Chat App Message Service:Register and manage a WABA

Register and bind a WABA

A WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) is an official business account that you must register to send messages on WhatsApp. A WABA that passes WhatsApp's business verification receives a verification badge. This badge increases customer trust, enhances your brand image, and helps protect your business from impersonation.

To send WhatsApp messages, you must first register a WABA. In Chat App Message Service, you can quickly register a WABA using the official embedded tool from Facebook.

1. Register and bind a WABA:

   Important

   • Each channel can be bound to only one WABA. To manage multiple WABAs, you must create multiple channels.

   • You can register a maximum of two phone numbers for a WABA that has not passed Meta business verification. After your business is verified, you can register up to 20 phone numbers. If you need more than 20 phone numbers, you can contact technical support to request a quota increase from Meta.

   1. Log on to the Chat App Message Service console.

   2. In the navigation pane on the left, click Channel Management > Manage > WABA Management > WABA Registration And Binding

   3. You can open the Facebook embedded registration page.

      Note

      • If you are already logged on to Facebook with the account required for WABA registration, click Continue As XX.

      • If you are not logged on or are logged on with a different Facebook account, click Log Into Another Account. Then, log on to the correct account or create a new Facebook account.

   4. Click Get started.

      Note

      1. The following registration steps are for reference only. For the latest registration process, see the official Meta website.

      2. If you create a new Meta Business Account or WABA, you must complete the embedded registration and wait for WhatsApp to approve your account before you can use it. After your WABA is approved, it is bound to the channel and its status changes to APPROVED. You can then go to the Manage phone numbers section to add, sync, and configure phone numbers.

      1. Follow the prompts to enter your business information. This includes your company name, company email, company website or business homepage, and the country or region where your company is located. Then, click Continue.

         Note

         You must provide accurate and complete business information. Otherwise, your application for enterprise verification or a WhatsApp Official Business Account (OBA) may be rejected.

      2. Create a WABA. Follow the prompts to set the WhatsApp Business account name and select a time zone. Then, click Continue.

      3. Review the permissions requested by Chat App Message Service, and then click Continue.

         Note

         To allow Alibaba Cloud Singapore to manage your WABA, you must grant it access privileges and bill management permissions.

      4. Wait for Facebook to verify your information, and then click Finish.

2. Verify your business: After you register your WABA, go to the Security Center in Meta Business Manager to verify your business. For more information, see Start your business verification.

Migrate phone numbers

Phone number migration lets you migrate phone numbers registered with other Business Solution Providers (BSPs) to Alibaba Cloud. Migrated phone numbers retain their original display names, quality ratings, messaging limits, Official Business Account (OBA) status, and all previously approved high-quality message templates. For more information, see Migrate phone numbers.

Register for Marketing Messages Lite

Marketing Messages Lite (MML) is a new type of optimized marketing message from WhatsApp that is designed to help businesses improve performance and message quality. MML automatically optimizes message delivery and read rates to provide a higher-quality user experience and better business performance. We recommend that you complete MML registration as soon as possible. For more information, see Notice on the implementation timeline for Marketing Messages Lite.

Manage phone numbers

Prerequisite: You have registered and bound a WABA, and the WABA has been approved by WhatsApp.

1. Add a phone number

   1. Log on to the Chat App Message Service console.

   2. In the left navigation pane, click Channel Management > Manage > WABA Management > Number Management > Add Number.

   3. In the Add Phone Number dialog box, set the display name, country or region, and phone number. Then, click OK.

      Note

      The new number appears in the phone number list with an unverified status. You must verify the number before you can use it.

2. Enable local storage

   Note

   • When local storage is enabled, message content may be processed in Meta's international data centers. After processing, which takes a maximum of 90 minutes, the message content is deleted from all Meta data centers outside your specified local storage region. The content is retained only in the data centers within your selected region.

   • To change this setting, you must first disconnect the phone number.

   • Select a storage location as needed. For example, an enterprise in Singapore can select Singapore as the storage location.

   1. Go to Phone Number Management > Settings > Local Storage.

   2. On the Local Storage page, turn on the Local Storage switch.

   3. Click Save.

3. Verify the phone number

   Important

   When you verify a phone number, you receive a verification code from Meta. Make sure your phone number can receive messages.

   1. On the Phone Number Management page, find the number that you want to verify and click Verify Phone Number in the Actions column.

   2. In the Verify Phone Number dialog box, select a language for the notification. Click Get SMS Verification Code or Get Voice Verification Code.

