cannot work. Re-enable him in the dashboard. Do not reconnect WhatsApp as a fix for a missing seat.
Next: Configuring tasks and routines, for the work you do not want to type every morning.