Why Is a Channel Greyed Out?

Summary

Overview: On Settings › Channels, each channel has a tile with a status, and clicking the tile opens that channel's card. A card can be faded, show a lock icon, or have a button you can't click. The tile's status and a short line on the card say why. This guide lists those messages and how to unlock the channel.

Prerequisites:

• You are the Admin (only the Admin sees Settings).

Frequently Asked Questions

What do the statuses on the channel tiles mean?

Each tile on Settings › Channels (Email, SMS, WhatsApp, AI voice, Facebook, Messenger, Web chat, Web forms) shows one status:

• Connected: the channel is set up. On Web chat, it means the chat is switched on (the card itself says Live).
• Not connected: the channel isn't set up yet.
• Reconnect needed (Email only): Google or Zoho stopped accepting your email connection.
• Set up lead scoring first: add a lead scoring attribute before you can connect this channel (see the next questions).
• Needs SMS (AI voice only): connect SMS first.
• Growth plan or Scale plan: your plan doesn't include this channel.
• Inactive: your subscription is inactive, so plan channels are locked. Hover over it to see Your subscription is inactive. Reactivate it under Settings > Billing.
• Active (Web forms only): web forms are always on.
• Couldn't check or Checking…: Pippify couldn't load, or is still loading, the channel's status.

Fix: Click the tile to open its card and follow the line on the card. If a tile shows Couldn't check, refresh the page.

SMS or WhatsApp says "Add at least one Lead Scoring attribute in AI Studio before connecting an SMS channel." (or "...a WhatsApp channel.")

Pippin needs at least one lead scoring attribute before you connect most channels, so it can score the leads they bring in.

Fix: Click Lead Scoring attribute, or go to Settings › AI Studio › Attributes, and add at least one attribute. Then come back to Settings › Channels. See How to Set Up Lead Scoring.

Facebook or Messenger says "Configure Lead Scoring first before connecting a channel." and Connect Facebook doesn't work

Same reason: no lead scoring attribute yet.

Fix: Add an attribute under Settings › AI Studio › Attributes. See How to Set Up Lead Scoring.

The Web chat switch is off and says "Configure Lead Scoring first before switching on a channel."

Same reason: no lead scoring attribute yet.

Fix: Add an attribute under Settings › AI Studio › Attributes, then turn on the switch. See How to Add Pippin Web Chat to Your Website.

The SMS or WhatsApp form is faded and says "SMS is available on the Growth plan and up. Upgrade" (or "WhatsApp is available on the Growth plan and up.")

Your plan does not include that channel.

Fix: Click Upgrade and move to the Growth plan or higher under Settings › Billing. SMS and WhatsApp also need your own Twilio account. See How to Subscribe or Change Your Plan and How to Connect SMS With Your Twilio Account.

The AI voice card is faded and says "AI voice is available on the Scale plan and up. Upgrade"

AI voice answering comes with the Scale plan.

Fix: Move to the Scale plan under Settings › Billing. See How to Turn On AI Voice Answering.

The AI voice card says "Connect an SMS number first — voice answering uses your connected Twilio number."

AI voice answers calls to your connected SMS number, so SMS must be connected first.

Fix: Click the SMS tile and connect SMS, then click the AI voice tile and click Enable Voice Answering. See How to Connect SMS With Your Twilio Account.

A connected channel says "Pippin's SMS replies are paused on your current plan. Your number stays connected." (or the WhatsApp version)

Your plan changed and no longer includes the channel. Nothing was disconnected: messages still arrive and create leads, and your team can still reply by hand. Only Pippin's replies stop.

Fix: Click Upgrade. Pippin starts replying again once your plan includes the channel. See Why a Feature Is Locked and What Read-Only Means.

The AI voice card says "Inbound calls are declined on your current plan. Your voice settings stay saved."

Your plan no longer includes AI voice. Calls are declined, but your settings are kept.

Fix: Move to the Scale plan under Settings › Billing.

Every locked card says "Your subscription is inactive. Reactivate it under Settings > Billing."

The workspace is read-only, so every plan feature is locked.

Fix: Reactivate the subscription under Settings › Billing. See Why a Feature Is Locked and What Read-Only Means.

The Messenger card says "Your Facebook connection doesn’t include Messenger permission." or a Page says "Reconnect Facebook to enable Messenger for this Page"

Facebook was connected without permission to send messages, so the Page's Messenger switch is greyed out.

Fix: Click Reconnect Facebook to enable Messenger and approve messaging access in Facebook. See How to Let Pippin Reply to Messenger Messages.

I can't find Settings › Channels at all

Only the Admin sees Settings.

Fix: Ask your Admin. See Why Can't I See Settings, Reports or Quotes?

Next Steps & Related Resources

• Next steps:
  • How to Set Up Lead Scoring
  • How to Subscribe or Change Your Plan
• Related articles:
  • Why a Feature Is Locked and What Read-Only Means
  • What Plans Pippify Offers and What an Outcome Is
  • How to Connect SMS With Your Twilio Account
  • How to Connect WhatsApp With Twilio

Need more help? For more information and assistance, please send an email to support@pippify.ai.

Last Updated: 10/15/2026