Prerequisites

1. A Facebook Business Manager account
2. A registered phone number to access the WhatsApp Business API

1. Managing and replying to WhatsApp messages
2. Adding or updating contacts, companies, and pipeline records through WhatsApp messages.
3. Viewing and initiating messages from contacts and pipeline records.

Integrating WhatsApp into Bigin

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Messages.
2. Click Connect Now. 
   
   
3. Click Integrate WhatsApp after completing the prerequisites. 
   
   
4. You will be redirected to the Facebook login page. Provide your credentials to log in.
   
5. Provide the necessary details for Facebook authentication:
   
   
1. Select the account for integration and click Continue.
   
   
2. Click Get Started in the Chat to WhatsApp users window.
3. Click Continue in the Connect your account to Zoho Corporation window.
   
   
4. Select the Facebook Business account you wish to link, and then click Continue.
5. Select the WhatsApp Business account linked to your Facebook Business account, then click Continue on the following screen.
   
   
6. Click Finish to complete the process. 
   
   
6. Once the authentication is completed, you must provide certain details about the channel you're creating. Every time a message is received, a new contact is created and assigned to users on a round-robin basis.
7. Once you save these details, you'll be redirected to the WhatsApp Business page and a new module will be added to your Bigin account namely, Messages.

Permissions 

1. View and reply to messages: Users can both view messages and reply to them. 
2. View: Users can only view received messages.

By default, admins have access to both view and reply to messages. Click on +Profile to grant users the desired permission levels.

Messages module 

How do WhatsApp messages work?

1. Marketing conversations: These involve promotional messages that businesses send to customers.
   
2. Utility conversations: These are transactional messages sent to customers and include order confirmation messages, payment reminders, time-sensitive alerts, etc.
   

To create a new template, go to Setup > Messages > Templates > + Template button.

1. Select marketing for promotional offers, product announcements, or sales outreach.
   
2. Select Utility for deal updates, order updates, or payment notifications. 
   

Note:

1. Template verification can take up to 24 hours.
   
2. Templates may be rejected for any of the following reasons:
   
1. Language details mismatch
   
2. Spam content
   
3. Category mismatch
   
3. If the "Mobile" field for a contact is empty or has an invalid number, you can't initiate a conversation. Similarly, you can't initiate conversations with numbers that aren't registered in WhatsApp. 
   
   

Once you create templates, you can use these templates to initiate conversations with customers. To initiate a conversation, go to the Messages modules and click on the + New WhatsApp Chat button. 

Select the contact and send the message template to initiate the conversation. When a customer replies, the chat box screen becomes available. Until then, you can only use templates to send messages.

 You can also use these templates to re-initiate 24-hour sessions. 

At any time, you can access templates by clicking on the templates icon located in the message composer.

Limitations

1. The maximum character count for a template is 900.
   
2. The  maximum number of templates you can create—including approved, rejected, and pending templates—is 200.   
   
3. You can include a maximum of 10 merge fields in a single template.
   

Messaging window features     

After integrating with WhatsApp, you'll have access to the Messages module. You can view all the messages your business receives here. There are two types of chat views available:

• All chats: Displays all incoming messages.

• My chats: Displays all messages assigned to you.
  

  
  
  

Create records: Bigin will create a new record or map existing contacts accordingly based on the mobile number associated with the chat. 

Check new message counter: A counter will show the number of new messages received since the last visit. This count is specific to the user and not organization-wide.

Send Attachments: You can send attachments in formats such as .JPG, .JPEG, .PNG, .PDF, .MP3, and .MP4. To send attachments, click on the paper clip icon and add your required files.

Credits 

The cost of WhatsApp conversations varies by region.Once your business initiates a response to a customer, a 24-hour window for customer service conversations begins, and all messages exchanged within this timeframe are considered part of a single conversation. Businesses won't be charged for each message they send; instead, they'll be billed based on the number of conversations

Businesses on WhatsApp can engage in unlimited customer-initiated service conversations at no cost, allowing free responses when customers reach out first. However, if a business initiates a conversation by sending a template message, charges apply based on the type of conversation. For marketing and utility conversations initiated by the business, WhatsApp requires the purchase of instant message (IM) credits, each priced at $2.

You can also opt for auto-recharge, whereby credits are automatically recharged when the current number of credits reaches a certain minimum threshold. 

You can also buy credits manually by clicking on Buy Credits. You will be redirected to the payment page.

Note: User-initiated conversations establish a 24-hour chat window, commencing when a business responds to a customer's message. After this window expires, the customer must initiate a new conversation to start a new chat. Businesses will still be able to use WhatsApp Business Platform, which provides 1,000 free user-initiated interactions each month.

To calculate the pricing, refer to this page. 

To deactivate the WhatsApp Business integration

To deactivate an integration, go to Setup > Channels > Messages > WhatsApp Business > Disconnect.