Website visitors get an answer at any hour
Questions about hours, services, locations and next steps are answered from your knowledge base after your team has gone home, and a booking can be made on the spot.
AI Chat & Messaging Agent
The same agent that answers your phone, now in chat and text.
The AI Chat & Messaging Agent works on your website, your business SMS numbers and messaging channels. It answers from knowledge you approve, qualifies the request, books meetings into your connected calendar, collects intake and hands the conversation to a person when your rules say so — in English and French.
- Answers only from your approved knowledge
- Books into Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or your booking tool
- Hands off to a person or queue by rules
Example
+1
+1 (289) 555-0119
SMSYour appointment is confirmed for Tue 9:30 a.m. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule.
C
Thanks — see you Tuesday. Reply STOP to opt out.
…
The 3CTel AI Chat & Messaging Agent is a text-based AI agent for website chat, business SMS and messaging channels, using the same agent brain as the AI Receptionist on voice. It answers from a business's approved knowledge, qualifies requests, books appointments into connected calendars with SMS or email confirmation, collects intake details and hands off to a person or a queue by rules. It works in English and French, keeps transcripts and never asks for payment cards.
What changes for your business.
“Can I book?” by text becomes a confirmed appointment
The agent checks your connected calendar, offers real openings, books the slot and sends a confirmation by SMS or email, without a staff member picking up the thread.
Intake happens in conversation, not in a form
The agent asks the questions your intake form used to ask, one at a time, and passes a structured summary to your team or your CRM.
People still get people
A request outside the agent's scope, a frustrated customer or a keyword you define moves the conversation to a person or a queue with the transcript attached.
Core capabilities.
Answers from approved knowledge only
You provide the pages, documents and answers the agent may use. It does not answer from the open internet, and questions outside that knowledge are handed off or captured for follow-up.
Website chat, business SMS and messaging in one agent
The same agent, knowledge and rules serve your website widget, your texting-enabled business numbers and the messaging channels scoped during planning.
Books meetings and appointments into your calendar
The agent reads availability from Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or your booking tool, offers open slots, books the appointment and confirms by SMS or email. Reschedules and cancellations follow the rules you set.
Qualifies and collects intake
Name, reason for contact, location, urgency, insurance or account details — whatever your intake requires is collected conversationally and passed on as a structured record.
Hand-off rules to a person or a queue
Keywords, sentiment, business hours, request type or a plain “talk to someone” move the conversation to a named person, a team inbox or a Contact Centre queue with context.
Same agent brain as the AI Receptionist
Knowledge, tone, hand-off rules and booking logic are shared with the voice AI Receptionist, so a customer gets consistent answers whether they call, text or chat.
English and French
The agent detects the customer's language, replies in it and can switch mid-conversation. Knowledge can be provided in both languages or translated with your review.
Transcripts kept, payment cards never requested
Every conversation is stored for review and quality checks. The agent is configured never to ask for or accept payment card details; payment requests are handed to a person or a secure link where configured.
Common use cases.
Website visitors after hours
A visitor at 9 p.m. asks whether you handle their situation and how soon they can be seen. The agent answers from your knowledge, offers the next opening and books it, with the transcript waiting for your team in the morning.
SMS “can I book” from an existing customer
A customer texts your main number to ask for an appointment. The agent recognizes the number, checks the calendar, confirms a time and sends the confirmation, all in the same thread.
Intake forms replaced by conversation
Instead of a long web form, new clients answer a few questions in chat. The agent collects the details, flags anything urgent and creates the record in your CRM where that connection is scoped.
Reception overflow during peak hours
When the front desk is on the phone, chat and text requests are handled by the agent; anything it cannot resolve is queued for reception with a summary rather than lost.
Setup and migration.
The AI Chat & Messaging Agent is set up with a 3CTel specialist. If you already run the AI Receptionist, the agent starts from the same knowledge and rules; otherwise we build them together, test on your team before your customers and go live channel by channel.
Approve the knowledge and the rules
We gather the pages, documents and answers the agent may use, define what it must hand off, and set tone, language and hours. Guardrails such as no payment card capture are written down here.
Connect the calendar and intake destination
Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or your booking tool is connected for availability and booking; intake records go to your CRM or inbox. Connections are scoped in planning and confirmed before activation.
Test on your website and a temporary number
Your team chats and texts with the agent, transcripts are reviewed, answers are corrected and hand-off cases are added.
Go live one channel at a time
The agent starts on the channel you choose, transcripts are reviewed with you on a set cadence, and scope expands to further channels and tasks once you are satisfied.
Updates
AI Chat & Messaging Agent: recent field notes
Bilingual website chat for an Ottawa architecture firm
The AI chat assistant replies in the visitor's language, explains the firm's services and typical project stages, and collects project type, location and timeline. It proposes a discovery call with the right partner as a suggestion the coordinator confirms in one click, and hands the conversation to her whenever the visitor asks for a person.
