Answer WhatsApp messages in Freesbe

WhatsApp messages to your business number can land in a channel, one thread per customer, where anyone on the team can pick them up. It comes with the Business plan and up. You need to be a Freesbe owner or admin, and an admin of your business on Facebook to connect it.

1. Add the number

1. Open Workspace settings → Phone → Messaging and, under WhatsApp, click Add WhatsApp number.
2. Pick the channel messages go to, like #support, and type your WhatsApp Business number with its country code.
3. Click Add number. It starts in test mode.

2. Try it in test mode

1. Under the number, type a message in Send a test message, like “Do you ship to Lyon?”, and click Send.
2. Open the channel: a card shows the message from a made-up number, with the message in its thread.
3. Reply in the thread. Your reply is marked Test mode: not sent: nothing goes to WhatsApp in test mode.

3. Connect WhatsApp

1. Under the number, click Connect WhatsApp.
2. Sign in with Facebook, pick your business, and pick the WhatsApp Business account that has the number (or create one and add the number there).
3. Back in Freesbe, the inbox is live. Message the number from your own WhatsApp: the message lands in the channel, in its own thread.
4. Reply in the thread. The reply arrives on WhatsApp, and shows Delivered, then Read.

If connecting says the account doesn’t have the inbox’s number, pick the WhatsApp Business account that has it, or edit the inbox’s number. If a reply shows Failed, its reason says why: most often the customer’s last message was more than 24 hours ago, and WhatsApp only takes a template then (see Send a WhatsApp template). To stop answering for real, choose Back to test mode in the inbox’s ⋯ menu.

Photos, voice messages and files customers send show in the thread, and files you attach to a reply go to them on WhatsApp. WhatsApp bills your WhatsApp Business account under Meta’s pricing, not on your Freesbe bill.

See Customer inbox for everything the inbox does.