WhatsApp Business

uContact integrates with WhatsApp Business, allowing you to communicate with your customers through WhatsApp channels. It's easy to create and requires simple configuration using the information provided by the provider.

Before you start!

Before beginning the configuration, you'll need specific information that uContact requires to establish the integration with the provider. Below is the required information.

Don't have a Meta account?

In the following guide, we show you how to create and configure your Meta account.

Required Information

• Application ID: The WhatsApp Business application ID.
• Application Client Secret: Password for the WhatsApp Business account.

How to configure the provider in uContact?

1. First, go to the Administration Menu and access the Connectors section. Then, within the screen, click the New button located in the upper right corner.

2. In this modal, you need to enter a unique name for the connector, select the WhatsApp channel and the WhatsApp Business provider.

3. Then, two new sections will appear. In the Configuration section, fill in the fields with the information provided by the provider.

Configuration

• Application ID: The WhatsApp Business application ID.
• Application Client Secret: Password for the WhatsApp Business account.
• Messages per Second: The maximum number of messages that can be sent per second. The default value is 1000.

4. Then, in the Numbers section, you need to enter the numbers you configured in the Meta App. Below, you can see how to add the numbers.

Numbers

• Phone List: Here you need to add the numbers the connector will use to send and receive messages. You can add them manually or in bulk using a list of numbers.

  How to add a number?

  To add a number, simply enter it in the Phone Number field and then click the + button.

  Once added, you can view it in the list.

  For each number you will have the option to:

  • Copy: this option copies the number to the clipboard.
  • Delete: this option allows you to delete the number from the connector. To delete it, you need to save the connector.

  How to upload a number list?

  To upload a number list, you need to click the button shown below.

  Then, the data import wizard will open.

  • Step 0: the required fields are displayed.
  • Step 1: you have to drag the list or select it from your computer. It must be in XLSX, ODS, CSV, or TXT format.
  • Step 2: you will see the first 3 records of the list in the left column, and in the right column you must associate it to the Phones option. Additionally, if you included a header in the list, for example, Numbers, you need to select the Contains headers option.
  • Step 3: finally, in this step you simply need to click Finish.

How to monitor the connector's status?

You can check the connector's status in real time. To do this, go to the Connectors section in the Administration Menu, where you'll see a list of all created connectors. In the Status column, the corresponding status for each connector will be displayed.

What does each status mean?

Below are the possible statuses your connectors may have:

The connector is functioning correctly.

The connector has stopped working and needs to be reactivated.

Indicates that the connector is disconnected.

The connector is not currently being monitored.

HSM Templates

HSM templates are pre-formatted messages that must be approved by WhatsApp before they can be sent. They are required to initiate interactions with customers or when more than 24 hours have passed since the customer's last message; after that time, WhatsApp does not allow sending free-form text and only accepts approved templates.

Where are they created?

They are created from Meta Business and must go through an approval process before becoming available.

What content can they have?

Content can include text, media, header, footer, and quick-reply buttons.

How to sync?

When a new WhatsApp Business connector is created, the HSM templates from that account are automatically imported. No additional action is needed at that point.

To bring in new or updated templates after creation, from the connectors list click the three dots on the connector and select Sync templates.

When done, a notification appears indicating how many templates were added, how many were removed, and whether any could not be synced. If there were no pending changes, the notification will indicate that there are no templates to sync.

Required permissions

Only users with permission to create or edit connectors can perform template synchronization.

What is synced?

All templates from your Meta account are imported, regardless of their status:

• Approved: imported in disabled status. They must be enabled manually from the campaign to be used.
• Pending / Rejected: imported in disabled status and cannot be enabled manually.

If a template with the same name already exists in the system, it will not be synced and will appear counted in the result message as "could not be synced".

Automatic updates

After the first sync, uContact receives automatic updates from Meta. When a template changes — either its content or its approval status — uContact updates it automatically. Templates that were never manually synced are not incorporated on their own; they only appear in uContact after the next manual sync.

Campaign linking

• When the connector is assigned to a campaign, all its synced templates are automatically added to that campaign in disabled status. To enable them, go to the Campaign Templates section.
• When the connector is removed from a campaign, its templates are automatically removed from that campaign and can no longer be used.
• If the connector is deleted, its templates are removed from the system and from all campaigns it was assigned to.
• If the connector is changed, the previous templates are removed and replaced by those from the new connector.

What's next?

Now that you know how to set up a WhatsApp Business connector, let's explore how to use it in your WhatsApp channels with this tutorial!