23.2.3. WhatsApp Business Onboarding

Prerequisites

Whilst not fully required it’s recommended to do the following steps before beginning the onboarding process to avoid any steps being hindered or needing to await for verification.

Creating a Meta Business Portfolio

You will need to create a Meta Business account which requires you to have a Personal Facebook account. More information can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1710077379203657?id=180505742745347

Business Verification

Once you have set up a Meta Business account you then need to verify your business to unlock further permissions and allowances. More information can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1095661473946872?id=180505742745347

Onboarding Steps

The onboarding of your WhatsApp for Business account with Natterbox is all handled within the Natterbox Settings page utilising the Meta embedded sign up.

Starting the Onboarding process

To start the WhatsApp Business onboarding process simply press the “Start Onboarding” button which will open up a new window to start the process.

WhatsApp Business ID

The WhatsApp Business ID can be located from the WhatsApp manager or from the WhatsApp accounts section under the main Facebook business page. This ID is required as part of the onboarding process and can either be obtained up front if you have already created an initial WhatsApp account that hasn’t been onboarded yet or after completing the Meta embedded sign up step after this.

The below steps are how you can locate your WhatsApp business ID.

1. Navigate to https://business.facebook.com/ and login

2. you will then be on the main Facebook business page

3. Click Settings at the bottom of the sidebar

4. Look for a section called Accounts

5. Under the Accounts section you should see “WhatsApp accounts”, click this

6. Select the WhatsApp account, you may have multiple so make sure you select the right one (this will either be an existing one or one you created in the steps after this)

7. Under the Summary section there’s a note with your WhatsApp account ID.

Meta embedded sign up

The next part is started by pressing the “Log in to Facebook” button to start the meta embedded sign up process. During the meta embedded sign up you will be prompted to log in to Facebook, and be presented with a screen informing you that you are onboarding with Natterbox.

You will then go through the form to begin to provide details about your business and your new WhatsApp Business profile. This starts with selecting your Business Portfolio which should be set up beforehand as this requires going through the business verification process - you cannot onboard without a successfully verified business.

Once you have selected your Business portfolio you then move onto the creating or using an existing WhatsApp business account, this then allows you to create a new WhatsApp business profile within the WhatsApp business account. As with all of these sections please read the fields carefully and provide accurate information to avoid any issues with the Meta onboarding later on in the process.

When creating a new WhatsApp business profile you will be prompted on the next screen to have a new WhatsApp number or to use your own, if you are wanting to use Voice on these numbers with Natterbox it is recommended to choose use your own. This will then lead into the phone number verification step which we have more information on below.

Phone Number verification

The phone number verification section is initiated when you select “Add phone number for WhatsApp” as part of the  profile creation. You have two ways of verifying this number you can either use a text message or a phone call, typically most numbers are not enabled for SMS so it is recommended to choose phone call.

Note: You will need to update the routing of this phone number to route directly to your User in the Natterbox Routing policy in order to receive the phone call for the verification, this cannot be routed externally or via a queue.

The phone call you receive you will hear a code being read out, simply enter in the code you are given and this will act as a verification that you own this phone number. Then you can hit next to finish the onboarding process.

Completing the Onboarding

When you have your WhatsApp business ID and you have generated the token on the form (if you have not provided your WhatsApp Business ID please follow the steps here), you can then press ‘Complete Onboarding’. You will then be taken to a loading page whilst the onboarding process is completed - this can take a few minutes. The windows will then close and the WhatsApp business page on the Natterbox Settings tab should now display your newly onboarded numbers.

Billing Setup

Billing for WhatsApp for Business is handled within the Meta portal which involves setting up a payment method which any costs will be charged to.

This article from Meta covers how billing works: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/2225184664363779?id=2129163877102343

More information on Conversation-based pricing can be found here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing