Migrate from ManyChat to TG-Staff: Complete steps and data considerations for building a Telegram customer service system

Migrating Telegram customer service systems is a critical step for many teams as they transition from marketing automation tools to professional customer service platforms. If you are using ManyChat to manage Telegram Bots but find that it is not suitable for handling customer service scenarios such as multi-agent real-time chat, conversation offloading or content risk control, then migrating to TG-Staff may be an option worth considering.

This article will start from the limitations of ManyChat and break down the five complete steps of migrating to TG-Staff in detail, covering data export, Bot access, session offload configuration and test switching, to help you make a smooth transition and quickly build a professional customer service system.

Why migrate from ManyChat to TG-Staff to build a customer service system

ManyChat was originally designed for Facebook Messenger marketing automation, and while it has since added support for Telegram, its core capabilities are still geared toward broadcasts, autoresponders, and basic funnels. When your business requires multiple agents to handle user inquiries at the same time, divert conversations according to rules, or perform content risk control on customer service messages, the limitations of ManyChat become obvious.

The limitations of ManyChat and the targeted advantages of TG-Staff

Comparison Dimensions	ManyChat	TG-Staff
Core Positioning	Marketing Automation and Broadcasting	Customer Service and Operations SaaS
Multi-agent real-time chat	Not supported (relies on third-party integration)	Native support, independent agent account
Session offloading	None (all messages go to the same background)	Support rotational distribution/online priority
Content risk control	None	Supports risk word detection and wallet address monitoring
Automatic translation	No native support	Built-in AI/Google/DeepL translation
Traffic attribution	Self-built URL parameter tracking is required	Diversion links automatically capture sources and parameters
Package price	Billed based on the number of contacts	Billed based on the number of seats, please see the official website package page for details

If you encounter the following scenarios, migrating to TG-Staff will significantly improve efficiency:

• Multiple customer service staff need to log in to the web portal at the same time to receive users, and ManyChat can only allow everyone to share the same account
• During peak user consultation periods, new sessions need to be automatically assigned to online agents instead of all messages flowing to the same backend.
• The team needs to monitor sensitive content in customer service messages (such as specific wallet addresses, illegal keywords), and ManyChat does not have such capabilities at all.

Which teams are best suited to start migrating now?

The following teams recommend prioritizing migration:

• Cross-border customer service team: Multi-language automatic translation is required, and agents are distributed in multiple time zones
• Web3 and Cryptocurrency Projects: It is necessary to monitor the wallet address in customer service messages to prevent mis-issuance or fraud.
• Overseas marketing and e-commerce: To divert traffic to Telegram through advertising, it is necessary to track the source channel of each user
• Community Operation Team: Need to upgrade from “broadcast notification” to a combination of “one-on-one manual customer service + automated process”

Preparations before migration: data inventory and account check

Migration is not a simple replacement of tools, but an upgrade of customer service processes. Before getting started, it is recommended to complete the following checklist.

Export user data and tags from ManyChat

User data in ManyChat (such as Telegram ID, custom tags, notes) will not be automatically migrated to TG-Staff. You need:

1. Log in to the ManyChat backend and find the user list export function (usually supports CSV format)
2. Confirm that the exported field contains Telegram ID (this is the key to subsequent matching of users)
3. Record user tag groups, which can be re-labeled in TG-Staff through API or manually after migration

Check Bot API permissions conflict with Webhook

Confirm in BotFather (@BotFather) that your Bot has the following permissions enabled:

• Ability to read all messages (Enable — “Group Privacy” needs to be turned off, otherwise Bot can only see commands starting with /)
• Inline Mode can be turned off if not needed

At the same time, record the configured webhook address in ManyChat. After migration, this address needs to be cleared first.

Step 1: Connect your Telegram Bot in TG-Staff

After completing the preparation work, start the official access.

1. Visit TG-Staff Console to register an account (3-day free trial)
2. Create a new project and enter the project name (such as “Customer Service System”)
3. On the Bot access page, enter your Bot Token (obtained from BotFather, in the format of 123456:ABC-DEF1234)
4. Click to access, TG-Staff will automatically set up the Webhook and verify the Bot status

After successful access, the console will display the Bot online status. At this time, there is no need to manually configure the Webhook, TG-Staff has taken over the messaging.

Step 2: Configure customer service agents and session diversion rules

Once the bot is connected, the next step is to invite team members and set up how sessions are distributed.

Create an agent account and assign permissions

TG-Staff provides 3/5/20 seat quotas based on packages. Steps to create an agent:

1. Enter the “Agent Management” page
2. Click “Add Agent” and enter the member’s Telegram username or email address
3. Assign project permissions (such as “all projects” or “specified projects”)
4. The agent will receive an invitation link and can see the pending sessions after logging in.

Each agent has an independent account and login password, and there is no need to share the single backend of ManyChat.

