Before You Begin
To link your WhatsApp Business Account with the conversations inbox in Hostaway, make sure you have the following ready:
- A Meta Business Manager account for your company
- Admin access to your company’s Meta Business Manager account
- A phone number that you intend to use for WhatsApp messaging
Important: The phone number you will use must not be linked to any other WhatsApp account, WhatsApp Business App, or a WhatsApp integration with another WhatsApp tech provider. If it is already in use elsewhere, you’ll need to disconnect it before linking it to Hostaway.
Limitations
Please be aware of the following restrictions when setting up and using the WhatsApp integration:
- Due to Meta’s requirements, only WhatsApp Business accounts can be connected to Hostaway. Personal WhatsApp accounts are not supported
- Only messages received after connecting your WhatsApp Business account will sync with Hostaway; previous conversations will not be imported
- Once your WhatsApp account is connected to Hostaway, messages will only appear in the Hostaway conversations inbox, and not in the WhatsApp mobile or web apps.
How to set up
- Go to the Settings page of your Facebook account within the integrations tab
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Trigger the embedded sign-in flow for WhatsApp and go through it
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Go to the Meta website and create your very own WhatsApp message templates
- You can create as many as you want
- You can use almost any Hostaway message automation field as a WhatsApp template variable
- We recommend that you go to our automations page and create a draft template there, and then copy and paste it into your WhatsApp message template
- Once the templates are approved, you can now use them via our inbox to start conversations with your guests. All of the messages will now be received from your phone number, with your branding.