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Connect WhatsApp Business

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Connecting WhatsApp Business lets your Modules message your customers on WhatsApp using message templates that WhatsApp has already approved. You paste three details from your Meta account, and Raileon keeps them encrypted.

What your Modules can do

  • List the message templates WhatsApp has approved for your business, with the text of each and the details it needs filled in.
  • Send one of those templates to a customer, with the details filled in. Every message waits for your approval first, and you see the number, the template and the exact message before you approve it.

Your Modules cannot send free text. They also cannot read replies, because Raileon does not receive your WhatsApp messages.

What a template is

WhatsApp only lets a business start a conversation with a message it has reviewed and approved in advance. That message is called a template. It has fixed wording with a few blanks, such as the customer's name or an order number, that your Module fills in when it sends. You create and submit templates in WhatsApp Manager, and WhatsApp usually approves them within a day.

If you ask your Module for a message that no template covers, it will tell you and suggest you create a new template.

Customers must have agreed

Only message people who have agreed to hear from your business on WhatsApp. When you connect, you confirm that they have, and each time your Module sends a message it also records that the person opted in. Sending to people who have not agreed can get your WhatsApp number restricted or banned.

Sending starts off

For the safety of your WhatsApp number, sending stays switched off for every workspace until the Raileon team turns it on. Until then, the WhatsApp card shows Available on request, and your Modules can read your templates but cannot send. Ask your Raileon team when you are ready to start.

Before you start

You need a WhatsApp Business account with a phone number registered in Meta Business Suite, and permission to manage it. You also need at least one approved template.

Connect WhatsApp Business

  1. Open Apps

    In your dashboard, go to Apps in the left sidebar and select Connect on the WhatsApp Business card.

  2. Find your two IDs

    In the Meta developer dashboard, open your app, then WhatsApp, then API Setup. Copy the Phone number ID and the WhatsApp Business Account ID. The phone number ID is a long number, not the phone number itself.

  3. Make a token that does not expire

    In Meta Business Settings, open Users, then System users, and add a system user with the Admin role. Assign it your app and your WhatsApp account with Full control. Then choose Generate token, set the expiry to Never, tick whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management, and copy the token.

  4. Paste, confirm and test

    Paste the three values into Raileon, tick the box confirming your customers have agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp, and select Test connection. Raileon checks the number and the account before saving.

  5. Confirm it is connected

    The WhatsApp Business card shows Connected.

Disconnect WhatsApp Business

Open Apps, find the WhatsApp Business card, and select Disconnect. To cut off access right away, you can also remove the system user in Meta Business Settings.