> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://wiredesk.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Wording per channel

> Give website chat, phone or email its own instructions when one channel needs to behave differently from the others.

By default, your agent follows the same [instructions](/docs/persona/instructions) on every channel. **Wording per channel** lets one channel stop following them and use its own instead. Use it for rules that only make sense in one place: "on the phone, always offer to book a callback", or "by email, include a link to the returns form".

Most agents don't need this. WireDesk already adjusts how the agent writes for each channel: short and spoken on the phone, brief with simple formatting in chat, a complete plain-text reply by email. Only use a channel's own wording when you want it to say or do something different, not just sound different.

## Where it is

Each channel has its own **Instructions** card at the bottom of its page:

* **Agents → your agent → Channels → Website chat**
* **Agents → your agent → Channels → Phone**
* **Agents → your agent → Channels → Email**

Use the tabs at the top of any channel page to switch between the three. You can set the wording even while a channel is switched off. It's kept until you switch the channel on.

## Give a channel its own instructions

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the channel">
    Go to **Channels** and open the channel you want to change.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Turn off syncing">
    In the **Instructions** card, turn off **Sync with the agent's instructions**. The box fills with the agent's current instructions, so you start from what the channel says today.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Edit">
    Change the text for this channel. Up to 4,000 characters.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save**. You'll see "Phone instructions saved." (or Chat, or Email). New conversations on that channel use the new text straight away.
  </Step>
</Steps>

You need the Owner or Admin role. You can't save an empty box while syncing is off. You'll see "write what this channel should say, or leave it synced with the agent".

## How it works

* **It replaces, it doesn't add.** A channel with its own wording uses that text *instead of* the agent's instructions, not on top of them. Include everything the channel needs, not just the difference. That's why the box starts with a copy of the agent's instructions.
* **Edits under How it talks no longer reach it.** While syncing is off, changing the agent's instructions has no effect on this channel. The card reminds you: "Changes under How it talks no longer reach it." Keep this in mind when you update a house rule later.
* **Everything else still applies.** The channel's own wording only replaces your instructions. The agent's name, WireDesk's honesty and style rules, knowledge search, notes and actions work exactly as before. As the card puts it: "Everything else — how honest it is, how it handles what it doesn't know, its tools — is unchanged."
* **Phone wording applies to browser test calls too.** A voice test in the **Playground** uses the phone channel's instructions, because it behaves like a phone call.

## Go back to the agent's instructions

Turn **Sync with the agent's instructions** back on and click **Save**. You'll see "Phone follows the agent again." (or Chat, or Email).

<Warning>
  Syncing again discards the channel's own text. If you might want it back, copy it somewhere first.
</Warning>

While a channel is synced, the card shows the text it's using under **What it's saying now, from the agent**.

## Use a setting instead, where there is one

Much of what makes a channel different is a setting, not a sentence. An instruction can't do what these do:

| You want                                 | Use                                                                         |
| ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| One-tap questions in the chat widget     | **Suggested questions** on the **Content** tab of the **Playground**        |
| A different first message in chat        | **Opening message** on the **Content** tab of the **Playground**            |
| A different voice on calls               | **Voice** under **Channels → Phone**                                        |
| To tell callers they're talking to an AI | The [AI & recording notice](/docs/channels/ai-notice) under **Channels → Phone** |
| A different sender name on email         | **Sender name** under **Channels → Email**                                  |
| Transfers or a person joining the chat   | [Actions](/docs/actions/overview)                                                |

## Examples

Good uses:

* **Phone:** "If the caller wants an appointment, offer to take their name and number for a callback. Don't read out long lists of services. Name the two most popular and ask which one they're interested in."
* **Email:** "Answer every question in the email. If they ask about a return, include the returns address in full."
* **Chat:** "Visitors are often comparing us with other providers. Keep answers short and suggest they ask about pricing for their team size."

Not worth an override:

* "On the phone, don't use bullet points." WireDesk already does this.
* A price that differs by channel. Facts belong in [knowledge](/docs/knowledge/overview), and a fact that only lives in one channel's wording is easy to forget when it changes.

## Related

* [Writing instructions](/docs/persona/instructions)
* [Channels](/docs/concepts/channels)
* [Fix a wrong answer](/docs/knowledge/fix-a-wrong-answer)
* [Where settings live](/docs/reference/where-settings-live)