DM DESK FAQ: how the AI front desk works

Retail and online stores, restaurants, and local service businesses like salons, barbers, auto shops and home services. For a Shopify store, it answers from your real products and current stock and sends the customer a filled cart on your own checkout. For restaurants, it builds the order and sends the customer to your own checkout or ordering page. For service businesses, it answers from your listed or starting at prices and collects requests for you to confirm.

You add your products or menu from your DM DESK dashboard, or with us on a free 30 minute setup call, and we review your setup before it answers anyone. For a Shopify store, it looks up your products and prices during the chat, read only. If you use Square, DM DESK can import your menu from it. Prices always come from your products or menu, never the AI.

Yes, for Shopify stores. It checks your current stock during the chat and never offers a sold out size or color. It tells the customer what is in stock instead.

It goes to you. For a Shopify store, DM DESK tells the customer your team will check and sends the chat to you. It does not ask for an order number, and it does not give order status or tracking. On website chat it can ask once for a name and a phone number or email. On Instagram it asks for nothing, and you reply in the same DM.

No. For salons, barbers, auto shops and home services, it collects the booking or quote request with the details the customer gives and sends it to you. You confirm the time and the price yourself. It answers from your listed or starting at prices and never gives a custom quote.

When a customer on your website chat leaves their name and a phone number or email, DM DESK saves it as a lead and alerts you by email and in the app, so you can follow up. Booking, quote and urgent requests from Instagram DMs reach you the same way, with the details the customer gives.

No. Payments stay on your own checkout. DM DESK never processes card payments. The money goes straight to you, and DM DESK takes no commission.

Prices always come from your products or menu, never the AI. It won't say an order is placed, promise a refund or give a discount on its own; those go to you. We check your setup with you before it goes live, and you can jump into any chat at any time.

No. Your data and your customers' messages are never used to train AI models.

It replies in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic or Tagalog, in whichever one your customer writes or speaks. You set up your details once, in your language.

Yes. Cancel from Billing any time. Your plan runs to the end of the period you've already paid for.

A free 30 minute video call. We import your products or menu from your website, a PDF or a photo, or connect your Shopify store. We connect your channels, set your rules and run a test order or cart together. Then we check everything with you before it answers customers.

No. Instagram DMs and website chat are both just DM DESK answering a direct message, wherever it lands. Connect whichever fits your business first, add the other one anytime.

Yes, on Pro with the second channel, Growth and Custom, when both Instagram and website chat are connected. When your agent sends a link to your website in a DM and the customer taps it, your website chat continues the same conversation, so they do not start over. It is not part of Starter.

Yes. Website chat opens by telling the customer they're chatting with your AI assistant, and on Instagram the first reply says it is an automated assistant. After that it writes in your tone, and anything it isn't sure about goes to your team.

It never guesses. It tells the customer your team will follow up and sends you the chat. On website chat it can ask once for a name and a phone number or email. On Instagram you reply in the same DM. It keeps answering other questions while the customer waits.

Instagram connects through Meta's own login and messaging tools for businesses, no password sharing, no scraping. The website widget is one snippet you add to your site, nothing to install and nothing that touches your checkout.

You can set it up yourself from your dashboard, or with us on one call. We review your setup before your agent answers customers.

Anytime. In your Inbox, Reply directly sends your message and pauses the AI on that chat. Reply, then resume AI and Answer to AI send your reply without pausing the AI. A reply typed straight on Instagram pauses the AI on that chat too.

Yes. Starter and Pro cover 1 location and Growth covers up to 3. The agent knows each location's hours and address and asks the customer which one they mean. More than 3? Talk to us.

Yes. On the website widget, they can tap the mic and say their order out loud. DM DESK transcribes it, writes back a plain text confirmation with real prices, and sends a link to finish on your own ordering page once they confirm.

Yes. For a Shopify store, it reads each product's sizes and colors from your store and never offers a sold out one. For a menu, you set up option groups on any item, like size or add-ons, each with its own price. The AI walks the customer through required choices before it adds the item to their order or cart.

On Starter, your website chat always shows a small "Powered by DM DESK" credit. On Pro and Growth it shows unless you turn it off on your Channels page. On Custom it is off unless you turn it on.