Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced on Wednesday that users of the messaging app with personal accounts can now convert them to business accounts. This enables users to list information such as location and opening hours, which may be helpful to small cafe and store owners.
Some other features of a business account include organizing chats with color labels, using automated greetings or away messages, and shortcuts for quick replies. Durov said on his channel that Telegram plans to roll out more business features this month, including ways to integrate artificial intelligence chatbots to provide customer service.
“Telegram Business accounts will be able to seamlessly add chatbots as their invisible secretaries to respond to all or certain chats. Powered by artificial intelligence, these chatbots can take customer service automation to a whole new level.”
With these new features, Telegram is trying to compete with WhatsApp Business, which surpassed the 200 million monthly active user mark last year. Meta-owned WhatsApp launched a number of business-focused features last year, including personalized customer messages and processes, and the ability to complete e-commerce transactions without leaving the app.
Over the past two years, Telegram has focused on growing its business through premium subscriptions, self-hosted crypto wallets, and premium username auctions. The chat app, which has more than 800 million users worldwide, also plans to launch its advertising platform this month and offer a revenue-sharing plan for channels.
