What you need before connecting WhatsApp in one click

Before you connect WhatsApp to your assistant in one click, four things need to be in place. None of them is hard, but all of them come first: miss one and the connection stops halfway and you have to start again. Read these before you sit down to do it and the whole thing takes minutes.

The four requirements

1 · A number WhatsApp accepts. A mobile or a landline you own. What doesn't work: VoIP, toll-free, premium-rate and universal access numbers — WhatsApp will not register them. Landlines verify with the "Call me" option and extensions cannot be used.

2 · That number, on the WhatsApp Business app. Not regular WhatsApp. It's a different app, free, on Android and iPhone, and you need version 2.24.17 or later. If your number is on regular WhatsApp today it can be moved — it's WhatsApp's own official process — but do it beforehand, not on the day: step-by-step guide.

3 · That line's phone, with you. WhatsApp sends a 6-digit code by SMS. It can take up to 10 minutes. Don't guess it: several failed attempts lock the number for a while, and that's your day gone.

4 · A Pro or E-commerce plan. The WhatsApp channel is included in both. It doesn't appear on Free or Basic.

What will change in your WhatsApp

We'd rather tell you this now than halfway through.

• Every linked device gets signed out — WhatsApp Web, tablet, laptop. You re-link them yourself afterwards, one by one. This always happens; it isn't a fault.
• WhatsApp for Windows and for WearOS stop working with this mode. If someone on your team replies from there, that message won't reach your dashboard.
• Open WhatsApp on the phone regularly. If the primary handset sits inactive for around two weeks, WhatsApp cuts the connection.
• Groups stay yours. The assistant doesn't take part and can't see them: you keep handling them from the app, exactly as now.
• Broadcast lists are switched off. You won't be able to create new ones, and existing ones become read-only.
• In your 1-to-1 chats, disappearing messages, view once and live location are switched off.
• Your past conversations aren't copied to the dashboard. It starts with messages that arrive after connecting. The earlier ones stay on your phone, untouched.
• A limit of 20 messages per second. Plenty for answering customers; not for mass sending.

What it costs

The WhatsApp Business app is free. Messages you type by hand in the app stay free. Messages sent by the assistant go through Meta's API and are billed at Meta's rates, separately from your plan.

What connecting looks like

You choose "Keep your phone", a Meta window opens, you confirm from your WhatsApp Business app, and that's it. You carry on chatting from the app and the assistant answers too, in the same chats.

One thing to watch for: if that window offers to create a WhatsApp Business Account rather than connect the one you already have, close it and tell us. It means something is misconfigured, and carrying on would have consequences.

If you change your mind

You can disconnect yourself at any time, from the app itself: Settings › Account › Business Platform › Disconnect Account. Your number stays yours and stays on your phone.

Check before you start

• [ ] The number isn't VoIP, toll-free or premium-rate
• [ ] It's on the WhatsApp Business app, version 2.24.17 or later
• [ ] You have that phone in front of you for the SMS
• [ ] Your plan is Pro or E-commerce
• [ ] You know your linked devices will be signed out and you'll re-link them
• [ ] Nobody on your team replies from WhatsApp for Windows or WearOS

With those six ticked, connecting is a matter of minutes.

*Availability can vary by country. We check with you at connection time, before anything is changed.*