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📦 Connect to WhatsApp

Linking WhatsApp is the most important channel-setup step for most businesses. Once connected, your AI assistant can reply 24/7, you can send campaigns, and every conversation lands in your unified inbox. Find it at Dashboard → Channels → WhatsApp.

What you'll need

  • A Facebook (Meta) account that owns or has admin access to a Business Manager.
  • A phone number you can verify by SMS or voice call. It must be one of:
    • Not currently active on the WhatsApp consumer app, OR
    • Ready to be migrated from consumer WhatsApp to WhatsApp Business.
  • A short display name for your business (this is what customers see).
  • An assistant already created (optional but recommended — otherwise messages just sit unanswered).

Step 1 — Open the WhatsApp setup

Two ways to get there:

  • From the sidebar: Channels → WhatsApp.
  • From the dashboard home: click the "📦 Connect WhatsApp" card.

Step 2 — Sign up with Facebook (recommended)

This is the embedded signup flow Meta provides — the simplest, safest way to connect.

  1. Click Login with Facebook.
  2. A Meta popup opens. Sign in with the account that owns your Business Manager.
  3. Pick (or create) the Business portfolio Intelli should be tied to.
  4. Pick (or create) a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA).
  5. Add or select the phone number you want to use, and choose its display name.
  6. Verify the number by code (SMS or voice).
  7. Grant Intelli the permissions it asks for. Close the popup when done — you'll be back on the Intelli setup page.

We'll automatically provision an app service for the new number — that's the bundle of credentials that links your WABA to your Intelli organization. You should see a green confirmation card with the phone number listed.

Step 2 (alternative) — Manual setup

If you already have a WABA set up in Meta Business Suite and prefer to paste credentials directly, click Manual setup instead. You'll need:

  • Display name for the connection
  • Phone number (with country code)
  • Phone Number ID — found in Meta Business Suite → WhatsApp → API Setup
  • WhatsApp Business Account ID — same screen
  • Permanent Access Token — generated in your Meta App settings
  • App Secret — Meta App → Settings → Basic

Click Create WhatsApp Package. Use this path only if you're comfortable with Meta's tokens — the Facebook login flow is easier for everyone else.

Step 3 — Send a test message

  1. From your own phone, send a WhatsApp message to the connected business number.
  2. Open Dashboard → Conversations → WhatsApp in Intelli — your message should appear within seconds.
  3. If you connected an assistant, you'll see the AI reply automatically.
Not seeing the message? Refresh the conversations page. If still nothing, re-check that the assistant is linked to the channel and the WABA is finished verifying in Meta Business Suite.

Connecting more than one number

You can repeat this process for additional numbers — each one shows up as a separate App Service you can pick from in Campaigns, Templates, and the inbox. Useful when you have one number for sales, another for support.

The 24-hour rule (don't skip)

WhatsApp has a strict rule:

You can freely reply to a customer for 24 hours after their last message. Outside that window, you can only send a Meta-approved template.

So before running campaigns, head to Templates and get at least one approved.

Quality rating & messaging tiers

Meta assigns each business a quality rating (Green / Yellow / Red) and a daily messaging tier (250, 1K, 10K, 100K, unlimited). You can see both on your WhatsApp channel page.

  • Don't spam. Mass-sending unwanted marketing tanks your rating fast.
  • Honour opt-outs. If someone replies STOP, tag them and exclude them from future campaigns.
  • Get explicit opt-in. Especially for marketing messages.

Disconnecting

To remove the integration: open the App Service, click Disconnect, confirm. Your number is detached from Intelli but stays on your WABA. You can re-connect any time.

What's next