Spot an underused channel
Scan your Communications page and see at a glance which connected channels are actually getting traffic, so you know where to invest setup time or promotion.
Channel Usage Analytics
Every channel tile on your Communications page shows exactly how much it is being used: requests in the last 30 days, the all-time total, when it was last active, and a daily sparkline so you can see the pattern at a glance. No separate report to pull, no counter to trust: it is read straight from your message history every time the page loads.
Each channel card on the Communications page carries its own usage panel. It shows the number of inbound requests in the last 30 days, the all-time total for that channel, and, when there has been recent traffic, a small daily sparkline across the 30-day window.
The numbers are computed live from your conversation history each time the page loads, not from a separate counter that could drift out of sync. If a channel has had zero traffic, the panel shows a quiet-state visual instead of an empty chart.
The count is inbound requests only: messages that arrived on that channel from a customer or teammate. Your employee's replies on that same channel are not added to the total, so the number tells you how much demand the channel is receiving, not how much conversation happened on it. Opening a channel's detail drawer shows the same all-time total alongside a plain last-seen line, for example '128 total requests, last seen 2 hours ago'.
This turns the Communications page into more than an on/off switch list: you can see which channels your team and customers actually use, and how that usage moves day to day.
Alongside the per-channel figures, the page carries a workspace-wide total: how many requests arrived across every channel in the last 30 days, and how many have arrived in total since you started. That is the number that answers how busy the whole operation is, rather than how busy one door into it is, and it is built from the same message history as everything else on the page.
There is nothing to switch on and nothing to maintain. No tracking script, no third-party analytics account, no setup step you can forget: the moment a channel receives its first message, its card starts showing usage. Opening the page costs no credits and triggers no employee work, so you can check it as often as you like.
The shape of the daily line usually says more than the total does. A steady line means a channel people rely on. A line that spikes on the days you send something means a channel that responds to your marketing rather than one customers reach for unprompted. A line that was busy and has been flat for a week is the one worth opening today, because a quiet channel is either a channel nobody needs or a channel that quietly broke, and those two look identical until you check.
What you see on each channel card
The request count for the last 30 days sits front and center on the card, labeled 'requests, last 30 days'. Below it, a sparkline traces daily volume across that window so spikes and quiet stretches are visible without opening a report.
Hovering the card also shows when the channel was last active, phrased in plain terms like 'Active 2 hours ago', so you know at a glance which channels are currently in use versus dormant.
Why this matters for running your team
If you connected five channels but only two ever get traffic, this tells you where to focus: maybe WhatsApp needs to be promoted to customers, or Slack was never actually adopted by your team.
It also helps you catch problems early. A channel that used to have daily traffic and suddenly goes quiet is a signal worth checking, well before a customer tells you they could not reach you.
How the numbers are built, and their edges
The 30-day sparkline is always exactly 30 bars, oldest to newest. A channel you connected 5 days ago still shows a full 30-bar chart; the first 25 bars sit at zero rather than the chart shrinking or reflowing, so the layout never jumps as history builds up.
A channel with no messages at all does not get a usage row: its card simply shows the quiet-state visual and, depending on its setup state, a prompt like 'Turn this channel on' or 'Finish setup to start receiving traffic' instead of a request count.
How It Works
Computed live from your message history, not a cached counter
Sistava counts every inbound message a channel has received, grouped by channel and by day. From that it derives three numbers per channel: total requests in the last 30 days, total requests all-time, and the timestamp of the most recent message.
The daily counts over the last 30 days are laid out on a fixed calendar axis, oldest to newest, so the sparkline always has the same shape whether a channel is busy every day or only had one message last week.
Because this is computed directly from your message history at read time, there is nothing to keep in sync. The number on screen always matches what actually happened on that channel.
Use Cases
Notice a channel going quiet
A channel that historically had daily activity but shows a flat sparkline this week is a signal to check the connection before a customer reports being unable to reach you.
Confirm a new channel is working
After connecting a new channel like Telegram or SMS, watch the 30-day count and sparkline to confirm requests are actually coming through, not just that the toggle is on.
Decide whether a channel is worth keeping
Every connected channel is one more place to keep an eye on. When a channel shows almost no inbound traffic month after month, the all-time total makes that plain, and you can retire it and put the attention somewhere that actually gets used.
Comparison
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| You know which channels are switched on, not which ones anybody actually uses. | Every channel card shows requests in the last 30 days, an all-time total, and a daily chart. |
| You find out a channel stopped working when a customer says they could not reach you. | A channel that used to be busy going flat shows up on the page before anyone has to tell you. |
| Usage numbers come from a report that is already out of date when you open it. | Numbers are read from your message history on every page load, so they cannot drift out of step. |
| Reply volume inflates the totals and hides how much demand actually arrived. | Only inbound messages are counted, so the number is real demand, not conversation length. |
FAQ
Does this usage data cost extra or use credits?
No. It is a read of your existing message history, not a new feature that runs on its own; viewing the Communications page does not consume credits.
How far back does the usage data go?
The sparkline and the 'last 30 days' count cover a rolling 30-day window. The all-time total and last-used timestamp cover your channel's entire history, not just the last 30 days.
What happens if a channel has never received a message?
Its card shows a quiet-activity state instead of a sparkline, along with the standard status for that channel (for example, off or awaiting setup), so you can tell an unused channel apart from one that is just quiet right now.
Does the request count include my employee's replies?
