Set up WhatsApp Business in Exoconnect

This guide connects your business’s WhatsApp number to Exoconnect. When you finish, your customers’ WhatsApp messages land in your Inbox, and you can write message templates and run WhatsApp groups. It takes about five minutes.

Exoconnect connects WhatsApp through the WhatsApp Business Platform. That is Meta’s official way for a business to send and receive WhatsApp messages from software, and the number keeps working under Meta’s rules for businesses.

What you need

• A Facebook account that can manage your business on Meta. Meta’s window lets you pick your business, or create one if you don’t have one yet.
• The phone number your business will use on WhatsApp. If Meta needs to confirm it, it sends a code to that number by text or call, so keep the phone close.
• Room in your plan. A WhatsApp number counts as one connected account. The Free plan connects up to three accounts, Starter five and Pro ten. See the pricing page.
• The right role. In a team, connecting accounts needs a role that can manage connections. If you don’t see Connect, ask an admin.

1. Start from Connections

1. Open Connections from your account menu.
2. Choose Connect, then WhatsApp.
3. Read the short summary and choose Continue with Meta.

Meta’s sign-up window opens. Exoconnect waits while it’s open and shows Waiting for Meta….

2. Choose your business and number in Meta’s window

Follow Meta’s steps:

1. Sign in with Facebook if Meta asks.
2. Choose your business, or create one.
3. Choose the WhatsApp Business account and the phone number to connect, or add a new number.
4. Confirm the number with the code Meta sends, if it asks for one.
5. Approve Exoconnect’s access when Meta asks.

When you finish, Meta’s window closes and the number appears in Connections. If you close Meta’s window early, nothing is connected and you can start again whenever you like.

3. Register the number with a six-digit PIN

A number new to the WhatsApp Business Platform has to be registered before messages can reach it. Right after Meta’s window closes, Exoconnect shows Finish setup:

1. Choose a six-digit PIN. WhatsApp asks for this PIN if the number ever moves to another app, so keep it somewhere safe. Exoconnect sends it to Meta and doesn’t keep it.
2. Choose Register number.

When Meta accepts it, you see Ready for messages. Choose Done.

A few things can happen here:

• “This number already has a different PIN.” The number already uses two-step verification. Enter that PIN, or turn off two-step verification in Meta’s WhatsApp Manager and choose a new one.
• Registration limit. Meta allows 10 registrations per number every 3 days. If they’re used up, try again later.
• You closed the sheet before registering. The number’s row says Needs setup to receive messages. Choose Finish setup on that row to come back to the PIN.

4. Check that it works

In Connections, your number’s row should say Receiving messages. That means Meta reports the number as connected and is sending its messages to Exoconnect.

To test it, send a WhatsApp message to your business number from your own phone. It appears in Inbox within a few seconds. Open it and reply. Your reply arrives on your phone like any WhatsApp message.

If the row says Couldn’t check with WhatsApp, Exoconnect couldn’t reach Meta just then. Reload the page in a minute.

What you can do now

• Answer chats in the same Inbox as your Instagram and Facebook messages, with text, photos, videos, audio and documents. Read One inbox for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
• Write message templates and send them to people after the 24-hour window has closed. Read WhatsApp templates and the 24-hour window, explained. On Today, a Templates shortcut appears once a number is connected.
• Create WhatsApp groups, share invite links and let people in. Read Run WhatsApp groups from Exoconnect.
• Keep contacts. Each person who writes to you becomes a contact, so their whole history is in one place.

What it costs

Exoconnect doesn’t charge per message. Meta charges businesses for some WhatsApp messages, such as templates, at its own rates. Those charges come from Meta, separate from your Exoconnect plan, and Exoconnect adds nothing on top.

When something needs your attention

• Paused. If Meta stops accepting the number’s sign-in, or someone removes Exoconnect’s access to your WhatsApp Business account in Meta, the row says Paused · sign in again. Choose Reconnect and go through Meta’s window again. Your history stays.
• Meta account alerts. If WhatsApp disables, restricts or reinstates your business account, Exoconnect sends a notification to the people who manage connections. The details are in Meta’s WhatsApp Manager.

Disconnect a number

In Connections, choose the unplug button on the number’s row, then Disconnect. Exoconnect stops using the number for replies, and messages stop arriving in your Inbox. Your history stays in Exoconnect, and nothing changes on WhatsApp: the number stays registered with Meta. You can connect it again later with Connect again.

If you’re new to Exoconnect, set up the rest of your workspace next.