Getting started Send your first message
Send your first message
Start a chat with a customer, or answer one who wrote to you.
What it does
On WhatsApp, a business cannot start a chat with free text. The first message to a person must be an approved message template.
After the customer writes back, you can answer with any text you like for 24 hours. The Inbox shows how many hours are left.
Where to find it
InboxNew message (the + button)
How to use it
- Open Inbox. Press the + button next to the search box. Its name is New message.
- Type the customer’s phone number. Start with the plus sign and the country code. You do not need to save the person as a contact first. WAGenie adds them to Contacts for you.
- Press Continue.
- Pick an approved template. If it has blanks, fill in every one.
- Press Send template. The chat opens in your Inbox.
- When the customer replies, type your answer in the box at the bottom and press Enter. Shift and Enter starts a new line.
Example for a business
A dental clinic
A clinic wants to remind a patient about a check up. The receptionist presses the + button in the Inbox, types the patient’s number and picks the approved template appointment_reminder. The patient replies Yes. For the next 24 hours the receptionist can write to the patient in plain text, with no template.
Good to know
- You need at least one approved template. If the list is empty, create one in Settings, Templates and send it to Meta, or press Sync from Meta to bring in templates you made elsewhere.
- Meta reviews each new template before you can use it. The status shows Pending until Meta decides.
- After 24 hours without a message from the customer, the box is locked and says the session expired. Send a template to start again.
- People with the Viewer role can read chats but cannot reply.