Agents

Connect WhatsApp

Import a WhatsApp Business number and connect it to an agent from the Channels tab, send it a first message, read the reply in the portal, and disconnect it when you are done.

With a WhatsApp number connected, anyone who messages that number on WhatsApp is answered by your agent, in text, with the same persona, model, knowledge and tools it has everywhere else. Each customer's messages become a conversation you can read on the agent's Conversations tab. This page is the import itself; have WhatsApp prerequisites done first, because everything the dialog asks for comes from there.

What the agent can do on WhatsApp

Capability Supported
Voice No. A WhatsApp call to the number is not answered
Text Yes
Inbound Yes. Every text message sent to the number
Outbound Replies only, as text. The agent does not start a conversation
Handoff No. The agent answers every message while the number is connected
Media No. An image, voice note, document, location, sticker or reaction is not answered and does not appear on the conversation

Prerequisites on the provider side

  • A WhatsApp Business Account in your Meta Business account, with the number registered on it.
  • A Facebook account that manages that business, ready to grant whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging.
  • Until Meta approves EchoNova's app, that Facebook account needs a role on EchoNova's Meta app.

WhatsApp prerequisites covers each of these, and every message the import can end with.

Connect

Step 1: Open the agent's Channels tab

Open the agent and choose the Channels tab. The page is headed Connected Channels, with three groups underneath: Voice & Telephony, Messaging and Support & Service. Press Add Channel.

An agent that has had no conversations also offers Connect channel on its Overview tab, which opens the same tab.

Step 2: Choose WhatsApp

The catalogue opens with the filters All, Voice & Telephony, Messaging and Support & Service, and a search box. Choose the WhatsApp card under Messaging. The dialog Connect WhatsApp Account opens on its Configure tab, beside Triggers and How To Connect.

Triggers has nothing to set: it reads Incoming messages, and Messages to this connected account are handled by the linked agent.

Step 3: Name the channel and choose an account

On the Configure tab:

  • Name: used only when you pick an already-imported number under Credential and press Connect; the row then takes this name. A number you import here is named after the number itself.
  • Credential: a dropdown of this workspace's already-imported WhatsApp numbers, or a way to import a new one. Next to it, How To Connect opens a short summary of the same steps.

If the workspace has no WhatsApp accounts yet, this reads You have no WhatsApp accounts. Import an account here., with here as the link. If it already has some, the dropdown lists them with the placeholder WhatsApp account, and a separate Import another account link sits below it. A number already bound to this agent or to another one is listed but disabled, marked (on this agent) or (on another agent).

Step 4: Import a number, or pick one you already have

Press here or Import another account. Meta's own window opens; sign in and pick the WhatsApp Business Account, then approve. Back in EchoNova:

  • One number granted: it connects to this agent straight away, and the Channels tab shows the toast WhatsApp connected.
  • Several numbers granted: the Choose what to connect dialog opens. Tick every number to connect; a number already connected here can be ticked again to refresh it (Connected here), and a number connected in another workspace cannot be ticked (In another workspace). Press Connect, then read the result line next to each number, and press Done.

To reuse a number you already imported, pick it from the Credential dropdown instead. Picking one fills in Name with the number's saved name, if Name is still empty; edit it if you want a different label. Press the dialog's Connect button to bind that number to this agent.

If the import ends with an error instead, the message and what to do about it are in WhatsApp prerequisites.

Step 5: Check the row

The number is listed under Messaging. The row shows the number as its name (or the Name you typed, if you picked an already-imported number), the caption WhatsApp customer conversation channel, the number's saved name above the caption Workspace, WhatsApp above Routing, and the chip Active. It is already bound to this agent; there is no separate assign step.

Select the row to open the channel page. Its Overview tab shows Conversations, Messages, Unique users, Failed and Avg. response time for the number, and a card with Workspace (the number's saved name), Connected as (who connected it) and Channel ID. Conversations lists only this number's conversations.

During the last 7 days of the number's roughly 60-day access, the row and the channel page show Reconnect by <date>; once it lapses, they show Token expired. Reconnect. Reconnect the same way: press Import another account, sign in again, and tick the same number, which shows as Connected here.

