WhatsApp is the most used messenger app in the world with 44.9 million monthly downloads (Snapchat being the second with 35 million, Telegram 3rd with 32 million) and we're proud to announce that Jitbit Helpdesk finally features a built-in WhatsApp integration.

The system will import incoming WhatsApp messages for a connected number as tickets. And send out the replies - back to WhatsApp. To helpdesk agents it looks just like working with a regular ticket.

Some important notes:

1. "Jitbit - WhatsApp" integration uses the "phone" field of a user to map Jitbit user accounts to WhatsApp conversations
2. Make sure phone numbers are unique and use the format +15550001122 or +4477700011222 or +37100112233, i.e. include country code, area code and phone number
3. When someone writes you via WhatsApp and the system is unable to find an existing user by the phone number - it will create a new user
4. If multiple users with the same phone number are found - the system picks the first one randomly
5. Ticket updates are sent back via WhatsApp only to the ticket creator and only if the ticket was created from WhatsApp, i.e. the ticket's "origin" is set to WhatsApp
6. Regular email updates are sent too, as usual
7. WhatsApp is a mobile messenger with limited screen real estate, so don't use rich formatting, "signatures" and "greetings" like you would in emails, keep things short.

Here's how to enable it:

1. Head over to "Admin - Integrations - WhatsApp"
2. Select "Enable WhatsApp integration"
3. Enter WhatsApp Phone ID and Access token (required for Jitbit to send outbound messages)
4. Set up WhatsApp webhook at Facebook Developer Console (required for importing inbound messages into Jitbit)

Where do I get the token and Phone ID?

If you already have a WhatsApp Cloud API account just get the data from there.

If not, here's how to set it up for free:

1. Log in to the Facebook developer account at developers.facebook.com and create a new app
   
2. Select the app type - "Business"
3. Provide basic info
4. Select "WhatsApp" from the Meta Dashboard
5. Accept WhatsApp Business Platform API conditions
6. Send a test message to a WhatsApp-enabled number
7. Enter the verification code received
8. That's it, your WhatsApp API is now set up
9. Go back to Jitbit and paste "Phone number ID" and the "Access token" from Facebook's developer page into Jitbit settings at "Admin - Integrations - WhatsApp", here's wheere you copy it from:
10. Go back to Facedook Developer and click "configure webhooks", and create a webhook
11. Set the "Callback URL" to https://YOUR-ACCOUNT.jitbit.com/helpdesk/api/wa (if you use the self-hosted version - adjust accordingly)
12. Set the "Verify token" to the value from "Admin - Integration - Whatsapp" in Jitbit Helpdesk

At this point you have a temporary test number from Facebook, and an auth token that expires every 24 hours. Use that to test your integration. Remember that the WhatsApp "test-number" cannot send messages to arbitrary numbers, you have to add a "real" phone number at Facebook. It's easy and requires just a couple of clisk and SMS-verification. Also, to get a permanent API token (not the test token that expires every 24 hours), also follow the instructions in the Facebook's developer console.