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Telegram Bot

The CommuLand Telegram bot lets your team scan business cards on the go — take a photo with your phone and the contact is created in your CRM automatically. Perfect for exhibitions and trade shows.

Setup

Setting up the Telegram bot takes about 5 minutes:

Step 1: Create a Bot on Telegram

  1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather.
  2. Send /newbot and follow the prompts to name your bot.
  3. BotFather will give you a Bot Token (a long string like 123456:ABC-DEF1234...). Copy it.

Step 2: Configure in CommuLand

  1. Go to Settings → Integrations in your CRM dashboard.
  2. Enable the Telegram toggle.
  3. Paste your Bot Token into the bot token field.
  4. (Optional) Enter a Webhook Secret for extra security.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Click Set Telegram to register the webhook URL with Telegram.

Step 3: Test the Bot

  1. Open Telegram and find your bot by its username.
  2. Send /start — you should see a welcome message.
  3. Send a photo of a business card to test the OCR extraction.
Webhook URL format: https://your-domain.com/api/webhooks/telegram?tenant=YOUR_TENANT_KEY
Your tenant key is shown on the Integrations settings page. If you rotate the tenant key, you must re-register the webhook.

Guided Mode (Default)

Guided mode extracts business card details immediately and walks you through a step-by-step flow to review and save the contact.

1

Send a photo of the front of the business card

The bot downloads the image, performs OCR, and shows the extracted data (name, email, phone, company, etc.).

2

Back card (optional)

Send the back of the card for additional details, or tap Skip. Back card data is merged with front card data automatically.

3

Select or create an Event

Choose from your recent events using inline buttons, or type a name to create a new event. You can also skip this step.

4

Select or create a Company

If the AI detected a company name, matching companies are shown. Select one, create a new one, or skip.

5

Add a remark (optional)

Type a quick note (e.g., "Met at booth A12, interested in bulk order") or skip.

✓

Contact saved!

The contact is created in your CRM with all extracted details, linked to the event and company.

Credits: Guided mode consumes 1 credit per card side. Front card = 1 credit. Front + back = 2 credits. The bot will warn you if you don't have enough credits.

Fast Mode

Fast mode is designed for speed — upload many cards quickly without reviewing OCR results. AI extraction happens in the background.

1

Send /fast to activate fast mode

The bot confirms fast mode is active. It stays active until you switch back.

2

Send a photo of a business card

The bot uploads the image immediately without performing OCR.

3

Select an event (or skip)

Choose an event from the inline buttons, type to create one, or skip.

✓

Saved! AI will extract details in the background.

The contact is created with an AI extraction job queued. Review the extracted data later in the CRM.

When to use: Fast mode is ideal at busy trade shows where you're collecting 50+ cards and don't have time to review each one. Review and clean up the data later in the CRM.

Commands

CommandDescription
/startShow welcome message and reset to guided mode.
/fastSwitch to fast mode (skip OCR review).
/cancelAbort the current upload flow and reset.
/helpShow all available commands and mode descriptions.

Switching Between Modes

  • The bot starts in Guided mode by default.
  • Send /fast to switch to Fast mode. It stays active until you switch back.
  • Send /start to switch back to Guided mode.
  • Mode persists across sessions — if you close and reopen the chat, you'll still be in the last selected mode.

Duplicate Detection

In guided mode, the bot checks for duplicate contacts after OCR extraction. If a potential duplicate is found (by email, phone, or name), the bot saves the contact but marks it with a "Duplicated" verification state and shows a warning message. Review and merge duplicates in the CRM.

Session Management

The bot maintains an in-memory session for each active conversation:

  • Sessions last for 30 minutes of inactivity.
  • If a session expires, the bot asks you to send a new photo to start over.
  • Use /cancel to manually clear the current session.

Troubleshooting

Bot not responding

Check that the webhook is configured correctly in Settings → Integrations. Click "Set Telegram" to re-register the webhook URL. Ensure your domain is publicly accessible (not localhost).

"Insufficient credits" error

Your organization has run out of credits. Top up in Settings → Billing. OCR extraction requires 1 credit per card side.

OCR results are inaccurate

Ensure the photo is clear, well-lit, and the card fills most of the frame. Avoid blurry or heavily stylized cards. You can always edit the extracted data in the CRM contact detail page.

Session expired

Sessions expire after 30 minutes of inactivity. Simply send a new photo to start a fresh flow.