How to Switch from OnlyTG Echo to TG-Staff: A Step-by-Step Migration Playbook for Live Agent Teams

If your Telegram-based customer support has outgrown automated replies, you’ve likely hit the ceiling of OnlyTG Echo. Echo excels at rule-based auto-responses, but it lacks one critical feature: live human agents. When your team needs to handle complex inquiries, escalate conversations, or manage multiple support staff, it’s time to switch from OnlyTG Echo to TG-Staff.

This playbook walks you through every step of the migration—from preparing your existing setup to activating live chat, routing sessions, and enabling advanced features like content moderation and auto-translation. No data loss, no downtime, and no guesswork.

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Why Move from OnlyTG Echo to TG-Staff?

OnlyTG Echo is a solid tool for automated bot replies. But if you’re running a Telegram shop, a crypto project, or a cross-border service with 3–5 agents handling inquiries 24/7, Echo’s limitations become clear:

• No human handoff: Echo cannot transfer a conversation to a live agent. Every user gets the same automated flow, even when they need personal assistance.
• No multi-agent support: You can’t assign different team members to different conversations. Everyone sees the same bot dashboard.
• No session routing: When multiple users message simultaneously, Echo queues them—no distribution to available agents.
• No advanced features: No auto-translation, no content moderation, no wallet address monitoring.

TG-Staff fills these gaps by adding live chat seats, conversation routing, agent dashboards, and a full suite of B2B SaaS features. It’s designed for teams that need to switch from OnlyTG Echo to TG-Staff without rebuilding their bot from scratch.

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Pre-Migration Checklist: What to Prepare Before You Switch

Before touching any configuration, audit your current Echo setup. A clean cutover minimizes customer friction.

1. Document your Echo commands and auto-replies — export or screenshot your current bot flows. You’ll recreate them in TG-Staff’s Visual Command Flow editor.
2. Identify active conversations — note which chats are still in progress. TG-Staff cannot import ongoing Echo conversations, so finish them in Echo first.
3. Inform your customers — send a broadcast via Echo (if possible) or a pinned message: “We’re upgrading our support system. Please message us again if you have an open issue.”
4. Prepare your Bot Token — open BotFather on Telegram, select your bot, and copy the token. You’ll need it for TG-Staff setup.

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Step 1 – Set Up Your Bot in TG-Staff

The technical onboarding takes under 5 minutes.

1. Create a TG-Staff account at app.tg-staff.com. You get a free 3-day trial with full Standard plan features.
2. Navigate to “Projects” → click “Add Project”.
3. Paste your Bot Token from BotFather. TG-Staff will verify the connection and pull your bot’s basic info.
4. Configure basic settings — edit your bot’s name, description, and avatar directly in the control panel. No need to visit BotFather again.
5. Verify the connection — send /start to your bot in Telegram. It should respond with TG-Staff’s default welcome message (you’ll customize this in the next step).

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Step 2 – Migrate Your Auto-Reply Logic to Visual Flows

Echo’s rule-based auto-replies are functional but rigid. TG-Staff replaces them with a drag-and-drop Visual Command Flow editor. You can recreate common workflows without writing a single line of code.

1. Open “Command Flows” → click “Create Flow”.
2. Build a welcome menu — add a Text node with your greeting, then attach Button options (e.g., “Talk to Agent”, “Check Order”, “View Products”).
3. Add an “Escalate to Agent” node — this triggers a live chat assignment. When a user clicks this button, TG-Staff routes them to an available agent.
4. Test the flow — send messages to your bot in Telegram and confirm each path works.

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Step 3 – Activate Live Chat and Assign Agents

This is the core differentiator from Echo. Your bot can now transfer conversations to real humans.

1. Go to “Staff Management” → click “Add Staff”. Enter the agent’s name and email. TG-Staff sends them a login link.
2. Set permissions per agent — choose from “View Only”, “Reply”, or “Full Access” (including session transfer).
3. Configure Conversation Routing — navigate to Project Settings → Routing. Choose between:
   • Round Robin (default): distributes new conversations evenly among all online agents.
   • Online First: assigns to the agent who has been idle the longest. Falls back to Round Robin if all agents are offline.
4. Test a live chat — send a message from a test Telegram account. It should appear in the agent dashboard at app.tg-staff.com.

How to Handle High Volume with Session Routing

When multiple users click an ad link simultaneously, TG-Staff’s Diversion Link + routing combination distributes them evenly among online agents. This prevents overload on a single support staff member.

