WhatsApp

What it does

Sellio talks to WhatsApp through the Cloud API, Meta's hosted gateway. Messages from customers arrive as conversations; your team's replies go out from the business number. Several teammates can answer the one number, which the WhatsApp Business app on a phone cannot do.

Before you start

• A Meta developer app with the WhatsApp product added, in Meta for Developers.
• A phone number registered to that app (Meta gives a test number to start with).
• From the app's WhatsApp, then API setup page: the Phone number ID, the WhatsApp Business account ID, and a permanent access token (a System User token, not the 24-hour test token).

Connect it

1. 1
   In Sellio, open Settings, then Integrations, and choose WhatsApp.
2. 2
   Enter a name for the channel as it should appear in the inbox, the Phone number ID, the Business account ID and the access token. The token is stored on the server and never shown again.
3. 3
   Copy the webhook URL and the verify token that Sellio shows.
4. 4
   In Meta for Developers, open the app's WhatsApp, then Configuration page. Under Webhook, click Edit, paste the URL and the verify token, and click Verify and save.
5. 5
   Still under Webhook, subscribe to the messages field.
6. 6
   Send a WhatsApp message to the number. It appears in the inbox within a few seconds; reply from there.

Once connected

• Every message from a number becomes a conversation; a returning number reopens the same one.
• Replies leave from the business number. WhatsApp's 24-hour window applies: after a day of silence from the customer, only an approved template can be sent, which Sellio does not do yet, so answer while the window is open.
• Meta bills conversation fees to your Meta account; Sellio charges nothing per message.
• The AI agent and customer-message automations do not run on WhatsApp; they work on website chat only. Assignment, notes, tags and tickets do.

Connected channels count against the plan’s channel limit (one on Free, three on Mini, five on Essentials, twenty-five on Plus); see Plans and billing. Disconnecting a channel keeps its past conversations in the inbox.

What teams use this channel for, and how it compares, is on the WhatsApp page.