No. Only inbound messages, the ones sent to your employee on that channel, are counted. Outbound replies are not added, so the number reflects how much a channel is actually being used to reach your team, not the full back-and-forth of every conversation.
Can I export this usage data?
The usage panel is built for at-a-glance monitoring directly on the Communications page. It is not currently a downloadable report.
Can I see how many requests came in across all channels at once?
Yes. Alongside the per-channel figures, the Communications page carries a workspace-wide total: every request received across every channel in the last 30 days, and the all-time total since you started. It answers how busy the whole operation is rather than one channel.
How up to date are the channel usage numbers?
They are calculated the moment the page loads, straight from your message history, so a message that arrived a second ago is already in the count. There is no cache to refresh, no nightly job, and nothing that can drift out of step with reality.
Why does a channel I just connected show a full 30 day chart?
The chart is always exactly 30 days wide so the page never reflows as history builds up. A channel connected five days ago shows five bars of real activity and twenty-five days sitting at zero before them, rather than a short chart that changes shape every day.
Where Channel Usage Analytics fits
Channel Usage Analytics is part of Ways you talk to them.
Chat in the app with live reasoning, speak to your AI voice agent over a call, message on Slack or WhatsApp, send an email, or embed a widget on your website. Every channel connects to the same AI agent with the same memory and capabilities. Switch channels mid-conversation and your employee picks up right where you left off.
- Ways you talk to them: Every channel. One conversation.
Read the guide
More in Channels
- Web Chat: Chat with any AI employee directly in the workspace, with a streaming reply, a live execution timeline showing what it is reading, thinking, and doing, and inline approve/reject buttons when it needs a sensitive action confirmed. It is the default channel: nothing to configure, works on desktop or mobile, and every conversation persists so you can pick it back up later.
- Voice Calls: Voice Calls is a planned channel for speaking to an AI employee out loud and hearing it reply in real time, instead of typing. It is not available yet: there is no voice button in the workspace today, and the feature is paused while the underlying voice flow is redesigned. When it ships, a voice call will run through the same skills, tools, and memory as a typed conversation.
- Connect an Email Provider: Point your own SendGrid, Mailgun, or Postmark inbound-parse webhook at a tenant-scoped endpoint and every email that lands there gets turned into work for an employee. Forward support requests, sales inquiries, or internal approval emails and the employee reads the sender, subject, and body, then acts on it in the background. You get a 202 response immediately; there's no waiting on the request.
- Personal Mailbox: Every employee gets its own email address on the shared Sistava domain the moment you hire it, no setup. Email it directly, CC it on a thread with other people, or forward something over, and it reads and replies within seconds. Free to send from, with a monthly cap by plan. Control the shared employee signature in Company Profile, or connect your own Gmail or Outlook when you want it sending as you, with no cap.
- Send from Gmail or Outlook: The built-in employee address is free and always on, but it sends as the employee, not as you. Connect your own Gmail or Outlook instead and an employee sends and replies from your real address, in your name, with no monthly sending cap on any plan.
- Talk to Your Employee on Video: In-App Video is a planned channel for live, face to face video calls with an AI employee, camera and microphone, directly inside the workspace. It has no working implementation today: it appears in Settings > Technical > Channels as a Coming soon placeholder only. Once it ships, it is meant to run on the same execution pipeline as every other channel, so the employee keeps its skills, tools, training, and conversation memory on a video call. If you need an employee in a live call today, it can already join a Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams meeting as a participant, which is a different capability and available now.
- Chat Widget: The Chat Widget will let you embed an AI employee directly on your public website so visitors can ask questions and get answers without leaving the page. It is on the roadmap and is not available to configure yet: today it appears in Settings > Technical > Channels as a Coming soon placeholder with no setup, embed snippet, or Manage action.
- SMS: SMS is a planned channel for reaching an AI employee by ordinary text message, with no app to install. It is on the roadmap and not available today: there is no SMS number, no inbound texting, and no way to turn it on yet. Until it ships, use web chat or Telegram for mobile access from any phone.
- WhatsApp: WhatsApp is a planned messaging channel for talking with an AI employee from your phone. It is not connected yet: the card shows as coming soon and cannot be set up today. When it ships, it will carry the same employee memory, skills, and guardrails as web chat, Telegram, Slack, and the mailbox. Telegram and Slack are live now and give you the same access from a phone, so nothing you set up today has to be rebuilt when WhatsApp arrives.
- Discord: Discord is a planned channel for bringing an AI employee into the servers and direct messages your community already uses. It will connect the same way Slack does today: authorize a bot through OAuth, then map it to one employee. It is not available to connect yet, so no Discord traffic reaches an employee until it ships. Slack, Telegram, each employee's own email address, and web chat cover the same job in the meantime.
- Calendar Invites: Add your employee's personal address as a guest on any Google, Outlook, or Apple calendar event and they show up for the meeting automatically, no RSVP or extra app on your side. Once the meeting starts, the employee joins the Meet, Zoom, or Teams call, listens, speaks when addressed, and writes a summary afterward. There is nothing to switch on for the invite itself, just turn on the Meeting Attender tool for that employee once.
- Slack Channel: Bring your AI employee into Slack as a real bot user your team can mention, DM, or trigger with a slash command. Every reply lands in the same thread, and memory, tasks, skills, and tools stay shared with web chat, so a conversation started on Slack continues anywhere else. You approve or reject requests right from Slack, and the bot only speaks when mentioned, DM'd, or already in a thread.