Set the distribution rules: rotating distribution vs online priority

In the project settings, you can configure the session offloading strategy:

• Allocation in turns (default): Poll authorized agents in order, suitable for scenarios where the number of agents is fixed and the workload is even.
• Online Priority: Prioritize allocation to currently online agents, and fall back to rotating allocation when all are offline. Suitable for scenarios where the number of consultations increases suddenly during peak periods.

Suggestion: If your team has morning and evening shifts or agents have inconsistent online times, give priority to using the “online priority” mode, which can significantly shorten user waiting time.

Step 3: Rebuild Bot automatic reply and command process

Flow (process) in ManyChat will not be automatically migrated to TG-Staff, you need to use the visual command process editor to rebuild the core interaction.

Migrate from ManyChat Flow to the visual process editor

TG-Staff’s process editor uses drag-and-drop operation and can be completed with zero code. Migration suggestions:

1. Copy the core process first: such as /start> welcome message, FAQ menu, and switch to manual button
2. Re-optimization details: Complex conditional branches in ManyChat can be split into multiple independent command processes
3. Test each node: Make sure that message sending, button jumps, and variable references are all normal.

Common command templates: welcome, menu, transfer to manual

The following is a simple example of a typical process (no need to write code, just drag and drop in the editor):

• Trigger word: /start
• Node 1: Send welcome message, including project introduction and shortcut buttons
• Node 2: Menu button → FAQ (reply to default copy)
• Node 3: Switch to manual button → trigger manual agent assignment (automatically enter the session queue)

Step 4: Import user data and test session link

TG-Staff will automatically synchronize all users who have spoken to the Bot, eliminating the need for manual import. But if you need to keep the custom tags in ManyChat, you can:

1. Use the exported CSV file to batch update user portraits through TG-Staff API
2. Or manually add tags to the user in the console

Test link recommendations:

• Send a message to the bot using a test Telegram account
• Confirm that agents can receive new session notifications in the TG-Staff console
• Test diversion rules: Use multiple test accounts to send messages at the same time and observe whether they are distributed to different agents according to the preset rules.
• Test automatic translation: send non-Chinese messages and confirm that the translated content is displayed on the agent side

Step 5: Official switchover and offline of the old system

Checklist for switching day:

• Confirm that Bot binding has been unbinded in ManyChat (Webhook has been cleared)
• Confirm that the Bot status in TG-Staff is displayed online
• Confirm that at least 1 agent is online and can receive test messages
• Confirm that the diversion rule has taken effect (rotating allocation or online priority)
• Confirm that the auto-reply process (such as /start> welcome message) has been published

It is recommended to complete the switch during off-peak hours (such as early morning or weekday afternoon) and leave a 1–2 hour observation window. If you find an exception, you can temporarily switch back to ManyChat (reset Webhook), but be aware that there may be a short delay in messages.

When taking ManyChat offline, it is recommended to keep the account for 3–7 days to ensure that all user sessions have naturally transitioned to the new system before closing it completely.

FAQ

**Q: Will user data be lost when migrating from ManyChat to TG-Staff? ** Answer: It will not be lost. TG-Staff will automatically synchronize all users who have spoken to the Bot, eliminating the need for manual import. However, custom tags, notes and other data in ManyChat need to be exported in advance. After migration, they can be re-labeled in TG-Staff or user portraits can be updated in batches through the API.

**Q: After migration, do Bot’s /start command and welcome message need to be reset? ** Answer: Yes. Flow logic in ManyChat will not be automatically migrated to TG-Staff. It is recommended to use the visual process editor to rebuild the core command process (such as /start welcome message, menu navigation), and then switch after the test is correct.

**Q: Does TG-Staff support multiple agents handling sessions at the same time? How are sessions allocated? ** Answer: Supported. TG-Staff provides 3/5/20 agent quotas based on packages, supporting multiple agents to handle different sessions at the same time. Session allocation supports two modes: round-robin allocation (default) and online priority, which can be switched at any time in the project settings.

**Q: Will the messages sent by users be lost during the migration process? ** Answer: If the order of operations is correct (first unbind in ManyChat, then connect to Bot in TG-Staff), the message will not be lost. It is recommended to operate during off-peak hours and keep an observation window of 1–2 hours to ensure normal flow of all sessions.

**Q: Does TG-Staff have a free trial? Can I test before migrating? ** Answer: Yes. Sign up to enjoy a 3-day free trial with full functionality (Standard/Pro features depend on trial package). It is recommended to complete the migration test during the trial period and confirm that all processes are correct before officially switching.

Start building your Telegram customer service system

Migrating to TG-Staff is not just a tool switch, but also an opportunity to upgrade the customer service process from “marketing automation” to a “professional customer service system”. Through the 5 steps in this article, you can smoothly complete the transition from ManyChat to TG-Staff without worrying about data loss or user message confusion.

Sign up for a free trial now: https://app.tg-staff.com/ Check out the complete migration documentation: https://docs.tg-staff.com/ Having a problem? Contact customer service Bot: @tgstaff_robot