Telegram bot versus institutional chatbot for supporting part-time university students: a mixed-methods comparative study

This study compares a Telegram bot with an institutional chatbot as digital support channels for part-time university students. A mixed-methods design combined a controlled usability study (n = 120), institutional usage analytics, and focus-group interviews (n = 20) to examine adoption, usability, engagement, and satisfaction. Institutional analytics recorded 6,818 Telegram bot users (99.4%) compared with 43 institutional chatbot users (0.6%). In the controlled study, the Telegram bot achieved a higher System Usability Scale score (M = 82.4, SD = 8.6) than the institutional chatbot (M = 75.3, SD = 9.2), t(118) = 4.37, p < .001, and generated more weekly interactions (18.6 vs 11.2). Telegram also received higher ratings for accessibility, convenience, graphical interface, responsiveness, and time spent. Accessibility correlated strongly with overall satisfaction (r = .74, p < .001), while responsiveness correlated with perceived usefulness (r = .68, p < .001). The findings indicate that low-friction mobile access and platform familiarity are central to sustained use among time-constrained learners. At the same time, institutional chatbots retain strategic value through integration with academic data, personalisation, governance, and service orchestration. A hybrid architecture that combines messaging-platform accessibility with institutionally governed intelligence offers a practical pathway to scalable student support.