      Note

      If your phone number is a landline, select Get Voice Verification Code. If it is a mobile number, you can choose to receive the verification code by text message or voice call.

   3. Enter the verification code that you received.

      Note

      • After successful verification, the status updates to Phone Number Verified. You can now use this number to send messages.

      • If verification fails, you can retry based on the prompt.

4. Disconnect

   After you disconnect a phone number, you can no longer use it to send messages. To use it again, you must re-verify the number.

5. Configure the phone number

   Note

   You can set or update the information for a verified phone number.

   On the Phone Number Management page, find the number that you want to configure and click Settings in the Actions column. This opens the number settings page.

   Basic information settings

   You can set the basic information for the phone number.

   On the basic information settings page, follow the prompts to set the Profile Picture, Industry, Description, Email, and Website.

   Workbench settings

   After you enable workbench settings, you can choose whether to enable keyword triggers.

   Note

   A keyword trigger displays mobile originated messages that contain a specific keyword in the message workbench when the business number is online. This lets you start an online conversation with the user.

   • Keyword Trigger: After you enable this option, you can set the trigger keywords in the Keyword field.

   • Keyword: After you enable the keyword trigger, you can set the trigger keywords. You can set multiple keywords separated by commas (,).

   Business settings

   You can choose whether to enable the shopping cart feature or display the category feature.

   • Shopping Cart: Specify whether to display the shopping cart icon and the Add to Cart button on the product page in the WhatsApp catalog.

   • Category: Specify whether to add a catalog icon to the WhatsApp business profile page. Clicking the icon opens your linked product catalog. For more information, see Manage catalogs.

   Limit sending

   After you turn on this switch, the current number will no longer send messages to users who have clicked the Stop Promotion button in a marketing template. The switch is off by default. You can turn it on when needed.

   Note

   You can use the unsubscribe query feature to find the list of users who have clicked the Stop Promotion button. You can then filter out these users when you send messages.

   Automation

   You can choose whether to set up conversation starters or commands.

   • Conversation starters: You can set up frequently asked questions to help users quickly ask questions. You can set up to 4 conversation starters. Each starter can contain up to 80 characters.

   • Commands: Special keywords used to trigger custom actions that you set up, such as generating an image or returning specific data.

     Note

     • A command is a text string that consists of the command itself and a prompt.

     • You can define up to 30 commands. Each command can contain up to 32 characters, and each prompt can contain up to 256 characters. Emojis are not supported.

   Local storage

   When local storage is enabled, message content may be processed in Meta's international data centers. After processing, which takes a maximum of 90 minutes, the message content is deleted from all Meta data centers outside your specified local storage region. The content is retained only in the data centers within your selected local storage region.

   Note

   • After you verify a phone number, you cannot change the local storage configuration. To change the local storage address, you must first disconnect the phone number.

   • Select a storage location as needed. For example, an enterprise in Singapore can select Singapore as the storage location.

   Message links

   Add a message link

   1. On the message links page, click Add.

   2. In the dialog box that appears, enter a Pre-filled Message and select a QR Code Format. PNG and SVG formats are supported.

   3. Click Confirm.

   Download a QR code or copy a short link

   • Download a QR code: On the QR Code Management page, click the text link in the Download QR Code column to open the image. You can then save the image to your computer.

   • Copy a short link: On the QR Code Management page, move the mouse pointer over the short link and click the icon that appears to copy the link.

   Note

   • To edit generated data, click Edit in the Actions column. You can edit the pre-filled message and the QR code format. After you finish editing, click OK.

   • To delete generated data, click Delete in the Actions column. In the confirmation dialog box, click OK.

   • If you delete a QR code, users who scan it will not be able to open the conversation. Proceed with caution.

   Block or unblock users

   You can choose to block users. After a user is blocked, they cannot send messages to this number.

   • Block users: You can enter multiple phone numbers, one per line. You can only block users who have sent a message to the current number in the last 24 hours.

   • Unblock users: You can enter multiple phone numbers, one per line. You can view the list of currently blocked phone numbers on this page before unblocking them.

6. Synchronize phone numbers

   This feature lets you sync the phone numbers under your bound and approved WABA with the Meta Business Manager (BM) platform. On the Phone Number Management page, click Synchronize Phone Numbers.

7. What to do next

   To configure webhooks, see Introduction to and configuration of message receipts.

References

• Design WhatsApp message templates.

• Send WhatsApp messages.