Adding Agents and Setting Project Scope

If you manage multiple bots, restrict agents to specific projects:

• Go to “Project Staff” → deselect “All Staff” → choose only the agents who should handle this bot.
• This is useful for separating support teams (e.g., “Sales” agents only see the sales bot, “Support” agents only see the support bot).

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Step 4 – Migrate Batch Messaging and User Segmentation

If you used Echo for bulk announcements (e.g., product launches, maintenance alerts), TG-Staff’s Batch Broadcast gives you more control.

1. Go to “Broadcast” → click “Create Campaign”.
2. Filter recipients — by tags, activity, custom fields (Pro plan), or all users.
3. Compose your message — text, buttons, images, or file attachments.
4. Schedule or send immediately — review the send logs to track delivery and opens.

Compared to Echo’s limited broadcast capabilities, TG-Staff allows segmentation, scheduling, and delivery analytics.

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Step 5 – Enable Optional Advanced Features for Your Team

These features are what make the switch from OnlyTG Echo to TG-Staff truly worthwhile for growing teams.

Auto-Translation

• Standard plan: AI translation with daily quota.
• Pro plan: Google Professional Translation and DeepL Professional Translation with higher quotas.
• Enable it in Project Settings → Translation. Your agents can send/receive messages in their preferred language, and the bot auto-translates for the other party.

Content Moderation (Pro)

Prevent agents from sending inappropriate messages:

1. Go to “Content Moderation” → “Risk Word Groups”.
2. Create groups (e.g., “Blocked URLs”, “Profanity”, “Competitor Names”).
3. Attach the group to a project.
4. When an agent types a blocked word, a pop-up warns them. Configure it to block sending entirely if needed.

Wallet Address Monitoring (Pro)

Essential for Web3, crypto, NFT, and exchange teams:

• In a risk word group, add wallet addresses (TRC20, ERC20, BTC) or address fragments.
• TG-Staff monitors outbound agent messages for these patterns. If an agent accidentally types a scam address, the system blocks it and logs the incident.
• Audit logs show which agent, which session, and which risk word triggered the block.

Chat Background

• Standard plan: solid color background for the agent chat view.
• Pro plan: Telegram-themed chat background (light/dark mode) for a more familiar interface.

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Post-Migration Verification and Rollback Plan

After completing all steps, verify everything works from end to end.

Verification Checklist

• All command flows work from a customer’s Telegram app.
• Agent login works for all staff members.
• Session transfer between agents works (Pro plan).
• Private notes (Pro plan) are visible only to the assigned agent.
• Broadcast messages deliver to the correct user segments.
• Auto-translation converts messages correctly.
• Content moderation blocks or warns on risk words.
• Wallet address monitoring logs a test trigger.

Rollback Plan

If critical issues arise within the first 48 hours:

1. Reactivate OnlyTG Echo temporarily by re-entering your Bot Token into Echo’s dashboard.
2. Keep TG-Staff running in parallel — both systems can coexist. TG-Staff will handle new conversations, while Echo handles any leftover automated flows.
3. Monitor for 24 hours, then disable Echo once TG-Staff is stable.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Will my existing OnlyTG Echo bot stop working immediately after I set up TG-Staff?

A: No. You can run both bots in parallel. TG-Staff uses the same Bot Token; once you add it to TG-Staff, your bot will respond to both systems. We recommend disabling Echo’s auto-reply after confirming TG-Staff works correctly.

Q: Can I keep my existing bot commands and auto-replies from Echo?

A: You need to recreate them in TG-Staff’s Visual Command Flow editor. However, you can export your Echo command list as a reference and rebuild it faster with the drag-and-drop interface.

Q: Does TG-Staff support multiple agents handling the same bot?

A: Yes. TG-Staff is designed for multi-agent teams. Standard plan supports 3 seats, Pro supports 20 seats. Each agent gets an independent login and can handle multiple conversations simultaneously.

Q: How do I handle conversations that were already in progress in Echo?

A: TG-Staff cannot import ongoing Echo conversations. You should finish active chats in Echo, then inform customers to reach out again via the same bot. After migration, all new messages will be handled by TG-Staff.

Q: Is there a free trial for TG-Staff?

A: Yes. TG-Staff offers a 3-day free trial with full Standard plan features. You can test live chat, session routing, and visual flows before committing. No credit card required.

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Ready to Upgrade Your Telegram Support?

Switching from OnlyTG Echo to TG-Staff unlocks live agents, session routing, content moderation, auto-translation, and wallet address monitoring—all from a single web dashboard. Your team can handle more conversations, reduce response times, and maintain compliance without switching tools.

Start your free 3-day trial at app.tg-staff.com. For migration help, contact @tgstaff_robot or read the full documentation.