By the end, a visitor chatting on your website can press a button, give their mobile number and carry on the same conversation on WhatsApp. If they aren't on WhatsApp, they're texted instead.
You'll need
- WhatsApp on your plan.
- To be an owner or manager.
- An agent with web chat switched on and a version promoted to production.
- For the SMS fallback, SMS switched on for the same agent with a number attached.
1. Connect a WhatsApp number to the agent
- Open the agent from Agents and go to its channels. Press Enable on WhatsApp, then Configure.
- Pick a Number. If you see Get ready, press it first.
- Press Connect with Facebook and log in with the Facebook account that manages your business.
- The page shows Registering for a minute or two, then confirms customers can message the number.
If your organisation uses Subcontext's WhatsApp account, Connect with Facebook isn't used. Ask Subcontext to set up your number; it then appears on this page to attach.
2. Get the essential templates approved
WhatsApp only allows free-form messages within 24 hours of a customer's last message. The first message after a visitor switches needs an approved template. 1. Open the WhatsApp center. Step 2 of Getting set up shows how many essential messages are approved. Press Review. 2. For Moving to WhatsApp, Fallback and Links customers ask for, press Add starter, then Submit to Meta, or Customise to reword it first. 3. Or press Add essentials on WhatsApp templates. Meta usually reviews within a few hours.
3. Add the switch button to your chat
- On a site hosted by Subcontext: open the site in Sites, go to its Chat tab, tick WhatsApp under Switch channel, and press Save changes.
- On your own website: in the WhatsApp center, open How do website visitors move from web chat to WhatsApp? and copy the Web chat snippet with the WhatsApp button. Use it in place of your current web chat snippet, before the closing body tag.
Visitors can also just ask the agent to carry on over WhatsApp. That works without a button.
4. Decide what happens when someone isn't on WhatsApp
In the WhatsApp center, step 3 shows your choice. Press Change to set When a customer isn't on WhatsApp: send by SMS, send by email, or don't send. SMS is the default.
5. Test it
- Open a page with the chat and start a conversation.
- Press the switch channel button in the chat's header, choose WhatsApp and enter your own mobile number.
- You should get the Moving to WhatsApp message on your phone. Reply, and check the conversation carries on in the inbox.
Check it worked
- The WhatsApp center's checklist shows all three steps done.
- Under Automatic messages, Moving to WhatsApp says it sends.
If something goes wrong
- Nothing arrives: if neither Moving to WhatsApp nor Fallback is approved, visitors who switch won't hear from you. Check the template's status.
- The chat says WhatsApp isn't available: the agent has no working WhatsApp number, and either the fallback isn't SMS or the agent has no SMS.
- No switch button: check WhatsApp is ticked in the site's Chat settings, or that your page uses the new snippet.
See The WhatsApp channel, The WhatsApp center and Site chat.
Or ask the assistant: it can do these steps for you, asking before each change.