Connect your channels

Connect WhatsApp

Bring a WhatsApp Business number into your inbox and prepare it for campaigns.

WhatsApp works through the official WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API). You need a Meta Business account and a phone number that can receive an SMS or a call for verification.

Before you start

  • A Meta Business Manager account (business.facebook.com). Create one if you don't have it.
  • A phone number that is not currently registered on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app. If it is, delete the WhatsApp account on the phone first (Settings → Account → Delete my account), or use a different number.
  • Your business display name as customers should see it.

Connect the number to your inbox

  1. Open the STS Connect Inbox and go to Settings → Inboxes → Add Inbox.
  2. Choose WhatsApp and press Continue with Facebook.
  3. In the Meta window, sign in, pick or create your business, and create your WhatsApp Business Account.
  4. Add the phone number, enter the verification code sent by SMS or call, and finish.
  5. Back in the inbox, add the agents who should answer this number under Collaborators.

Send a test message from your own phone to the number. It appears as a new conversation within seconds.

Prepare the number for campaigns (optional)

Inbound and outbound chats work as soon as the inbox is connected. To send WhatsApp campaigns from the portal, register the number there too:

  1. In Meta Business Manager open WhatsApp → API Setup and copy the Phone number ID and the WhatsApp Business Account ID.
  2. Create a system user with a permanent access token that has the whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management permissions.
  3. In the portal open WhatsApp Numbers → New, paste the three values, and mark the number as Default for campaigns.

The token is stored encrypted and never shown again.

Good to know

  • Customer-initiated conversations can be answered freely for 24 hours. After that, or to start a conversation, you must use an approved message template (portal → WhatsApp Templates).
  • Meta limits how many new conversations a new number can start per day. The limit rises automatically as customers keep engaging with you.
  • Complete business verification in Meta Business Manager to show your display name and raise limits.

Still stuck?

Email hello@stsconnect.chat with your company name and what you were trying to do. We answer on business days.