Channels
WhatsApp: overview
How the agent holds full conversations with your customers on WhatsApp, through your own WhatsApp Business number, and where each part of the channel is covered.
On this page
For many of your customers in the Gulf, WhatsApp is the first place they go to reach a business. The agent holds full conversations there, through your own WhatsApp Business number: it answers the messages customers send you, starts conversations when something needs their attention, and carries on each thread with the customer's whole history in front of it. Every message is written to the same customer record as their calls and emails, so a customer who calls on Monday and messages on Wednesday is not starting again.
What the agent does on WhatsApp
The agent handles WhatsApp in both directions, with the same industry knowledge and the same limits it uses on every channel.
| Direction | What happens | Property | Travel and hospitality | Insurance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inbound | A customer messages your WhatsApp Business number and the agent replies, looks up what it needs and completes the task | "What do I owe next, and when?" answered from the payment system | A guest asks to move a check-in date, and the reservation is changed | A policyholder asks where their claim has got to |
| Outbound | The agent starts the conversation, using a template Meta has approved, then continues when the customer replies | A handover appointment confirmation | A new departure time after a schedule change | A reminder listing the documents a claim still needs |
Messages arrive on your number, and customers see your business name. The agent replies in the customer's language: Gulf Arabic, other Arabic dialects, English, and many other languages, including Urdu, Russian, Chinese and Spanish, and a mix of Arabic and English in the same message.
How a message reaches your deployment
When a customer sends a message, it travels through WhatsApp to Meta, the company that runs the WhatsApp Business Platform (the service Meta provides for businesses to message customers at scale). Meta passes it to your Telonic deployment, where the agent reads it and replies. The reply travels back the same way.
Telonic connects to the platform through Meta's Cloud API (the interface Meta provides for software to send and receive WhatsApp messages), or through your existing business solution provider (a company Meta authorises to connect businesses to WhatsApp) if you already use one. Your number, your WhatsApp Business account and your templates stay yours either way.
Meta receives, processes and briefly stores WhatsApp messages on its own infrastructure, under its own terms, before they reach your deployment. This is how WhatsApp works for every business on the platform. Once a message reaches your deployment, all processing for your deployment runs in the region you choose, unless you explicitly choose a language model provider outside it. See Hosting and data residency.
The technical detail
| Item | How it works |
|---|---|
| Connection | Meta's Cloud API, or your existing business solution provider |
| Inbound messages | Meta sends each message to your deployment as a webhook (an automatic notification one system sends to another when something happens), over TLS (Transport Layer Security, the standard encryption for data in transit) version 1.2 or higher |
| Outbound messages | Your deployment sends replies and templates to the platform through the same connection |
| Delivery and read status | Status updates from the platform are fed back into the conversation. Configured during implementation |
| Voice notes | Transcribed by speech recognition running in your chosen region |
| Images and documents | Read by a model running in your chosen region |
| Where the conversation is stored | In your deployment, for the period you set. See Storage, retention and deletion |
One thread, one issue
Customers send messages in bursts, change the subject, and come back days later. The agent groups an exchange of messages into one issue, which opens at first contact and closes when it is resolved. A buyer who sends four messages about a kitchen defect has one open issue, not four conversations.
Each issue sits in the customer record alongside their calls and emails. See Issues and threading.
Replies, templates and the 24-hour window
Meta's rules separate messages the customer starts from messages the business starts. When a customer messages you, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and the agent replies freely inside it.
To start a conversation, or to follow up after the window has closed, the agent uses a message template: a pre-written message Meta has reviewed and approved. Telonic writes, submits and manages your templates with you. See Message templates and outbound messages.
More than text
Customers send what they have: a photo of a leak, a scan of a police report, a voice note recorded while driving. The agent reads images, documents and PDFs, understands location pins, and has voice notes transcribed, then replies.
It can send documents and locations back, and offers tappable buttons and lists when a choice is clearer than a typed answer. Rich media, buttons and lists are configured during implementation. See Media, buttons and lists.
Consent and delivery
Before any outbound message, the agent checks that the customer has agreed to hear from you and has not opted out. Consent is held against each customer, and opt-outs are applied before any further message, on the channels and message types you define. See Opt-in, opt-out and consent.
For each message it sends, the agent records whether it was delivered and, where the customer's settings allow, read. Follow-up can then respond to what actually happened: a reminder that was never delivered can be followed by an SMS or a call. This is configured during implementation.
How WhatsApp is charged
WhatsApp is part of your messaging package, which covers WhatsApp, SMS and email in one pool and is priced per conversation. Utility templates and service conversations are included in the messaging package. Meta's charges for marketing templates are passed through at cost. See How pricing works.
The WhatsApp pages
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Business account and verification | Your WhatsApp Business account, number and display name, and Meta's business verification |
| Message templates and outbound messages | Starting conversations, template categories and approval, the checks made before sending |
| Media, buttons and lists | Images, documents, locations and voice notes, and tappable choices |
| Opt-in, opt-out and consent | Where consent comes from, how opt-outs are honoured, and Meta's quality rating |
| WhatsApp integration | The connection itself, in brief |
In practice
A tour operator in Riyadh, Nakhla Travel, uses the agent on WhatsApp for customers already booked on its trips.
- At 10:40pm, Yousef messages to ask whether his family's hotel in Baku includes breakfast. The agent finds his booking in the reservation system and confirms that breakfast is included for all four guests.
- He asks to add an airport transfer. The agent offers two transfer times from the supplier's availability, as buttons, and he taps one.
- The agent books the transfer and sends the confirmation as a PDF in the same thread.
- The next morning, Yousef sends a voice note in Arabic asking whether the transfer driver will have a child seat. The note is transcribed in the operator's region, and the agent adds the request to the booking.
- Every message, the booking change and the PDF sit in one issue in Yousef's customer record, next to the call he made when he booked.
What your team controls
- Which WhatsApp numbers the agent answers, and which conversations it handles.
- The templates, their wording in each language, and the events that trigger them.
- The consent rules, the message types customers can opt out of, and your sending hours.
- When a WhatsApp conversation goes to a person, and who receives it.
- How long WhatsApp conversations and attachments are kept.
Related
- WhatsApp: Business account and verificationChannels
- WhatsApp: message templates and outbound messagesChannels
- WhatsApp: media, buttons and listsChannels
- WhatsApp: opt-in, opt-out and consentChannels
- WhatsAppIntegrations · Messaging
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