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.
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.
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.
Templates are approved as a fixed body with variable slots. Meta approves the wording, not the
values you fill in. Changing the wording means a new approval.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 