Chatbot builder
Admissions chatbot for WhatsApp, Messenger and your website
Design the conversation once in a visual flow builder: program menus, questions, conditions and a handoff to a counselor. Check the flow and test it in the preview, then it answers with the wording your admissions office approved, on WhatsApp, Messenger and website chat.
- Check flow on the Admissions bot: Looks good, no issues
- Preview runs the real flow, nothing is sent
- Start the preview: the welcome and the main menu
- Pick Talk to a counselor in the preview
- Hand to counselor ends the bot and hands the chat over
Six step types, from program menu to counselor handoff.
Every flow uses the same six steps, so a program director or the international office can read one on the canvas and see exactly what an applicant will receive. Answers on deadlines and requirements stay consistent at a single college or across multi-campus universities.
Send message
A welcome, an answer or a link, in the wording your team approved.
Ask with options
A menu such as programs, visits, fees or talk to a counselor, sent as a tappable list.
Ask for text
Ask for a name, email, phone or number, with validation and retries, and save the answer for later steps.
Condition
Branch on an answer the student gave earlier in the chat.
Hand to counselor
End the bot session and hand the chat to your team, with its history.
End chat
Close the flow politely when the student has what they need.
Flow-based, on purpose
Every reply is a message your admissions office wrote.
When an applicant asks about entry requirements, a deadline or tuition, a confident wrong answer does real damage. The chatbot in higheredcrm.ai follows the paths you draw and sends only the text you entered. AI sits on the staff side, in the AI Assistant.
Open-ended generative chatbots
- Answers are composed on the fly and can vary
- Can state things your institution never approved
- Hard to review every possible reply before launch
- Harder to take through compliance or IT review
A flow-based chatbot you design
- Every message is written and approved by your team
- The same question gets the same answer
- Every path can be tested in the simulator first
- A handoff step that passes the chat to a person
One flow, three channels
Meet applicants on WhatsApp, Messenger and your admissions pages.
- WhatsApp option lists
- Facebook Messenger
- Website chat widget
- One builder and simulator for all three
Hand off to counselors and start bots from workflows.
A handoff step passes WhatsApp and Messenger chats to your counselors, and a workflow action can start a flow when an inquiry arrives or an applicant changes stage.
Human handoff
Handover without making the student repeat themselves.
- Bot messages labeled in the thread
- Full history kept for the counselor
- Website chat transcripts saved to the lead's communication log
Run from workflows
Start the right chatbot at the right moment.
- Run chatbot as a workflow action
- Triggers such as lead created or stage changed
- Save the chatbot's answers to lead fields
From a blank canvas to a live chatbot.
- 1
Collect the questions
Gather what your undergraduate, graduate and international offices answer most, and agree on the approved wording.
- 2
Build the flow
Add messages, option menus, questions and conditions, and decide where a counselor takes over.
- 3
Test in the simulator
Click through every option and answer in the preview. Nothing reaches a student.
- 4
Publish and revise
Publish to the channels you use, then update answers as deadlines and requirements change through the cycle.
Where chatbot conversations go next.
- Manage & counsel
Conversations inbox
Two-way WhatsApp and Messenger, email and SMS history
Explore Conversations inbox - Attract & capture
Lead capture
Forms, website chat, WhatsApp, Messenger and API
Explore Lead capture - Apply, enroll & measure
Workflow automation
Triggers, conditions and actions in a visual builder
Explore Workflow automation
FAQ
Admissions chatbot questions
Can the chatbot work as a program finder for prospective students?
Yes. An ask-with-options step sends a menu such as undergraduate, graduate or online study, and condition steps branch on the choice, so a prospective student can narrow down to a school or department and receive the program overview and next steps your admissions office wrote. Each menu and answer is a step your team can read on the canvas.
Does the higheredcrm.ai chatbot use generative AI?
No. It is flow-based: it sends only the messages your staff wrote, along the paths you drew. Answers about entry requirements, application deadlines and tuition stay exactly as approved, and a reviewer can read every possible reply before launch. The separate AI Assistant, built on Anthropic's Claude, works for staff inside the CRM and never messages students.
Can the bot answer questions about entry requirements and application deadlines?
Yes, with the answers you write. A common setup is one menu per level of study (first-year, transfer, graduate) that leads to the entry requirements, required documents and deadlines for each. Conditions test only the answers given in the chat, so the bot doesn't look up an applicant's record; questions about an individual application go to a counselor.
How do international applicants reach the chatbot?
Through your university's WhatsApp number, and through Facebook Messenger and the chat widget on your admissions pages. A published flow replies as soon as it's triggered, including outside office hours, which helps applicants writing from other time zones, and a first message from a new number creates an inquiry. All three channels use the same builder and simulator.
What happens when an applicant asks for a counselor?
The hand-to-counselor step ends the bot session and hands the chat over. On WhatsApp and Messenger the thread stays in the conversations inbox with the bot's messages and the applicant's answers, and a counselor replies there. The step doesn't notify a counselor. To alert one, add a notification workflow on “WhatsApp message received”, or work these chats from the inbox's unread and team filters. Website chat isn't in the inbox: its transcripts are saved to the lead's communication log.
Can the admissions office or IT review a flow before it goes live?
Yes. Save the flow as a draft, run it in the simulator next to the canvas and click through every option without messaging a student, then publish when it's approved. Flows are versioned.
Can a chatbot start when an applicant reaches a certain stage?
Yes. Run chatbot is a workflow action, so a workflow triggered by a new inquiry, a stage change or an application stage change can start a flow, such as a document checklist for students who have just applied. A workflow can also take the chatbot's result and save answers, such as the program of interest, to lead fields.
Admissions terms on this page
- ChatbotA higher education chatbot is a scripted conversation on an admissions website, WhatsApp or Messenger that answers routine questions and collects details.
- WhatsApp Business PlatformThe WhatsApp Business Platform is Meta's API for organizations, so a university can message applicants from shared software using approved templates.
- Speed-to-leadSpeed-to-lead is how long a new university inquiry waits for its first useful reply, measured from the form, message or missed call to a counselor's answer.
- InquiryAn inquiry is a prospective student who has contacted a university or asked for information, becoming a named record an admissions counselor can follow up.
See an admissions chatbot built on your programs.
Bring the questions your office answers most. We'll draft a program finder with you, run it in the simulator from a first WhatsApp message to the counselor handoff, and add the workflow that alerts the counselor.