Chat and SMS booking for a Vancouver physiotherapy clinic
An AI chat assistant on the website and the clinic's business SMS number offers available times and books or reschedules directly in the practice calendar. Patients confirm consent to receive texts before any reminder is sent, and a request to speak with reception is handed to a person during opening hours.
Incident-status texts for a Montreal software company
The AI chat assistant answers status questions on SMS and web chat from the current incident note that an engineer updates, in French or English. Customers who have opted in to texts can subscribe to updates for that incident. Reports of a new symptom open a ticket and are escalated to the on-call engineer.
All updates New entries post Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Common questions, answered directly.
What is an AI chat and messaging agent for business?
An AI chat and messaging agent is software that holds text conversations with customers on website chat, SMS and messaging channels. It answers questions from a business's approved knowledge, qualifies the request, books appointments into a connected calendar, collects intake details and transfers the conversation to a person when rules require it. Transcripts are kept for review and the agent works in the customer's language.
Can an AI messaging agent book appointments by text?
Yes, when a calendar or booking tool is connected. The agent reads availability from Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or a booking system, offers open times in the SMS or chat thread, books the chosen slot and sends a confirmation by text or email. Reschedules and cancellations follow rules the business sets, and anything unusual is handed to a staff member.
How is an AI chat agent different from a chatbot with scripted buttons?
A scripted chatbot follows fixed menus and cannot answer anything outside them. An AI chat agent understands free-form questions, answers from approved knowledge in natural language, asks follow-up questions to complete intake and performs tasks such as booking. It also recognizes when it should stop and hand off to a person, which a button menu cannot judge.
Does the same AI agent handle calls and chat?
On the 3CTel platform, yes. The AI Chat & Messaging Agent shares its knowledge, tone, booking logic and hand-off rules with the AI Receptionist that answers calls. A customer who phones, texts or opens website chat gets consistent answers, and staff maintain one knowledge base and one set of rules rather than separate bots for each channel.
Learn more
- Business textingSMS from the number customers already call, in a shared inbox.
- AI phone answering serviceAI, a human service or voicemail: which should take the calls you cannot?
- Appointment bookingBookings taken by phone, confirmed by text, and handed to a person when needed.
- After-hours callsA plan for every call that arrives after closing, on a weekend or on a holiday.
- AI receptionist vs answering serviceThree ways to handle calls nobody can pick up, compared without a sales pitch.
- Google WorkspaceGoogle Calendar, Contacts and Gmail connected to your phone system.
- Microsoft 365Outlook calendar, contacts and mailbox connected to your phone system.
- Medical & Dental ClinicsAppointment lines, provider routing and after-hours coverage for clinics.
- Professional ServicesPartner extensions, assistant coverage and call records for firms that bill their time.
Learn more
Works with the tools you already use.
Integrations are scoped during planning based on your systems; availability is confirmed before activation.
- Google WorkspaceProductivity
- Microsoft 365Productivity
- Outlook / Google CalendarCalendar
- HubSpotCRM
- GoHighLevelCRM
- SalesforceCRM
- Jane AppClinic management
- Webhooks & APICustom
Related products.
AI Receptionist
Answers, understands and books — in English and French.
Learn more: AI ReceptionistBusiness SMS
Text from the number customers already call — as a team, not from a personal phone.
Learn more: Business SMSOmnichannel Contact Centre
Calls, texts, web chat and email in one queue, one agent desktop and one set of reports.
Learn more: Omnichannel Contact CentreAI Workflows
After-call and after-message automation: AI reads the conversation, then does the CRM, helpdesk and calendar work — with approval rules you set.
Learn more: AI WorkflowsAppointment booking
Bookings taken by phone, confirmed by text, and handed to a person when needed.
Learn more: Appointment bookingFrequently asked questions.
Only from knowledge you approve: your website pages, documents, policies and the answers you write with a specialist. It does not search the internet. When a question falls outside that knowledge, it hands off to a person or captures the request for follow-up.
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 calendars, and booking tools such as Jane for clinics. Other systems can be connected through API, webhooks or an automation platform. Availability of each connection is confirmed before activation.
By rules you set: keywords, request types, business hours, customer sentiment or a direct request to speak to someone. The conversation goes to a named person, a shared inbox or a Contact Centre queue with the transcript so the customer does not repeat themselves.
Yes, on texting-enabled 3CTel business numbers, including your main line. Customers text the number they already know, and the agent replies in the same thread. Your team can take over the thread at any time.
No. The agent is configured never to ask for or accept payment card details. If a customer wants to pay, the conversation is handed to a person or, where configured, a secure payment link is sent.
Give your website and your text line an agent that books.
Share what customers ask most by chat and text; a specialist will build the knowledge, the booking connection and the hand-off rules with you.