Channels
Connect WhatsApp
Sign in with Facebook, choose your WhatsApp Business number, and your agent answers the customers who message it.
Connect a WhatsApp Business number and your agent answers the customers who message it. You sign in with Facebook, choose the number, and every message to it opens a conversation in your inbox.
Before you start
You need:
- A WhatsApp Business Account with a registered phone number
- The account held in a Meta Business you administer
- To sign in with Facebook and grant WhatsApp messaging access
You also need to be a workspace owner or admin, and your plan needs a free messaging channel. See Plans and limits.
Connect a number
Open the WhatsApp connect dialog
In the sidebar, click Channels, then Connect on the WhatsApp card.
Sign in with Facebook
Click Continue with Facebook. A Facebook window opens. Sign in with the Facebook account that administers your Meta Business.
Choose your business and number
Follow the steps in the Facebook window to choose your WhatsApp Business Account and phone number, and grant WhatsApp messaging access.
Pick the number in OrbitBase
Back in OrbitBase, pick the number your agent should answer and click Connect. You have 15 minutes to choose before you need to sign in again.
When it's connected, the number appears under Connected on the Channels page. Message it from your own phone to test it.
Connect more numbers
Each number is its own channel, with its own conversations. To add another one, click Add account on the WhatsApp card and sign in again, then pick the next number. Each number counts toward your plan's messaging channels.
The 24-hour rule
WhatsApp only lets a business send a reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that, WhatsApp requires a pre-approved message template.
- For your agent, this rarely matters, because it answers customers as soon as they write. If a reply is ever delayed past the window, WhatsApp refuses it. OrbitBase then hands the conversation to your team instead of losing the customer's message.
- For your team, it matters when you pick up an older conversation. Once the window closes, the inbox explains why you can't reply, and you can reply again as soon as the customer writes back.
OrbitBase doesn't support WhatsApp template messages yet. That means you can't message a customer first, or reply to them more than 24 hours after their last message. They need to message you.
See Messaging windows for how this looks in the inbox.
How WhatsApp behaves
- Direct messages only. The agent answers one-to-one chats with your number.
- Buttons and lists. When the agent offers up to three choices, they appear as tappable buttons. With more choices, customers get a scrollable list of up to ten. A tap reaches the agent as an ordinary message.
- Link buttons. Links the agent sends can appear as WhatsApp link buttons under the message.
- Cards become text. WhatsApp has no cards, so a card's details and links go into the message text. Product photos are sent as photo messages before the text.
- Formatting. WhatsApp shows bold and italic text, so formatting in your agent's replies carries through.
- Typing indicator. Customers see that you're typing while the agent writes, and while a teammate types a reply in the inbox.
- Files. Customers can send photos, voice notes and documents, and your team can attach images and files to replies.
Troubleshooting
My number isn't in the list
Check that the number is registered to a WhatsApp Business Account in a Meta Business you administer, and that you chose it in the Facebook window.
The number shows "Connected to another workspace"
Each number can only be connected to one OrbitBase workspace. Disconnect it there first, then connect it here.
"No eligible accounts were granted"
You didn't select a number in the Facebook window. Click Connect again and select one.
A customer isn't getting our replies
Check whether more than 24 hours have passed since their last message. If they have, ask the customer to message you through another channel, or wait for them to write again.