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Connect WhatsApp

Answer WhatsApp Business messages as tickets, with the 24 hour reply window and templates.

2 min read Beta

Available on Starter, Growth, Pro, Enterprise. Compare plans

This feature is still being built. Some steps or screens may change.

Customers write to your WhatsApp Business number and each conversation becomes a ticket. Agents reply from the ticket and the customer gets the answer in WhatsApp.

ChaosDesk uses the WhatsApp Business Cloud API from Meta. A one-click connect with Meta is being built. Today you connect a number by entering its details.

Before you start

You need, from your Meta developer app and WhatsApp Business account:

  • the phone number id of your WhatsApp number;
  • a permanent access token;
  • the app’s app secret;
  • a verify token: any random text you choose;
  • your WhatsApp Business account id (used to sync templates).

See Meta’s Cloud API get started guide.

Add the channel

  1. Open Admin Center, Channels, Messaging and choose Add channel.
  2. Pick WhatsApp Business (Cloud API) as the Provider.
  3. Enter a Name and, as Account id, the phone number id.
  4. Fill in the Credentials. They are write-only and stored encrypted.
  5. Save. ChaosDesk shows the channel’s Webhook URL.

Point Meta at ChaosDesk

In your Meta app, under WhatsApp configuration, set the callback URL to the Webhook URL and the verify token to the one you entered. Subscribe to the messages field.

Send a WhatsApp message to your number to test it: a ticket appears in your views.

The 24 hour window

WhatsApp only allows free-text replies for 24 hours after the customer’s last message. The ticket shows Reply window open until a time. After that, free-text replies are blocked and you send an approved template instead. See Send WhatsApp message templates.

WhatsApp message fees from Meta are charged separately.

Answer and end conversations

A new conversation shows Waiting for an agent. Choose Accept to take it, Transfer to move it to another group, or Conclude to end it. Concluding can send a satisfaction survey with Good and Bad buttons in the chat.

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