WhatsApp Setup Guide

Pre-requisites

1. Create a Meta business portfolio[1]
   • A Meta business portfolio is required to be able to add a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) through which a business can send/receive WhatsApp messages. To enable WhatsApp messaging in YakChat, you will need to login to your Meta business portfolio.
2. Add a payment method[2]
   • You must add a payment method (e.g. credit card) to your business portfolio before you can send messages via the WhatsApp platform. This is required to cover the costs of WhatsApp messages, that Meta - not YakChat - will invoice directly to the owner of the business portfolio[3].
3. Complete business verification[4]
   • This is not mandatory, but when you verify your business with Meta, you obtain the following benefits:
   • Show the approved WABA display name in the WhatsApp client,
   • Add up to 20 phone numbers to a WABA,
   • Deliver up to 1,000 messages within a 24-hour period.

***Unverified business can only add 2 phone numbers to a WABA and are limited to 250 delivered messages.

Enable WhatsApp integration

1. Configure an Inbox with your SMS-enabled phone number
   • During the process of connecting a phone number to your WhatsApp Business Account, Meta will send a code via SMS to verify the phone number. You must configure a YakChat Inbox with the SMS-enabled phone number that will be used for WhatsApp messaging, so that you can receive the verification code. 
   • You can use any SMS-capable phone number with your preferred service provider. However, the phone number must not be in use for WhatsApp elsewhere, otherwise it will be rejected by Meta. 
2. Number settings
   • Go to the Numbers page in the Admin Portal and find the phone number that you want to use for WhatsApp messaging. It would be same number from the previous step.
   • Add the WhatsApp capability to the phone number. This can only be done by a Partner Admin, as Customer’s Admin cannot edit a phone number.
   • A “Continue with Facebook” button will appear next to the WhatsApp capability.
   • 
   • Click the “Continue with Facebook” button.
   • This will open a pop-up window, called Login with Facebook. You need to provide the Facebook login credentials of a user with full control access to the customer’s Meta business portfolio.
   • 
   • This process is controlled by Meta, and it will guide you through the creation and selection of a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) and adding a phone number for WhatsApp[5].
   • To verify the phone number, Meta will send a verification code via SMS.
   • Go to the Inbox you configured in the previous step and copy/paste the verification code in the verification screen.
   • Follow all the steps until the end and press Finish.
   • 
   • Wait for a YakChat notification: "Phone number successfully added to WhatsApp".
   • In you receive any errors, please contact the YakChat Team at support@yakchat.com  
   • Refresh your Inbox, so that the WhatsApp channel appears in the message creation textbox.
   • You are now ready to send and receive WhatsApp messages.
3. Review and finalize the WhatsApp account setup
   • Login to your Meta Business portfolio with a Facebook administrator login
   • Check that the WhatsApp business account (WABA) was created
   • Add a Payment method and provide billing details.
   •  
   • Open the WhatsApp Manager (see below) and check that the phone number was added to your WABA
   • 
   • 
4. Add a Message Template
   • A Meta approved message template must be used to send business-initiated messages to a WhatsApp recipient outside of customer service window.
   • A customer service window is a 24-hour time window that starts when a WhatsApp user messages a business. A business can send any type of message to the user during a customer service window. However, only template messages can be sent outside of a customer service window.
   • To create a template:
     1. Go to the Manage templates menu in WhatsApp Manager
        
     2. Select Create template
     3. Edit and submit your template for approval.
     4. Once the template is approved by Meta, it will be displayed as follows:
        

Messaging via the WhatsApp channel