Two things on the channel page do not change the channel today. The Live and Pause Channel buttons, and the Agent behavior controls under Routing & Behavior, leave the number answering exactly as the agent's own tabs say it should; to stop the number, use Disconnect or Assign to another agent from the row's menu. The Test button on the channel page opens the menu with Pause Channel and Disconnect; to test the number, send it a message from a phone, as the next section does.

Get it right

Name the channel for the job the number does, not for the provider. The name is the first thing on the row, and it is what your colleagues search for when a customer writes in.

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WhatsApp

Send the first message

From your own phone, send the number a message, for example Hi, is my order 41822 on its way?.

What you see on the phone: your message gets its read marks and the typing indicator appears while the agent composes; then the reply arrives as an ordinary text message from the number. If the agent's persona greets and asks for an order number, that is the reply you get.

What you see in the portal: on the agent's Conversations tab a new row appears, with your WhatsApp profile name as the customer, WhatsApp as the channel, and the chip Open. Open it and your message is on the left, the agent's reply on the right, and Total credits in Metadata shows what the exchange cost. The same conversation is on the channel page's Conversations tab.

If no reply reaches the phone, go to Troubleshooting below.

Provider limits that affect you

Limit Value Effect
Message types answered Text only Anything else the customer sends gets no reply and is not recorded
Reply shape One text message per reply The agent never sends buttons, media or files
One number, one workspace, one agent Enforced at connect A second connect of the same number is refused, or offered as a move
Conversation grouping 24 hours after the last message The next message after that starts a new conversation row
WhatsApp access About 60 days Reconnect from Reconnect by <date> before it lapses

WhatsApp limits has the full list.

Disconnect

Open the row's menu on the Channels tab, or the Test menu on the channel page, and choose Disconnect. The dialog Disconnect channel? reads This permanently deletes the channel and its saved credential. Reconnecting later starts a brand new connection. Confirm with Disconnect; the toast reads Channel disconnected.

Disconnecting also stops EchoNova receiving the WhatsApp Business account's messages once no other channel in EchoNova still uses that account.

To keep the number answering but as a different agent, use Assign to another agent instead. Its dialog warns Open conversations on this channel will be closed. History stays with this agent.; confirm with Assign, and the toast reads Assigned to the agent you chose.

Troubleshooting

The agent never replies

Three causes, in the order to check them.

  1. The number's access has expired. Check the row for Token expired. Reconnect. and reconnect it.
  2. The workspace has no credits. The message is recorded on the conversation and gets no reply. Top up and send again.
  3. The message was not text. A voice note, image or document is not answered. Send a text message.

The connect ended with an error toast or dialog

Every message is listed with its next step on WhatsApp prerequisites. The most common one after signing in is We couldn't resolve that WhatsApp phone number. Please try again.; confirm the number is on a WhatsApp Business Account your Facebook account manages, then sign in again.

Choose what to connect says "This choice expired. Start again."

More than 10 minutes passed since the sign-in, or the list was already used. Press Import another account and sign in again.

The number is already on another agent

Connecting it again from this agent ends with Move this channel?. Confirm Move to bring it here, which closes its open conversations, or open the other agent's Channels tab and use Assign to another agent.

FAQ

Can customers call the number?

No. The agent answers text messages on WhatsApp. For calls, connect a Twilio number under Voice & Telephony. The WhatsApp card's caption reads Voice and text messages; the number answers text.

Does the agent answer voice notes or photos?

No. A message that is not text is not answered and is not recorded on the conversation. Write the persona so the agent asks for the details in text, and tell customers the number is a text line.

Does the agent send the greeting first?

No. On WhatsApp the customer always writes first, and the agent replies. The Greeting message is not sent as a message of its own on the number; the agent's first reply is its answer to the customer's first message.

Do working hours stop the number outside the window?

No. A connected number answers at any hour, and those turns are charged. See Working hours.

How do I move the number to another agent?

Open the row's menu and choose Assign to another agent, pick the agent and confirm Assign. Open conversations on the number are closed; the next message opens a new one with the new agent.