Digital Engagement WhatsApp Business Messaging FAQs

WhatsApp is a messaging application that is used by more than 2 billion people in over 180 countries. WhatsApp Business allows users of the WhatsApp messaging app to communicate with a business. Customers can communicate with your support agents and your company from the WhatsApp messaging app, and agents can reply from the Service Console.  There are two ways a business can interact with its customers:

• Customer Care Interactions: Customer-initiated conversations that require a response from an agent within 24 hours.
• Notifications: Business-initiated, pre-approved, templated messages that can be sent at any time.

WhatsApp is just one of the Messaging Channels available through the purchase of Digital Engagement. This article covers some of the most common questions/scenarios related to this messaging channel.

 

WhatsApp Business Messaging is not available

To use WhatsApp Business, please verify the following first:

1. Confirm the purchase of Salesforce’s Digital Engagement solution.
2. Confirm you have a Facebook Business Manager Account. WhatsApp maps your number and WhatsApp Business Account to your Facebook Business Manager.

Requirements for a business to be approved by WhatsApp

WhatsApp will review your business to determine compliance with the WhatsApp Terms of Service, WhatsApp Business Policies and WhatsApp Commerce Policy.  The status of business verification/review can be checked in the Settings tab of the WhatsApp Business Account in Facebook Business Manager, and upon approval will show Verified under Business verification and Approved under Account Status.

WhatsApp Business was not approved by WhatsApp

After WhatsApp reviews your business for compliance, they may not approve your WhatsApp Business account. You may receive the following notification:

Your WhatsApp Business account Company X wasn't approved because the business Company X doesn't meet our policy requirements. We appreciate your interest in the WhatsApp Business API.

The review and approval for WhatsApp business is out of the span of control of Salesforce.  Salesforce cannot appeal on your behalf.  Customers should appeal directly to their own Facebook account team to try and reverse the decision.

Salesforce can only proceed upon receiving written notification from Facebook/WhatsApp that the decision was reversed. 

Email whatsappenablement@salesforce.com for support on WhatsApp.

Activating Numbers on WhatsApp

• Salesforce cannot provide numbers for use with the WhatsApp Business API. Salesforce-provided Digital Engagement numbers are SMS-only. You must bring your own number that is capable of receiving an SMS or voice call that can be answered directly during the verification process.
   
• WhatsApp does not offer the ability to move a number from one WhatsApp Business API provider to another. Whatever number you use must not have previously been used on the WhatsApp Business API. This is not a Salesforce limitation, it’s a technical limitation with WhatsApp solution; we’ve request that this be addressed in future releases and expect that it will be, but have no specific timing commitments from them.
   
• Once you identify the number that you’d like to use as your WhatsApp ID, the number will need to be verified at some point in the process. This involves WhatsApp sending you a code via SMS or voice call. In order to complete that process, you must be able to receive that code directly and within a short time frame. If your number call into an IVR, you will need to either temporarily circumvent the IVR so the call can reach a handset or you will need to configure the IVR to route calls from a particular set of numbers directly to an extension; in the latter scenario, please inform the WhatsApp Enablement Team in your Enablement Request that you’ll need the verification call numbers for IVR bypass.

WhatsApp Notification Templates

Notification templates are pre-approved messaging templates which are used to initiate outbound messages like alerts, and will reside in your WhatsApp Account within your Facebook Business Manager Account.

Business and messaging needs must comply with the WhatsApp Business Policies, WhatsApp Commerce Policy and WhatsApp Opt-In Requirements

Unable to initiate an outbound message

Templates need to be used only if you want to initiate an outbound message after 24 hours from your last customer interaction.  If a customer opts in to receive them, you can send notifications more than 24 hours after your last conversation.

WhatsApp must approve messaging templates before you can use them. You can create and use up to 250 templates per WhatsApp Business Account.

How do I get started with templates?

Templates must first be created. WhatsApp then must approve messaging templates before you can use them. You can create and use up to 250 templates per WhatsApp Business Account. 
Please refer to our documentation for getting started with how to Create Notification Templates for WhatsApp.

How long does it take for WhatsApp to approve messaging templates?

WhatsApp processes each approval request for a new template or an update to an existing template. Approvals can take up to four business days.

What are the approved notification types / use cases for WhatsApp?

WhatsApp Business can be used for a wide range of non-promotional cases. Please refer to the documentation that describes categories, goals, and example templates in this guide.

Why was my message template rejected?

Here are some of the reasons why templates may be rejected:

• The template was considered to be Marketing or Promotional, which are not allowed.
• Content within the template was not approved.
• Formatting was incorrect.  To find out more about formatting, please refer to our documentation Create Notification Templates for WhatsApp.
• Reviewers may not have sufficient context.  Lack of clarity may result in rejection or possibly delay approval.