The Tidio integration with WhatsApp empowers businesses to manage WhatsApp messages directly inside the Tidio panel providing efficient and personalized support. With this integration, you can streamline your customer support workflows and enhance the communication experience for your customers.
Integrating Tidio with WhatsApp allows you to:
- Respond to all text messages received through WhatsApp (Please note: you have 24h to reply to received messages);
- Exchange an unlimited number of messages;
- Connect multiple WhatsApp Business Accounts (each with several numbers);
- Boost your productivity by adding flows to automate routine conversation.
In this article, you'll learn:
- What the requirements are
- How to integrate with WhatsApp
- How to remove the integration with WhatsApp
- How to use flows for WhatsApp
- The answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions
- How to handle PIN mismatch errors
Requirements
Access to Facebook Business Manager
To be able to integrate with WhatsApp, each business needs to have access to Facebook Business Manager. Without access to it, you will not be able to integrate with WhatsApp.
If you don't have the Facebook Business Manager, you can create a new account. However, keep in mind that there may be certain restrictions on use in the first 24 hours.
Phone number for WhatsApp
The phone number must be a valid phone number that meets the following criteria:
- the phone number is owned by you and registered under your company's ownership. You should not use your personal phone number.
- you are able to receive phone calls and SMS to the provided number.
- If your number is being used inside the WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business app, you would need to remove it from the account that is being used and delete the WhatsApp Messenger from your phone device before integrating Tidio with WhatsApp.
Business details and legal address
While integrating Tidio with WhatsApp, you will need the following information:
- name of your company that will be visible to all visitors you engage with
- legal business name
- the official address of your company
How to integrate
To begin the integration with WhatsApp, head to Settings > WhatsApp section in your Tidio panel. Then, click on the Integrate WhatsApp button to start the integration.
You'll see a window with a summary of all the requirements that you need to meet in order to integrate Tidio with WhatsApp. To process, click on the blue Integrate WhatsApp button.
Each requirement will be explained in detail. To move forward, click on the Next Tip button:
In the next stage, you'll see a Facebook login modal. Please log in to your Facebook account associated with your Meta Business Account.
Select the Meta Business Account you want your integration associated with (or create one if you don't have one).
Next, create your WhatsApp Business Account (or select an existing one).
Then - submit the phone number that you plan to use as your WhatsApp Phone Number for verification. Please ensure that the phone number meets all the requirements. Receive your verification code and submit it in the Facebook integration window.
After the integration is completed, you'll come back to your Tidio panel where you will be able to see all the data about your integration:
How to remove the WhatsApp integration
To begin, access the WhatsApp Manager. Once on the platform, navigate to the Phone numbers section, which can be found in the left-hand menu.
Within this section, locate the phone number you wish to remove. Next, click on the Delete icon associated with that number.
Once you click on the Delete icon, it'll kickstart the deletion process. You'll likely need to confirm this by entering your password to make sure it's really you. Just follow the prompts that pop up to finish the deletion smoothly.
Flows for WhatsApp
You can take advantage of WhatsApp integration to provide a more efficient customer service experience. This integration supports flows, an additional layer of automation to your communication, allowing you to utilize some of the triggers for a streamlined customer service experience.
To learn more about flows in general, please see this section of our Help Center.
There are some limitations for flows due to how WhatsApp works; for example, only three triggers are able to function in WhatsApp:
- Visitor says
- Agent doesn't take the conversation
- Agent starts the flow
In addition to the above, the action Decision (Quick Replies) is slightly limited as well. Technically, the action allows you to create up to 11 different buttons to select from; WhatsApp users will only be able to view the first 3 buttons, however.
FAQ
Is the integration with WhatsApp free?
Yes, the integration is completely free and available on each plan.
Can I integrate a phone number that I've used for a different WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business account?
Yes. However, you must delete the number from the current account in order to reuse it for the new integration.
How do I delete the account:
- Open the WhatsApp App/WhatsApp Business App
- Navigate to Settings → Account
- Select Delete My Account
- Follow the steps described to delete the WhatsApp account. Please note it may take up to 3 minutes for the disconnected number to become available.
- Delete the WhatsApp app from your device
- Once the number has become available, you can undergo new WhatsApp onboarding.
Can I integrate multiple phone numbers?
Yes! By default, each WhatsApp Business Account can hold up to 2 phone numbers. With a verified Meta Business Account, you can normally connect up to 5 phone numbers.
Users can individually manage each phone number and WhatsApp Business Account connected with Tidio. Adding a new WhatsApp Business Account or phone number does not affect the functionality of existing ones.
Can I pick up calls from WhatsApp?
Unfortunately, at this moment, audio/video calls/WhatsApp statuses /reactions/ Group messages - are not supported on WhatsApp API. As a result, we are unable to implement these features in Tidio. We understand that this limitation may be disappointing, but please rest assured that we are continuously exploring possibilities and advancements in the WhatsApp API. Once these functionalities become available, we will do our best to incorporate them into Tidio and enhance your overall experience.
Can I add a contact and create a new conversation?
Unfortunately, it is not possible to initiate WhatsApp conversations from Tidio's end; it's only possible to reply to incoming messages.
Handling PIN mismatch errors
The PIN Mismatch error occurs primarily when a phone number that was previously registered (e.g., via a Tidio integration) is being re-registered. In older integrations, the PIN assigned to the phone number was not stored in the Tidio database; as a result, when you try to reconnect, the system encounters an active 2-step verification (2FA) lock with an unknown PIN, ending up in an error.
This issue is limited to legacy records. For all new integrations and numbers that have been successfully re-registered, this problem will no longer occur. Current system updates ensure that both the phone number and its assigned PIN are securely stored in our database, preventing future mismatches.
Since the 2FA settings are managed within the user's infrastructure, you need to following the steps below in order to solve the issue.
Step 1: Disabling 2FA in your WhatsApp Manager
Log into your WhatsApp Manager dashboard and open the relevant WhatsApp account:
Inside, locate the specific phone number experiencing the error. Open its settings:
In the Two-step verification tab, select the option to Turn off two-step verification:
Step 2: Email confirmation
Just disabling 2FA in the WhatsApp Manager panel is not enough; Meta requires a manual confirmation to prevent unauthorized changes.
- An automated email from WhatsApp/Meta will be sent to the address associated with your WhatsApp Business account.
- You must open the link in that email and click Confirm.
- Note: If you fail to confirm via email, the PIN lock remains active, and the integration will continue to result in an error.
Step 3: Re-initiating the Integration
Once the 2FA has been disabled and confirmed:
- You should return to your Tidio project and start the WhatsApp integration process from scratch.
- The system will now be able to register the number and automatically assign/store a new PIN, ensuring a stable connection moving forward.
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