WhatsApp Integration

Connect your WhatsApp Business account to Conviro and let your AI chatbot respond to WhatsApp messages automatically.

Requirements

• Starter plan or above (1 WhatsApp number on Starter, 2 on Pro, 5 on Growth; not available on Free)
• A WhatsApp Business API account (via Meta Business Suite)
• A Facebook Business Manager account
• A verified business phone number

One Number, One WhatsApp Surface

A phone number can be active on only ONE WhatsApp surface at a time. The three are mutually exclusive:

• the personal WhatsApp app,
• the WhatsApp Business app on a phone,
• the WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API) -- the one Conviro uses.

What that means in practice:

• Connecting a number to Conviro registers it on the Cloud API and signs it out of the WhatsApp Business app. That number can no longer be used in the phone app. If it is re-verified in the app later, the Conviro channel goes silent.
• A number still active in the WhatsApp Business app cannot be registered on the Cloud API. Remove it from the app first, and turn OFF two-step verification before you do -- an existing PIN makes registration fail, and the channel then looks connected while being unable to send or receive.
• Chat history does not move. It stays on the phone; the Cloud API starts empty.

Recommendation: to keep using WhatsApp on a phone, connect a second, separate number to Conviro and leave the existing number in the app.

Setup Steps

1. Navigate to Dashboard -> Channels -> WhatsApp.
2. Click Connect WhatsApp.
3. Sign in with your Facebook Business Manager credentials.
4. Select your WhatsApp Business account from the list.
5. Choose or verify your phone number.
6. Conviro automatically registers the webhook URL with Meta.
7. Send a test message from your phone to confirm the connection.

Features

Once connected, your WhatsApp channel supports:

• AI-powered auto-replies -- your chatbot responds just like on the web widget
• Knowledge Base (RAG) -- answers are grounded in your uploaded content
• Media sharing -- send and receive images, documents, and files
• Live agent handoff -- seamless transfer to a human agent via Live Inbox
• Quick replies -- button-based responses for guided conversations
• Contact sync -- WhatsApp contacts are automatically added to your CRM
• Message templates -- write Utility templates, submit them to Meta, and send approved ones from the inbox after the 24-hour window (see WhatsApp Message Templates)

Conversations and the 24-Hour Window

Conviro on WhatsApp is conversational (1:1) customer communication -- customers write to you, and your AI answers:

1. When a customer messages your WhatsApp number, Conviro replies instantly from your knowledge base.
2. WhatsApp allows free-form business replies only within 24 hours of the customer's last message (the customer-service window). Inside that window Conviro handles the whole conversation.
3. If the window has closed, the conversation resumes when the customer writes again -- or someone on your team can send an approved template from the inbox.

Outside the window, an approved template is the only way back into the conversation. Owners, admins and agents can send an approved Utility template into an existing conversation from the inbox, once an owner or admin has turned template sending on. To reach several contacts at once instead of one conversation at a time, use Campaigns (Dashboard -> Campaigns, Pro and above): it sends an approved marketing template, and only to people who have given your business WhatsApp marketing permission. See Sending a WhatsApp Template from the Inbox.

Limitations

• 24-hour window -- free-form replies are only possible within 24 hours of the customer's last message; after that, only an approved template can be sent, one conversation at a time.
• Permission-based outbound only -- campaigns go to contacts who have given your business WhatsApp marketing permission inside Conviro, never to anyone else. There is no customer-list upload or import for sending: a bought, rented or scraped list cannot be used on any plan, and opt-outs are honoured immediately.
• Media size limits -- images up to 5 MB, documents up to 100 MB (Meta limits).
• No group chats -- only 1:1 conversations are supported.

Tips

• Set up a Flow Builder automation to greet WhatsApp users differently than web visitors.
• Monitor WhatsApp conversations separately in Live Inbox using the channel filter.