Attachments and Voice Messages
Let customers send images, PDFs, and voice messages to your agent on the web widget, Public Chat, and WhatsApp.
With attachments turned on, customers can send your agent images, PDFs, and voice messages. The agent reads images and PDFs and transcribes voice messages, then answers as usual.
Turn attachments on
Attachments are off by default, for new and existing agents.
Open the setting
In your agent, select Settings and go to the AI section.
Turn it on
Under Attachments, switch on Accept attachments and save.
The setting applies to every channel. When it’s off, the web widget and Public Chat hide the upload and recording buttons, and files sent on WhatsApp aren’t opened.
What customers can send
| Web widget and Public Chat | ||
|---|---|---|
| Images | JPEG, PNG, WEBP | JPEG, PNG, WEBP |
| Documents | ||
| Voice messages | Recorded in the chat, up to 5 minutes | Voice notes and audio files |
| Size | Up to 10 MB per file, 3 files per message | Up to 20 MB per file |
In the chat, customers use Attach a file (the paperclip) to add files, and Record a voice message (the microphone) to record. Large photos are resized in the browser before they’re sent. Customers can play back a recording before sending it, or discard it.
AI model support
Not every AI model can read every file type. Voice messages always work, since they’re transcribed first. If your agent’s model can’t read images or PDFs, the Attachments setting shows a note such as “This model can read images and voice messages, but not PDFs.”, and customers can’t send those files.
How the agent uses attachments
- The agent uses an attachment only to help with a question it can answer for your business. If a file is unrelated, the agent says what it can help with instead of describing the file.
- Text inside images, documents, and voice messages is treated as something the customer said, never as instructions to the agent.
- When a teammate is handling the conversation, files are shown to the teammate in the Helpdesk without being read by the AI.
Credits
Reading images and PDFs, and transcribing voice messages, use credits. Longer voice messages use more.
Privacy
Files are stored privately, separately from your agent’s knowledge. They’re deleted when the conversation is deleted. See Managing Conversations.
Having trouble? See Troubleshooting attachments.