WhatsApp Business step-by-step onboarding

This step-by-step guide walks you through the whole WhatsApp Business onboarding process.

Step 1: Sign up for WhatsApp Business

Sign up for WhatsApp Business. We will qualify your application and send it to WhatsApp for approval. You can track the status of your request in your Sparrow dashboard.

During the flow, you will be asked for your Facebook Business ID. Please follow these steps to find your Facebook Business ID - we will also email it to you when you reach this step:

• Log in to your company'sFacebook Business Manageraccount.
• Go toBusiness settings .
• UnderBusiness Manager info, you will see yourBusiness Manager ID number.
• Go to your Sparrow dashboard, copy this number into theYour Facebook IDsection and pressSave.
• And that's it! Make sure all your information is correct and pressSubmit request.

If you don't have a Facebook Business account yet, you can sign up athttps://business.facebook.com/

Step 2: Verify your business and accept the invitation

Once your WhatsApp Business sign-up is complete, you will receive an email from our Customer Success team asking you to accept WhatsApp via Facebook and verify your business:

Accept

• Make sure you are logged in toFacebook Business Manager account ofyourbusiness(not your personal Facebook account)
• Go to theRequests tabof your Facebook Business Manager.
• InReceived, you should see an invitation from us for the WhatsApp Business API.
• Open the invitation andacceptit.

Verify

After accepting the invitation, please make sure yourFacebook business is verified. If your business has already been verified, you can skip this step; otherwise, please pay close attention to Facebook's instructions toverify your business .

• Go tobusiness settingsand clickon Security Center.
• PressVerificationand clickStart verification. Once you have started the verification process, you can check its status in this section.
• Enter your business details and pressNext.
• Select the right business from the list, or “None of the above” if your name does not appear.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to confirm your business information. If you selected “None of the above” in the previous step, Facebook will ask you to verify your business by sending additional documentation.
• Choose how you would prefer to receive the confirmation code and enter the verification code.
• And that's it! You will receive a confirmation from Facebook about your request.

Please note that the verification decision is entirely at Facebook's discretion.

Once your Facebook Business profile has been successfully verified, your request will be sent to WhatsApp for approval.

Step 3: Choose a number and a display name

As soon as WhatsApp approves your application, our Customer Success team will contact you to connect the number you will use for WhatsApp. This will be the number customers can reach you on and from which you can send WhatsApp messages.

You can use one of Sparrow's free virtual mobile numbers (VMN) or one of your current phone numbers:

• Your own number: it must be a number that has never been associated with WhatsApp before. It can be mobile or landline.
• VMN: availability and pricing depend on the country.

Each number needs a “display name”. This is the name your customers will see, which can be found in your business information on WhatsApp and cannot be changed once activated. Please seeFacebook's guidelines for display names .

Step 4: Activate the WhatsApp channel in your Sparrow account

You will receive an email from our Customer Success team telling you when your channel is ready to be activated. Go toChannelsin the left sidebar of your Sparrow dashboard, clickWhatsAppand find your very first WhatsApp channel. You should see "Activate channel" as a green button. To activate the channel, a verification code will be sent to your WhatsApp number:

• Your own mobile number: you can receive the code by SMS or phone call (phone call recommended).
• Your own landline number: you will receive the code by phone call.
• VMN: you will receive the code by phone call. Please attach the number to a call-forwarding flow and make sure you publish the flow.

ClickActivate channel, request the code by SMS or phone call and enter it in the field on the right.

If the status shows "Pending", wait 10 minutes and refresh the page. Please reply to the Customer Success team's thread if the status has not changed after more than 30 minutes.

Once the number is activated, you are ready to start using our WhatsApp Business. So how can you start using WhatsApp? You can use it either:

• Connect your WhatsApp channel to Inboxhere(Connection guide).
• Or by using the Conversations API (Developer Documentation).

Step 5: Register a message template

To reach your customers, you need a pre-approved message template. Your plan already includes a number of free message templates. You can submit message templates through the WhatsApp template manager in the Sparrow dashboard. Once your message template has been approved, it can no longer be changed; however, you can add new templates at any time.