Help · WhatsApp
How to connect WhatsApp so the assistant can reply
For the assistant to serve your customers on WhatsApp, the location needs a connected channel. Without a connected channel, messages don't reach the system and the assistant can't reply to anything.
#Where to connect it
Open «Configuraciones» (Settings), go to «Integraciones» (Integrations) and pick the location you want to set up at the top. All available channels are there.
System screenshot, customers onlyEach card shows whether the channel is connected. The ones that say “Coming soon” don't exist yetSee it in your account
Not every channel comes with every plan. If one isn't included in yours, the card says so and shows you how to fix it: the web widget can be activated by buying that add-on from the same screen, and for the others we point you to sales. A channel you already had connected keeps working even if you change plans; what's controlled is connecting a new one.
In «Sedes» (Locations), each location's Integrations tab shows which channels that location has connected, but you don't connect or disconnect them from there.
#Which option to choose
There are two ways to connect WhatsApp:
QR code connection. You scan a code from the WhatsApp app on your phone, just like WhatsApp Web. It's the fastest to get going and requires no paperwork. The phone must stay connected to the internet.
Official WhatsApp API. The official connection. It's more stable, doesn't depend on a phone being on and lets you send approved templates. It requires a registration process with Meta, but it isn't charged separately: it's another way to connect the same channel, not an extra feature.
If today you serve customers with the WhatsApp Business app on your phone and don't want to stop using it, there's a third option that combines the two: your team keeps replying from the app and the assistant replies over the official connection on the same number. Ask us if this is your case, because it requires a different registration.
#One number, one connection
The same phone number can't be connected both ways at the same time. If you want to move from the QR code connection to the official API, you first have to disconnect the former.
#If you use the WhatsApp Business app
If you use the WhatsApp Business app on your phone — with the QR code connection, or with the one that combines the app and the official connection — turn off the greeting message and the away message. They're in the app, under Business tools.
Those messages go out on their own, on top of the assistant. With them on, the customer gets two different replies when they write: the automatic one and the assistant's. The away message is the most confusing: it can tell them you're closed while the assistant is taking their order.
You don't need either one: the assistant already greets people and knows each location's hours. The WhatsApp card in Settings → Integrations reminds you about this when you connect.
#WhatsApp groups and statuses
With the QR code connection, the restaurant's number also receives what happens in the groups it belongs to and the statuses your contacts post.
Statuses are never answered, and neither are broadcast lists or channels: they don't open conversations or show up in the dashboard.
Groups are configured per location. In Settings → Integrations, open the WhatsApp card and choose under «Grupos de WhatsApp» (WhatsApp groups):
- Don't reply in groups. This is selected by default. The agent ignores everything that comes in through groups; use it if the number is in personal or supplier groups.
- Reply only when mentioned or replied to. The agent replies when someone in the group mentions the restaurant's number with @ or replies to one of its messages. The rest of the group chat isn't saved.
- Reply to every message in the group. Useful for a group dedicated to orders, for example a company that orders lunch for its team.
When the agent serves a group, the whole group is a single conversation in the dashboard, with the group's name, and each message carries the name of whoever wrote it. Replies go to the group.
Changing this option requires permission to edit the agent's settings.
#If a customer writes to another of your locations
Each customer has a single conversation, with their whole history, even if they write to more than one location. The conversation stays with the location of the number they last wrote to: the reply goes out through that same number and the agent uses that location's menu and hours. Orders and reservations they had already made stay with the location where they made them.
#How to tell whether it's connected
In Settings → Integrations you can see the status of each channel. You can also ask the internal assistant why your bot isn't replying: it checks the status of the connection along with the rest of the conditions and tells you which one is failing.
#If it suddenly stopped replying
The most common causes, in order:
- The channel disconnected. Connect it again from Settings → Integrations.
- Someone on your team took over the conversation from the dashboard. While a conversation is being handled by a person, the assistant doesn't reply in it on purpose. Turn it back on from the conversation.
- The monthly artificial intelligence allowance ran out.
- The license isn't active.
- If it's in a group: check the «Grupos de WhatsApp» (WhatsApp groups) option for that location. It comes set to "Don't reply in groups".