WhatsApp Business API Enablement Process Overview

WhatsApp requires a number of steps and approvals for the enablement of WhatsApp Business API accounts. As a WhatsApp BSP (Business Solution Provider), WhatsApp requires that we manage this process for you. There are a number of steps that may require you to provide documentation, so that WhatsApp can verify details about your business. There will also be periods of time where we must wait for approvals from WhatsApp along the way.

While we try to compress this process as much as possible, the actual timeline will depend upon how quickly requested materials can be submitted to WhatsApp and what subsequent requests and approval turnaround times come from WhatsApp. This process can take 3-5 business days for initial account approval and subsequent WhatsApp IDs can take an additional 2-4 business days.

Here are the steps along the way:

Submit Enablement Request
WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) Creation and “Messaging on Behalf of” Request
Business Verification
WhatsApp ID Creation and Display Name Approval
Number/WhatsApp ID Verification Call
(Optional) Profile Update
(Optional) Official Business Account Request
(Optional) WhatsApp Message Templates

Submit Enablement Request

This kicks off the process and involves sending us the details required to initiate account creation and WhatsApp approval checkpoints. The most important pieces of information are:

Facebook Business Manager ID - This Facebook Business Manager account is only used for business verification. Your WhatsApp Business Account will not be visible/accessible through your Business Manager. You do not need to provide a different Business Manager ID for each WhatsApp channel that you are creating. The Business Manager ID must be your top-level ID, not an ID from an individual page or sub-account. More details here: Find Your Business ID in Business Manager
Phone Number(s) you’d like to use as your WhatsApp Business ID(s) - Salesforce can only provide text-only numbers at this time and these numbers cannot be used to enable WhatsApp. If you need a number, please consult your voice service provider for a number that can accept a voice call, or use a mobile number capable of receiving SMS.
Salesforce Production Org ID and (optional) Sandbox Org ID

Additional details and specifics can be found in the product documentation: Set Up WhatsApp in Messaging

WABA Creation and “Messaging on Behalf of” Request

As a WhatsApp BSP, we must create and host your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) for you. We will create the WABA using your company name and the Facebook Business Manager ID that you provide. When that WABA is created, you will receive a “messaging on behalf of” request in your Business Manager. Approve that request to express your consent to WhatsApp for Salesforce to act as your BSP.

For more details, please see Facebook’s article on the topic: Create Your WhatsApp Business Account With WhatsApp Business Solution Providers

Business Verification

After you approve a “messaging on behalf of” request, you will need to verify your business in Business Manager. WhatsApp uses this process to validate the true identity of a business. You’ll go to your Security Center in Business Manager Settings and click “Start Verification”.

In our experience, this is the most time-consuming and involved part of the process. WhatsApp will require various documents, including photo ID and official business documents. This is the only part of the process that is handled between you and WhatsApp directly.

Here are more details about what to expect during Business Verification: Verify Your Business

WhatsApp ID Creation and Display Name Approval

When you’ve completed Business Verification, please inform the Salesforce WhatsApp Enablement Team member handing your Enablement Request that the process is complete. The team member will submit your phone number(s) and associated Display Name(s) (the names that WhatsApp users see associated with your WhatsApp ID) for approval. WhatsApp has a number of Display Name guidelines that you must adhere to in order to get approval. This part of the process usually takes about 1 full business day, but can take longer if there are concerns or ambiguity.

For more details about Display Name, including WhatsApp’s guidelines, see here: Display Name

Number/WhatsApp ID Verification Session

WhatsApp requires that a verification code be sent to your number, via SMS or voice call, and then submitted to them for verification of ownership of the number. Our Salesforce WhatsApp Enablement Team member will schedule a session so that this code exchange can be done live. When you are ready, our engineer will prompt WhatsApp to initiate an SMS or call the number you are activating. You will need to accept this call or SMS and read the 6 digit code back to us. Our engineer will submit that code to WhatsApp to complete the verification.

While this can be a simple process, there are a number of considerations to think through ahead of the session:

Can your number be called/texted from a US number?
Do you have an IVR in place on the number? The verification call cannot traverse an IVR and custom routing is required to get the call to you directly.
Can your resources accept a call or SMS directly during this session? They will need to be able to receive the call live during the session with minimal delay.

(Optional) Profile Update

You can provide details for us to update your WhatsApp profile with. Details include:

Company Logo
Description
Website

(Optional) Official Business Account Request

There are two types of WhatsApp business accounts: Business Accounts and Official Business Accounts. By default, any account using the WhatsApp Business API is a business account. At this time, only certain business accounts are listed as "Official Business Account". Listing a business as an "Official business account" is based on a variety of factors, such as whether the brand is notable. Very few businesses will be official business accounts. Depending on your business account type, users will see different things.

While we can enter a request on your behalf to be considered an “Official business account”, Salesforce has no direct influence on this decision.

For more information about business account types, including the nuances of each, please visit this article: Business Account Type

Ready To Configure the Channel(s) In Your Org

Now the channel will appear in your Org under Messaging Settings and you can configure your queues, routing, and other configurations and will be ready to use your WhatsApp channels.