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Set up WhatsApp Calling

WhatsApp Calling is a paid Phonovo add-on that lets people call your company from WhatsApp, straight into your existing phone system. It helps you take calls from customers who would rather tap call inside a WhatsApp chat than dial a number, without giving you a separate system to manage — Phonovo sets the whole thing up on your behalf.

Who this is for: admins

Before you start

  • WhatsApp Calling must be active on your Phonovo account. If it is not, open Add-On Products and add it.
  • Decide which of your company's phone numbers should start accepting WhatsApp calls.
  • If that number already has its own WhatsApp Business account, Phonovo will need access to it. We will talk you through granting that access — there is nothing to prepare in advance.

Add the add-on

  1. In the sidebar, under Account, select Add-On Products.
  2. Find WhatsApp Calling and select Purchase.
  3. Check the price and billing type in the Confirm Purchase window, then select Confirm Purchase. It is billed as a flat monthly charge — see Billing below.

Tell us which number to connect

Once the add-on is active, contact Phonovo support with the number you want to receive WhatsApp calls, in national format — for example 01134036647.

  • If the number is not yet set up for WhatsApp, Phonovo sets it up on your behalf.
  • If the number is already on your own WhatsApp Business account, we will talk you through granting Phonovo access to it.

There is nothing further for you to configure. Phonovo sets up the connection and confirms with you once WhatsApp Calling is live on that number.

Calls come in only

People can call your company from WhatsApp; your company cannot place a WhatsApp call out. Every WhatsApp call is an inbound call.

The call behaves like any other call

Once a WhatsApp call reaches your phone system, it is treated exactly like a call from a landline or a mobile: the same greeting, the same menu, the same ring groups, the same extensions, the same voicemail, and the same recording rules all apply. Nothing about your call flow needs reconfiguring for it.

Call forwarding and outside transfers don't reach WhatsApp callers

This is the one place a WhatsApp call behaves differently, and it is a rule of the WhatsApp service itself, not a limitation of your setup: a WhatsApp call stays inside your company's phone system for its whole life.

If a user has Forward all calls set to a mobile or another external number, a WhatsApp caller will not follow them there — the user's own desk phones and apps ring instead, exactly as if forwarding were switched off. The caller notices nothing.

The same applies to any onward transfer to an outside number. A receptionist transferring a WhatsApp caller to someone's personal mobile will not connect. Transfers to another extension, ring group, or anywhere else inside your phone system work as normal.

Call records show it

Calls that arrived over WhatsApp carry a WhatsApp badge in your call history and in that call's detail view, so you can tell them apart from ordinary calls at a glance. There is no filter for WhatsApp calls yet — check the badge on individual calls instead.

Billing

WhatsApp Calling is a flat monthly add-on charge. WhatsApp calls themselves are not charged per minute.

Need WhatsApp Calling for your account? Open Add-On Products or contact Phonovo support.