With no arguments, the channel command displays the current console channel number.
When passed an argument of 0 upward, this command switches the console channel to that channel number. The mapping between channel numbers and physical channels is platform specific but will typically be something like channel 0 is the first serial port, channel 1 is the second, etc.
When passed an argument of -1, this command reverts RedBoot to responding to whatever channel receives input first, as happens when RedBoot initially starts execution.