Add WhatsApp to Sparkcentral

Adding WhatsApp to Sparkcentral requires three steps:

1. Agree to the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service: www.whatsapp.com/legal/business-terms.
2. Get your brand approved to use WhatsApp.
3. Link phone numbers to your Sparkcentral instance and get the verified business badge.

It usually takes 5-10 business days to complete this process. The steps are simple, and most take just a few minutes. However, several steps involve getting approvals from Facebook, which can each take 24-48 hours.

Step by step walkthrough

Follow these steps to add WhatsApp to Sparkcentral. Some steps are completed by Sparkcentral and Facebook.

1. Sign an agreement with Sparkcentral, and then agree to the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service.
2. Send your WhatsApp phone number, Facebook Business Manager ID, and the display name for the number in WhatsApp to Sparkcentral.
   • Phone number:
     • This is the phone number you want to use for WhatsApp. For land line numbers, make sure you can disable the IVR (if you have one on that number) during the WhatsApp number verification.
     • During verification, a 6-digit code will be sent to this number. For mobile numbers, it will be a text message (SMS). For land line numbers, it will be an automated voice call.
     • Find more information about choosing the phone number here: developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/guides/phone-number
   • Display name: The display name that you use for WhatsApp must meet certain requirements. Find them here: developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/guides/display-name/
   • Business Manager ID: You can find this ID by going to Business Settings and then Business Info.
3. Sparkcentral creates a new WhatsApp account for your organization, including your WhatsApp number and display name.
   
   
   
   On the Requests tab in Facebook Business Manager, approve the request from Sparkcentral.
   
   
4. In Facebook Business Manager, go to Business Settings, select Security Center, and then select Verification. For detailed information on the verification process, see Verify Your Business in the Facebook Business Help Center.
5. Facebook approves and validates the phone number. Complete the verification process when prompted, using the 6-digit code that you receive via SMS or automated voice call. This code is valid for 10 minutes only. Sparkcentral activates the WhatsApp account and links it to Sparkcentral.
6. Add your business information and logo to the WhatsApp account. Sparkcentral applies for the Verified Business Badge, which Facebook then approves.
7. Add HSMs, which Facebook then approves.

When the account verification process is complete, the WhatsApp account you added appears as a channel in Sparkcentral.

Edit a WhatsApp channel

1. In Sparkcentral, go to Admin settings, expand Channels and business hours, and then select the Edit icon next to the channel you want to edit.
2. Enable, disable, or modify any additional features available:
   • Custom display name – Admins can customize the channel display name for all mediums, up to 255 characters. When you save the new channel display name, it is visible to all users in the channel selector under Conversation view.
   • Auto-assignment – Agents can be automatically assigned conversations after responding. If this option is disabled, conversations must be manually assigned. When a conversation status is set to Resolved, the conversation is unassigned.
   • Auto-resolve New queue - Automatically move conversations from the New queue to the Resolved queue. By default, all conversations older than 30 days are automatically resolved. You can change this default setting, and you can set different times for each channel.
   • Auto-resolve Pending queue - Automatically move conversations from the Pending queue to the Resolved queue. By default, all conversations older than 30 days are automatically resolved. You can change this default setting, and you can set different times for each channel.
   • Team access – Users who belong to a team have access to that team's channels. A user can be a member of more than one team.
   • Channel access - Users with channel access can have one of three roles:
     • Viewer – This role can move conversations to Pending or Resolved, view the channels they have access to, and add tags, notes, and topics to conversations. They can't reply to conversations. This role may be useful for training new agents.
     • Contributor –This role can move conversations to Pending or Resolved, view the channels they have access to, add tags, notes, and topics to conversations, and reply in conversations. Contributors don't have access to reports.
     • Supervisor – This role has all of the permissions a Contributor, as well as the ability to access Reports. To view reports, a user must have the Supervisor role for the applicable channel.
   • Admins may also toggle access on and off for All users and All teams.