Plans: Social Essential, Social Pro, Social Business, Powerhouse Essential, Powerhouse Pro and Powerhouse Business. The Free and Calling plans answer your website and phone, not Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp.
Once Instagram is connected, your agent answers direct messages with the same prices, hours and knowledge it uses on the phone, and every message shows up in Conversations beside the client's calls.
- Make sure the Instagram account is a professional account (Business or Creator). Instagram does not allow messaging software on personal accounts.
- Sign in to Harkbell as an Owner or Admin. Only those two roles can connect integrations.
- Open Integrations in the sidebar, choose the Messaging tab and open Instagram.
- Press Connect Instagram. Instagram's own sign-in window opens; sign in to the account you want the agent to answer for and approve what it asks for.
- Back in Harkbell, the card shows your @username and the pill reads that the agent answers DMs. Send the account a test message from another profile and watch it arrive in Conversations.
- Check that your agent is published. A thread shows Agent not live yet until you publish, and until then nothing answers.
What the agent can and cannot do on Instagram
- It answers direct messages only. It does not reply to comments, post or follow.
- It replies within 24 hours of the client's last message. Instagram has no approved-wording templates, so after that the conversation waits for the client to write again.
- It never starts a conversation with someone who has not written to you first.
- Your team can step in at any time; see reply to messages yourself.
Replies typed in the Instagram app are not seen
If you answer a client from the Instagram app on your phone, Harkbell does not hear it, so the agent keeps answering and can talk over you. Reply from Conversations in Harkbell instead: sending a reply there pauses the agent for that client.
If the connection stops working
Instagram access expires from time to time. When it does, the card shows a warning and a Connect Instagram again button. Press it and sign in once more. Messages that arrive while the connection is down are kept, and you are notified once rather than once per message.
Do I need a Facebook Page to connect Instagram?
No. Instagram connects through its own sign-in and can be a different account from your Facebook Page. If your Instagram account is already linked to the Page you connected for Messenger, its DMs are answered through that Page instead, and you manage it from the Messenger card.
Why does the card say my plan does not include Instagram?
Answering Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp comes with the Social and Powerhouse plans. The card shows a See plans link to Settings › Billing; the pricing page lists the plans. A channel you already connected keeps its connection if you move to a smaller plan.
How do I disconnect Instagram?
Open the Instagram card and press Disconnect Instagram. Only an Owner sees that button; Admins can connect but not disconnect. Disconnecting deletes the access Harkbell held for the account.