Skip to content
AurionAI

Connect WhatsApp

6 min readBy Emmanuel Yazbeck

Connect your WhatsApp Business number so that customer WhatsApp messages arrive in the unified inbox. On the WhatsApp page you connect numbers, send a test message and manage the message templates that Meta must approve.

Availability: Helpdesk and AI Voice + Helpdesk profiles. You open the page from the configuration, which only administrators can see.

Prerequisites

  • You have the Owner or Admin role.
  • Your organization uses the Helpdesk or the AI Voice + Helpdesk profile. In the AI Voice profile, the page is not available.
  • A WhatsApp Business account at Meta, and a phone number for it.
  • For the manual setup: the phone number ID, the WhatsApp Business account ID (WABA ID) and a permanent system user access token from Meta Business Suite.

Open the WhatsApp page

  1. In the sidebar, select Configuration.
  2. Open the Integrations category.
  3. Select Channels.
  4. On the WhatsApp card, select Open WhatsApp channel settings.

The page has two tabs: Channels and Templates. If no number is connected yet, the Channels tab shows the Connect WhatsApp Business wizard.

Connect with Meta

This is the recommended way. Meta guides you through the sign-up of your WhatsApp Business account.

  1. In the Connect WhatsApp Business wizard, select Connect with Meta. If you already have a channel, select Add Channel first.
  2. Optional: in Webhook Secret (optional), enter your own verify token. Leave it empty to let AurionAI create one.
  3. Select Authorize with Meta. A Meta window opens.
  4. In the Meta window, follow the steps of Meta. Choose your WhatsApp Business account and your phone number.
  5. Back on the page, the wizard shows Channel connected successfully! Select Continue.
  6. The wizard shows WhatsApp channel is ready! Select View Channel.

During the connection, AurionAI subscribes to the events of your WhatsApp Business account and registers the phone number at Meta. You do not set a callback URL in Meta Business Suite: the wizard says so in its verify step. If Meta refuses one of these steps, the channel is not connected and an error message names the cause.

If the method shows Unavailable. Configure Meta OAuth environment variables to enable., the Meta sign-up is not set up for the AurionAI service. Use the manual setup, or contact AurionAI support. Read Get help.

[Screenshot to come: The WhatsApp page with a connected channel.]

Manual setup

  1. In the Connect WhatsApp Business wizard, select Manual Setup.
  2. Enter the Phone Number ID, the WABA ID and the Display Number.
  3. Optional: enter a Display Name (optional).
  4. Paste the System User Access Token.
  5. Optional: enter a Webhook Secret (optional).
  6. Select Connect Channel.
  7. In the verify step, copy the verify token and the Webhook callback URL. The page shows the token only once. Store it like a password.
  8. In Meta Business Suite, set this callback URL and verify token for the number.

Register the callback URL under Aurion's Meta app. Callbacks registered under your own Meta app are not supported because Aurion cannot verify their delivery signatures.

Manage a connected number

Each number has a card on the Channels tab. The card shows the status, the Phone Number ID, the WABA ID, the Messaging Tier and the Last Message.

  • Send a test message. Select Test Message. Enter the Destination WhatsApp ID and the Message, then select Send.
  • Pause sending. Select Pause. Pause stops outbound messages only. Inbound messages are still received and stored. Select Resume to send again.
  • Claim a username. Under Username, enter a username and select Claim.
  • Delete the number. Select Delete, then Delete Channel. This also deletes all templates of the channel. It cannot be undone.

Below the cards, the QR Code card shows a code that customers can scan to open a WhatsApp chat with your number.

Renew the access token

To give AurionAI a new access token for a connected number:

  1. On the card of the number, select Replace access token.
  2. Paste the new token in Access token and select Save.

Paste a new access token from Meta for this number. AurionAI checks that the token can reach this number and its WhatsApp Business Account before it saves it. Only users who may connect channels see this button: the Owner and Admin roles, or a custom role with that permission.

For a number that you connected with Meta, you can also connect it again: on the Channels tab, select Add Channel, then Connect with Meta, and choose the same phone number. AurionAI updates the existing channel with the new token. It keeps the existing verify token, unless you enter a new one. If Meta refuses the connection, AurionAI pauses the existing channel. Sending then stays off until you select Resume or a new connection succeeds.

Create a message template

When the 24-hour customer service window of WhatsApp is closed, AurionAI can reach the customer only with a template that Meta has approved.

  1. Open the Templates tab.
  2. Select Add Template. To start from a ready-made text, select Browse starters and then Use this starter instead.
  3. Select the Channel.
  4. Enter a Template Name and select the Language.
  5. Select the Category: Utility or Marketing.
  6. Enter the Body. Use {{1}}, {{2}} and so on for the values that change. Enter an example value for each one.
  7. Optional: add a header text, a footer and up to three quick reply buttons.
  8. Select Create Template.

The Templates tab of the WhatsApp page.

AurionAI sends the template to Meta. The template has the status PENDING until Meta approves or rejects it. Select Sync from Meta to update the statuses. Use the status buttons above the list to filter it.

You can edit a template when its status is APPROVED, REJECTED or PAUSED. Meta reviews the template again after a change to its body. You cannot edit a template while Meta reviews it.

Result

A connected number shows Active on its card. Customer messages to the number arrive in the unified inbox. An approved template is ready to use for messages that your team starts.

If something goes wrong

  • "Popup blocked by browser. Allow popups and retry Meta signup." Allow pop-up windows for AurionAI in your browser and try again.
  • "Meta authorization was cancelled." The Meta window was closed before the end. Start again.
  • "WhatsApp channel with this phone number already exists." The number is already connected. To renew its token, see Renew the access token.
  • "This phone number is already registered to another Aurion account" Another organization uses this number. Contact AurionAI support to release it.
  • "Could not verify with Meta that this phone_number_id belongs to the supplied waba_id" In the manual setup, check the phone number ID, the WABA ID and the token in Meta Business Suite, then try again.
  • "WhatsApp credentials could not be decrypted. Reconnect the channel and try again." Replace the access token of the number. See Renew the access token.
  • Events for a different WABA are arriving. Check this channel's Meta configuration before relying on inbound messages. Check the Meta configuration of the number before you rely on inbound messages.
  • Outbound paused. Inbound messages are still received and stored. Select Resume on the card.
  • A template stays PENDING. Meta has not finished its review. Select Sync from Meta later.

Still stuck? Submit a request or .