WhatsApp

Your WhatsApp Business number connects directly to Meta. Inbound messages reach the agent, replies go back on the same thread, and the whole conversation appears in your inbox.

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Connecting

Connection happens under Settings, then Channels. You need a WhatsApp Business Account and a phone number that is not already registered to the consumer WhatsApp app. The console shows a checklist rather than a single connect button, because Meta’s approval steps run on their own clock. It tells you which step you are waiting on.

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The 24-hour session window

This is the single most important rule on WhatsApp, and it is Meta’s, not ours.

• When a customer messages you, a 24-hour window opens.
• Inside the window you can send whatever you like, as much as you like, at no per-message cost beyond the conversation charge.
• Outside the window you may only send a template that Meta has approved in advance.

The agent handles this for you. Replies inside the window are ordinary messages. Anything the platform needs to send outside the window (an appointment reminder, a re-engagement nudge) goes through a registered template, and if no suitable approved template exists the send is skipped rather than attempted and failed.

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Template health

Approved templates can be paused or downgraded by Meta later, usually because recipients marked messages as spam. A paused template is a silent failure if nobody is watching, so the platform consumes Meta’s template status and quality updates and raises an alert when a template you depend on changes state.

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What the agent can do

Everything the chat agent does elsewhere: answer from your knowledge, qualify, check availability, book, write to your CRM, and hand off to a human. Rich message types are supported where they help, including quick-reply buttons on the operator alerting path.

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Media

Inbound images and documents are accepted and attached to the conversation. The agent reasons over text; media is preserved for the human who picks the thread up.

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Group chats

The official WhatsApp Business API cannot post into group chats. Alerts to your staff on WhatsApp go one-to-one to a linked staff number. If you want a shared group surface for your team, use Telegram.

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Staff on WhatsApp

Separately from your customer channel, your own team can link their WhatsApp numbers to receive escalations and reply to customers without opening the dashboard. That is a different surface with its own rules. See WhatsApp for teams.

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Costs

Meta bills per conversation, not per message, and the rate depends on the category (service, utility, marketing, authentication). Staying inside the session window is the difference between one conversation charge and many. The platform records which mode each send used so your usage is attributable.