Connecting your WhatsApp number
Why a dedicated business number is required, what we provision for you, and what stays in your control.
Your shop needs its own WhatsApp Business number connected to the official WhatsApp Business Platform. This page explains why, what we do for you, and what stays yours.
Why a dedicated number
It cannot be your personal number. A number can be registered on the WhatsApp Business Platform or used in the WhatsApp app on a handset, not both. Registering your personal number would take it off your phone.
It cannot be a number already in the WhatsApp Business app, unless you are prepared to migrate it and lose its use on the handset.
The practical answer is a new SIM, which is also the right answer for the shop: the order line survives a change of staff, a lost phone, or the owner going on holiday.
What we provision
Onboarding is deliberately hands-on. There is no self-serve signup form, because the process involves buying a SIM, registering a number under a Meta Business account and agreeing a price — and a form would imply we automate all of that.
You get a SIM
Any local prepaid line works. It needs to be able to receive one SMS or voice call for verification, once.
We add the number
It is registered as a WhatsApp Business phone number under our Meta Business account, and a display name is set for it.
You verify it
A code arrives by SMS or call to the SIM. You read it to us; we enter it. That is the only moment the SIM is needed.
We connect it to the platform
The number is subscribed to our webhook so messages reach the software, and your shop record is created against it.
You get the display name approved
Meta reviews the name shown to customers. Until then the number shows as a plain phone number, which works but looks less trustworthy.
Message templates
Any message we send you or your customers outside a 24-hour window since their last message must use a template that Meta has approved in advance. Inside that window, ordinary free-form messages are fine.
This matters for exactly three things: payment reminders, delivery status updates, and your daily summary. All three run on a schedule rather than as a reply, so all three need approved templates. Those are already approved on our account and a number added to it inherits them — no resubmission, no waiting.
What stays yours
- The number. It is your SIM and your business.
- The customer relationship. Nothing the bot sends a customer mentions OrderAgent. They are talking to your shop.
- Your data. See data handling.
What we never do
We never use an unofficial WhatsApp library or a modified client. Shops that automate that way get their number banned, usually at the worst moment. Everything here runs on the documented WhatsApp Business Platform.