WhatsApp Business API - Meta

Prerequisites:

To get WhatsApp Business API from Meta, you need to ensure these two criterions are met.

1. Your Business Manager is verified by Facebook.

2. You don’t have active WhatsApp account linked with the number.

Getting the WhatsApp Business API from Meta:

The process to obtain the WhatsApp Business API from Meta is divided into 4 parts:

1. Creating an Application on Meta Developer Portal.

2. Configuring the phone number of the sender.

3. Generating the permanent token from Meta.

4. Configuring Meta provider on ReplyCX and setting up the Web-hook URL on Meta.

Create an application:

1. Go to the website Meta for Developers: developers.facebook.com.

2. On the top right corner, click “log in” and give your Facebook credentials.

3. After successful login, click on the “My Apps” option in the top right corner.

4. Click on “Create App”.

5. Choose “Business” as an option and click “Next”.

6. Define following terms:

   • App Name:

     Give an appropriate name to the Application.

   • Contact Email:

     Provide your email address linked with Facebook.

   • Business Account:

     Select the business account which is verified and with which you want the app to be associated.

7. Click on “Create App” to create the App.

   Under “Add products to your app”, click on “Set up” against “WhatsApp”.

Once the App is created for WhatsApp, you will get a temporary token (expires in 23 hours), sender’s test number, phone number ID, WhatsApp Business ID & template for testing purpose

Adding the phone number of the sender:

To link the API & run the bot on your number, you will then need to configure the sender’s number. You can follow the following steps to configure the same:

1. Go to “Getting Started” under “WhatsApp” on the left panel.

2. Go to “Step 5: Add a phone number” & click on “Add phone number”.

3. Configure the following to fill in your business details:

   • Business Name: Mention the name of your business.

   • Business Website: Provide the website address of your business.

   • Country: Select the country where your business is based.

4. Click “Next” to proceed further.

5. Configure following to setup WhatsApp Business Profile:

   • WhatsApp Business Profile Display Name: The name that will appear to your customers.

   • Time-zone: The time-zone in which your business will be operating.

   • Category: Choose the category of the business from the available options.

   • Business Description: Provide short description about what your business does.

6. Click “Next” to proceed further.

7. Configure following to add a phone number for WhatsApp:

   • Phone Number: Choose the country code and mention the number in the space provided against the country code.

   • Choose the verification method: This will send verification code to your phone number. You can either select “Text Message” or “Phone Call” for the verification.

8. Click “Next” to verify phone number.

9. Verify your phone number using code received and click “Next” to configure phone number.

Generating Permanent Token:

The next step is to generate the permanent token for the API configured with the phone number. You can follow the following steps to generate the permanent token:

1. Go to business.facebook.com.
2. Click on "Settings" gear against your business account.

3. Under "Users" on the left panel, go to "System Users".

4. Click on "Add" to create the system user and configure the following:

   • System Username: Provide the system username.

   • System User Role: Select the role as "Admin".

5. Click on "Create System User" to create the system user.

6. Once the system user is created, click on "Add Assets" on the "System Users" page & assign assets to created system user & configure the following:

   • On the left menu panel in pop-up window, click on "Apps" to select it as the assets type.

   • Select the created app under "Select Assets".

   • Switch on "Manage App" under "Full Control" under "App".

7. Click on "Save Changes" to assign assets to the created user.

8. Under "Accounts" on the left panel, go to "WhatsApp Accounts".

9. Click on "Add People" & configure following:

   • Select the recently created system user under "Select People".

   • Switch on "Manage WhatsApp Account" under "Assign Access".

10. Click on "Assign" to save the changes.

11. Go back to "System Users" under "Users" on the left panel.

12. Select recently created system user.

13. Click on "Generate New Token" to create permanent token.

14. Choose your "WhatsApp Business App".

15. Check following two permissions from the list:

    • Whatsapp_business_management

    • Whatsapp_business_messaging

16. Click on "Generate" again to generate the token.