How to connect WhatsApp Business API
Albato is now a WhatsApp Business API technical provider. Follow these simple steps to connect your number to the WhatsApp Business API and automate customer interactions via WhatsApp.
At first, you can only send a message using a pre-approved template that includes dynamic text variables, such as Name. To send any text that is not part of a pre-approved template, the recipient of the template message must respond to your company at least once. After that, you have 24 hours to write any message you want.
Available Triggers:
Triggers are events that trigger an automation. All triggers run in real time; that is, data is transferred the moment the event occurs.
- New message
Available Actions:
Actions are what Albato performs when your automation is running. Actions also allow you to transfer data to other apps and systems.
- Send a direct message (after the template is sent).
- Send a template action. To send templates, you must first specify the payment method in WhatsApp Manager. The first 1,000 messages are free.
Step 1: Creatе Business Accounts
Create business accounts on Facebook and WhatsApp. Detailed instructions are available here. If your number was previously used with another WhatsApp Business API provider, you can migrate the number (try to remove two-factor authentication or remove the number from the account).
💡 The Facebook business account must be confirmed; transferring the number in trial mode is not possible. Two-factor authentication must be disabled.
Step 2: Connect to Albato
- Sign in to your Albato account, and go to the Apps section.
- Click Add a connection and select WhatsApp Business API.
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Come up with a name for your connection and click the Continue button.
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Click the Grant Albato access button.
Step 3: Setup on Facebook
Sign in to your Facebook account.
Grant Albato access to your account and billing by clicking Get started.
Create a new business account on Facebook or select an existing one, and provide the necessary company information.
When creating a new Facebook business account, provide your company's legal name, phone number, website, and email address.
💡 To speed up the setup process, we recommend verifying your company on Facebook Business before applying for a WhatsApp connection. The process of verifying a Facebook Business account may differ depending on the country of the business account.
Step 4: Create a WhatsApp Business Profile
Choose a name for your WhatsApp Business account that follows WhatsApp's guidelines and does not violate their Trade Policy or WhatsApp Business Policy
If the name is different from your company name, please provide the corresponding website.
💡 Official WhatsApp business accounts typically reserved only for world-famous companies, display the company name and a green check mark in the chat. Other accounts will display a phone number in the chat and profile.
Then, select the appropriate profile category and provide a description of your company.
Step 5: Register the Number on WhatsApp
Enter the phone number to register and select the confirmation method (SMS or voice message).
If this is the first time the number is connecting to the WhatsApp Business API, make sure it is removed from the mobile application (WhatsApp or WhatsApp for Business).
💡 After linking the number to WhatsApp Business API, the chat history from the WhatsApp application will be unavailable and you will not be able to use this number in the application in the future.
Please enter the confirmation code you received via SMS or voice message.
Grant access to Albato and click the Continue button to complete the setup.
Your number has been successfully connected to WhatsApp Business API via Albato.
An account will be created in WhatsApp Manager and linked to the number. The phone number's status should change to Connected anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours.
Troubleshooting Message Sending Issues
If you have trouble sending messages through WhatsApp Business API, there are two main possible reasons:
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The recipient did not give consent. To comply with personal data processing rules, WhatsApp may block message sending if the recipient has not explicitly consented to receiving messages from your business. Therefore, it is important to confirm consent from each user before sending messages.
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A message template was not sent. Before starting a dialogue with a customer, you must send the first message template. This is a WhatsApp requirement to prevent spam and unwanted messages. If you haven't sent the first message template, the system will not allow you to initiate communication with the customer.
Despite these restrictions, Albato's New Message trigger will activate with each new message from the user. This ensures that you are always aware of incoming messages and can respond to them while following WhatsApp rules.
If you have trouble sending messages despite following these guidelines, please contact Albato support for additional assistance.
In upcoming articles, we will explore setting up workflows with other apps.
