What Is LenoChat? A Complete Guide to Getting Started

Core Features at a Glance

LenoChat is organised around four capability areas that work together: the chat widget, the unified inbox, Leno AI automation, and team management. Every feature within these areas is accessible from a single dashboard — no separate apps or third-party integrations are needed for the core support workflow.

• Chat Widget — a customisable live chat bubble or bar that appears on your website. Configure colours, position, greeting messages, pre-chat forms, and branding from the dashboard. The widget works on Shopify, WordPress, and any site where you can add a script tag.
• Unified Inbox — all conversations from your website widget, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger appear in a single view. Filter by channel, assign conversations to agents, add internal notes, and track conversation status without leaving the inbox.
• Leno AI — the built-in AI layer with two components. Leno AI Agent handles incoming messages autonomously, drawing answers from your knowledge base. Leno AI Assistance provides real-time suggestions to human agents while they type.
• Team Management — invite agents, assign roles (Owner, Admin, Agent), set availability schedules, configure operating hours per timezone, and monitor who is online. Agent limits depend on your plan.
• Notifications — real-time browser notifications and mobile push notifications for new messages, with per-agent sound preferences and configurable notification settings.
• File Sharing — agents and customers can exchange images and files within conversations on all supported channels.

Supported Channels

LenoChat unifies messages from five communication channels. Each channel requires a one-time connection step from Settings → Integrations. Once connected, all conversations from that channel appear in the same inbox alongside your website chat.

The Unified Inbox: All Your Conversations in One Place

The unified inbox is the operational centre of LenoChat. Instead of monitoring a separate WhatsApp app, a Facebook page inbox, and Instagram DMs at the same time, your entire team works from a single list of conversations. Every new message — regardless of which channel it came from — appears in the inbox in real time. Agents can filter by channel, search by customer name or keyword, and view the full conversation history for any visitor.

• Conversation status — each conversation has a status: Open, Resolved, or Queued. Open conversations need attention. Queued conversations are waiting for the next available agent. Resolved conversations are archived but remain searchable.
• Assignment — conversations can be assigned to a specific agent from the inbox. Unassigned conversations are visible to all agents. Assigning a conversation clearly signals responsibility within the team.
• Internal notes — agents can add private notes to a conversation visible to the team but not to the customer. Useful for handoff context, next steps, and escalation instructions.
• Visitor information — the sidebar of each conversation shows the visitor's location (if available), current page, device, browser, and conversation history. This context helps agents personalise responses without asking repeated questions.
• Channel indicator — a small icon next to each conversation shows which channel it came from (website, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook) so agents can adapt tone and format accordingly.

Leno AI: Your AI-Powered Support Agent

Leno AI is the AI layer built directly into LenoChat — not a third-party integration. It is available on every plan including Free. There are two components that work independently or together to reduce your team's workload and improve response quality.

• Leno AI Agent — when enabled, the AI responds to incoming messages automatically using the content in your knowledge base (help articles, FAQs, conversation Q&A pairs, and Shopify product catalog). It detects the customer's language and replies in that language. When it cannot answer a question or a customer asks for a human, it escalates to your team.
• Leno AI Assistance (Copilot) — while a human agent is typing a reply, the AI suggests relevant responses in the agent's sidebar. The agent sees the suggestion and chooses whether to use it. Customers never see this activity — it is a private productivity tool for your team.
• Both modes are toggled from Settings → Leno AI. The main Leno AI toggle must be ON for either sub-toggle to function. You can enable one mode without the other — for example, copilot assistance only, without automated customer responses.
• AI message quota — each AI-generated response (whether sent to a customer or shown as a suggestion to an agent) consumes one message from your monthly quota. Free: 100 messages per month. Plus: 1,000 per month. Pro: 2,000 per month. The quota resets automatically at the start of each billing month.
• Knowledge base — Leno AI learns from four sources: help center articles, FAQs you add directly to the widget, conversation Q&A pairs from past human-agent exchanges, and your Shopify product catalog. Navigate to Leno AI → Unanswered Questions to see which customer questions the AI could not answer and add those topics to your knowledge base.

Team Management and Agent Roles

LenoChat is designed for both solo operators and multi-agent teams. You can invite multiple agents, assign roles with different permission levels, and configure operating hours so the system knows when your team is available to handle conversations.

• Roles — there are three roles in LenoChat: Owner (full access, billing, account deletion), Admin (manage team, settings, integrations), and Agent (handle conversations only). Role assignments are managed from Settings → Team.
• Availability status — each agent sets their own availability: Online, Offline, Busy, or Away. Status affects which conversations are assigned to them and whether the widget shows as Live or Offline to visitors.
• Operating hours — configure your team's working hours from Settings → Chat Hours. When your team is outside operating hours, the widget can show a custom offline message, collect visitor contact details, or route to a contact form via Leno AI. Business hours settings are timezone-aware.
• Agent limits by plan — Free: 2 agents, Plus: 5 agents, Pro: Unlimited agents. The account owner does not count against the agent seat limit.
• Mobile app — team members can install the LenoChat iOS or Android app to receive push notifications and manage conversations from their phone. Notification preferences are configurable per agent.

Plans and What Each Includes

LenoChat offers three self-serve plans and an Enterprise option. The Free plan is available without a credit card and includes all core features. Paid plans add more agents, higher AI message quotas, longer conversation history, and access to advanced branding features.

How to Get Started with LenoChat

Setting up LenoChat for the first time takes under 15 minutes. The recommended sequence below walks through installing the widget, connecting a channel, enabling AI, and inviting your team. Each step can be completed independently — you do not need to finish all steps before the widget starts working.

• Step 1: Create a LenoChat account at app.lenochat.com. No credit card is required for the Free plan. During signup you will be prompted to enter your company name and website URL.
• Step 2: Install the chat widget. For Shopify, install from the Shopify App Store. For WordPress, install the LenoChat plugin from the WordPress plugin directory. For any other website, copy the JavaScript snippet from Settings → Installation and paste it before the closing </body> tag on your site.
• Step 3: Test the widget. Open your website in a browser where you are not logged in to your LenoChat account. Send a test message and confirm it appears in your LenoChat inbox.
• Step 4: Connect additional channels. Navigate to Settings → Integrations and connect WhatsApp Business, Facebook Messenger, or Instagram if you use those platforms. Each integration requires authorisation through your Facebook Business Manager account.
• Step 5: Enable Leno AI. Navigate to Settings → Leno AI and toggle Enable Leno AI to ON. Add at least 5–10 FAQ entries from Settings → Leno AI → FAQ to give the AI relevant content before it starts responding to customers.
• Step 6: Invite your team. Navigate to Settings → Team Members and invite agents by email. Assign each agent the appropriate role (Admin or Agent) and ensure they set their availability status to Online when they first log in.