Connect WhatsApp and add a line

Steps

1. Step 1 of 11

   Open WhatsApp Lines

   The page starts with two ways to connect WhatsApp.

   In the console, open Connections › WhatsApp Lines. If the workspace has no WhatsApp Business account yet, the Accounts and lines tab shows “No WhatsApp account is connected” with two options: Connect a new account, through Meta, or Use an account already in Bridge. The Brands and teams, Onboarding, Consent and Delivery alternatives tabs stay locked until an account is connected. Both options require an administrator of the workspace. The WhatsApp Business account (WABA) is your company’s account at WhatsApp that holds its numbers, and each number is a line.

   • Connections › WhatsApp Lines
   • A new account or one already in Bridge
   • The other tabs open once connected

   Watch step 1 on the screen

2. Step 2 of 11

   Connect a new account through Meta

   Meta connects the account and the number in its own window.

   To connect a new account, select Connect WhatsApp. The Connect WhatsApp window explains what happens: a window from Meta opens where you sign in, choose or create the WhatsApp Business account, add the number and verify it. Before you start you need a Facebook Business account you administer, a number that is not registered in the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business application, access to that number to receive the verification code by message or call, and the business name, description and category customers will see. The window belongs to Meta: Bridge cannot complete those steps for you, and if the sequence ends before the number is verified, nothing is connected. No password reaches Bridge. Select Open the Meta window.

   • A Facebook Business account you administer
   • A number not registered in WhatsApp
   • No password reaches Bridge

   Watch step 2 on the screen

3. Step 3 of 11

   Check the connected account

   Bridge finishes the connection and the first line becomes the main line.

   When the Meta window closes, Bridge finishes the connection on its own: it reads the WhatsApp Business account, registers the number, subscribes to message events and loads the approved templates. You can close the Finishing the connection window without stopping it. When it is done, WhatsApp connected shows the account, its WABA ID, the number and its two states: Connected at WhatsApp and Linked in Bridge. This first line is the main line, so new conversations start from it. Select Go to accounts and lines: the other tabs of the page are now open.

   • Connected at WhatsApp and Linked in Bridge
   • The first line is the main line
   • Closing the window does not stop it

   Watch step 3 on the screen

4. Step 4 of 11

   Or use an account already in Bridge

   Use an account of your company without going through Meta.

   If your company already connected a WhatsApp Business account in another workspace, you do not need Meta: select Choose an account. Only your company’s accounts are listed, each with its free lines, its WABA ID, its approved templates and the workspaces that already use it. An account can be shared by several workspaces, but each line belongs to one only, and nothing is taken from the workspaces that already use it. Choose the account and select Choose the lines.

   • Only your company’s accounts
   • The account is shared; lines are not
   • Nothing is taken from other workspaces

   Watch step 4 on the screen

5. Step 5 of 11

   Choose this workspace’s lines

   Each line belongs to one workspace only.

   Mark the lines this workspace will use. Lines of another workspace are disabled and show that workspace’s name. A free line still in review at Meta can be chosen: it starts working once approved. The first line you mark becomes the Main line here, and Make it the main line changes which one it is. The account’s approved templates come with it, and the lines you choose belong to this workspace only. Select Use this line or Use these N lines: Bridge brings them into the workspace and shows WhatsApp is ready here, with each line Linked in Bridge, or In review at Meta while it is not approved yet.

   • Lines of another workspace cannot be chosen
   • A line in review at Meta can
   • One of them is the main line

   Watch step 5 on the screen

6. Step 6 of 11

   Review your lines

   The table shows each line’s type and states.

   With an account connected, Accounts and lines shows the WhatsApp Business account at the top, its WABA ID, the workspaces it is shared with and the provider state. Below, the table lists every line with its number and these columns: Workspace; Meta status, the review of the display name (Approved, In review or Rejected); Type; WhatsApp, what the provider reports; Bridge status, whether this workspace can use the line (Online or Pending); and Calls. Lines of other workspaces on the same account are faded and cannot be opened. If your company uses brands and teams, their exclusive lines show the type Brand and its name.

   • Meta status: the review of the name
   • Bridge status: whether this workspace can use it
   • Lines of other workspaces, faded

   Watch step 6 on the screen

7. Step 7 of 11

   Add another line

   Connect a new number to the same account.

   To add a number to the account, select Add a line. WhatsApp opens its own window: you sign in with the Facebook account that manages the WhatsApp Business account, add the number and enter the code WhatsApp sends by SMS or call, so keep the phone at hand. When WhatsApp confirms the number, Bridge shows Number connected and asks for two things: the Display name, which customers see and WhatsApp reviews, and the Type: Main, Marketing or Test. Select Add line. The new line shows In review and Pending, and goes Online as soon as WhatsApp confirms it.

   • Verified with a code by SMS or call
   • Display name and type
   • Online once WhatsApp confirms it

   Watch step 7 on the screen

8. Step 8 of 11

   Set the type and the priority

   The type says what a line is for; the priority, in which order it is used.

   Click a line to open its panel. In Type you choose what it is for: Main starts new conversations in the order of its priority; Marketing carries marketing messages, such as campaigns, and does not start service conversations; Test is for trying things out and is not used with customers. Every Main line has a Priority from 1 to 100, which the table shows next to the type (Main 1, Main 2…). Bridge starts every new conversation from the Main line with the lowest number and moves to the next when a line cannot carry it. The panel lists the other Main lines with their priority. Select Save.

   • Main, Marketing or Test
   • Priority 1 to 100: Main 1 first
   • If one cannot, the next one takes it

   Watch step 8 on the screen

9. Step 9 of 11

   Turn on the line’s calls

   Calls are turned on inside each line.

   WhatsApp voice calls are turned on line by line, inside each line. In the line’s panel, under Voice calls, turn on Allow voice calls from this line. It can only be turned on for numbers where WhatsApp already allows calling; otherwise the switch is disabled and the notice “Calling is not available on this number” explains why. When you turn it off, your team can no longer start new calls from that number, and calls in progress continue. The table’s Calls column shows On, Off or Not available. Select Save.

   • Allow voice calls from this line
   • Only if WhatsApp allows calls on that number
   • On, Off or Not available

   Watch step 9 on the screen

10. Step 10 of 11

    Pause or deactivate a line

    Stop using a line without losing its history.

    At the end of the line’s panel, select Deactivate line. The Take out of use window offers two options. Stop new conversations: current conversations continue on the line and contacts can keep replying, but the line is no longer offered to start new conversations, Assist or campaigns. Deactivate the line: it stops sending and receiving in Bridge and leaves routing; conversations and history are kept and the number stays in the WhatsApp account. Either can be undone from the line. Bridge refuses any change that would leave the workspace without a line to start conversations from.

    • Stop new conversations: current ones continue
    • Deactivate: no sending or receiving
    • Both can be undone

    Watch step 10 on the screen

11. Step 11 of 11

    Continue with the setup

    The other tabs are open to continue.

    With an account connected, the other tabs of WhatsApp Lines are open. If your company works with brands or teams, in Brands and teams you give each one exclusive lines, in order of priority; a line is assigned to a brand or team there once it is online. In Onboarding you set the first messages of every conversation Bridge starts, in Consent the question asked before commercial messages, and in Delivery alternatives which template goes out when a Marketing one is not delivered. In Getting started, the next item is creating a WhatsApp template.

    • Brands and teams: exclusive lines
    • Onboarding, Consent, Delivery alternatives
    • Then: create a WhatsApp template

    Watch step 11 on the screen